Introduction:

Breaches are something that officers will encounter almost every day whilst on patrol. It's critical that whilst performing a breach it is done correctly and kept professional. This guide will explain exactly how to breach with all the necessary information.

Before a breach officers should always try to communicate with the suspects inside and give them 3 chances to surrender themselves.

Factors:

When breaching a building you should take into consideration all of these factors before proceeding:

• Entry Points 

• How many suspects are there? 

• Threat level

• Are there any hostages? 

• Are there Firearms involved?

Entry Points:

Before breaching take a look around and look for any possible entries. By breaching from multiple entry points this will make it a lot easier as the suspects inside will have a lot more to look at.

How many suspects are there?:

Before breaching, try to get as much information as possible on how many suspects are inside/outside as by doing this it will make it a lot less stressful and a lot easier to work out where they are. You can use resources such as NPAS or Drones to do this. If there are suspects outside you should deal with them first before proceeding with the breach.

Threat level:

You should always get as much information about the threat level as a whole. It will be critical to understand the following subfactors -

Are there lots of “Ghost Peeks”?

What calibre of Firearms is there?

Are there secret rooms suspects can run out from?

Is there any hostages involved?:

The 1st thing you should do before even considering a breach is if there are any hostages. It is crucial that you are 100% sure that there are no hostages inside the building as this could lead to collateral damage which is the last thing we would want. If there are hostages you must try to negotiate first.

Are there Firearms involved?

You should always take into consideration if there is Firearms involved. This can determine the outcome massively in favour of the PD and reduce the risk of injury to any civilians. This can also determine whether non firearm trained officers can be a part of a breach.

Scene containment: 

Prior to breaching the building the area around it should be secure with scene containment preventing any civilians from entering the perimeter of the scene. This will make it a lot less stressful as civilians passing by will understand the situation and not just be able to walk inside and cause hassle.

Here are a few examples:

Structure:

When approaching a breach these are the procedures all officers should go by every breach step by step.

• All officers should split up into groups if there is more than 1 entrance

• All officers will then stack up left to right

• The leaders of each entrance will then communicate with each other through radios if everyone is ready to breach “ Foxtrot set, Bravo set”

• The leader of Foxtrot will then make the call to breach and all units will move in

When it comes down to who goes where it should go as followed at all times

SCO-19

Divisional Command
SMG Trained Officers

Shotgun Trained Officers

Glock Trained Officers (Should be used for /shield if needed)

Glock trained officers should never stack up unless asked directly or there is no option. For example if there is no SCO-19 online.

SCO-19 should always take lead on a breach no matter the situation.

Officers that are not Glock trained or PCSO’s should never be breaching a building. Their job will be to hold down the perimeter of the building preventing any civilians from entering whilst officers are preparing for a breach.