law enforcement

Question

who plays the lead role at the scene of an incident and is most times the first on the scene

Answer 1

There is a complicated system of hierarchy that takes place in a scene of an incident. First, we would ask what type of incident we are dealing with. A situation like a traffic stop, the officer initiating the stop would take charge. However, if a local policeman or policewoman stumbles upon a murder, it would go to the appropriate division (homicide). There are also questions of jurisdiction on the local, state and federal level. As a rule of thumb, the first person that arrives at the scene is presumed to have the most information and thus that individual would typically take charge!

Answer 2

Cain,

The short answer is that it depends. The first person on-scene usually establishes control to the best of their ability, but different types of incidents result in different individuals taking on the role of incident commander. For example, a traffic accident is led by the fire department until the scene is made safe and then responsibility is transferred to the police, but if the police are first on-scene then it can be the officer's whose beat or zone within which the accident occurred, or it could be the first officer to arrive who is initially "in-charge." Department policy generally determines the path to determine who is in charge of an incident, which can be the first on-scene, but it can also be the officer assigned to that beat, the shift supervisor, detectives, or specialty units. Fire and Medical emergencies are led by the Fire Department or EMS with the police playing a support role. Large scale incidents such as an active shooter, barricaded subject, or hostage situations are run by supervisors or specialized department units such as SWAT or Hostage Negotiations when available. Yet other times it is simply a coin toss between responding officers who agree among themselves on who will take the lead on the call. Circumstances such as the first officer who arrives has numerous reports to complete, or a second or third officer to arrive has fewer calls for service that shift than the first officer to arrive may result in someone other than the first on-scene filling the lead role.

As you can see, its not a clear cut answer. Usually, the first on-scene is the one initially responsible for the incident but often it is only until another person or agency arrives at the scene to take on the lead role.