Project White Horse Forum

 Essential Elements of Information for a Culture of Preparedness

The military, facing a complex and intractable mixture of “wicked problems” on the battlefield, has responded with a doctrinal revolution in the production and practice of operational theory.  But most police agencies don’t incorporate the “operational level of maneuver” into their planning and concept of operations.   We face a constellation of complex “high-intensity policing” problems such as counterterrorism, transnational organized crime and gangs that demand development of a true operational art and doctrine, rather than current focus on tactical response. The police service desperately requires an understanding of operational theory and must develop operational doctrine to successfully address contemporary threats.

We propose a model for urban police operational art that has a five-dimensional view of the operational space, focusing in particular on the doctrinally neglected elements of cyberspace and temporality.

Our intention is to summarize and clarify a wide array of military thought, incorporating it into an operational framework for police operational response. In particular we will examine the military theories of Robert Bunker, Robert Leonhard, and William McRaven

 

In the current edition of PWH, in the introduction to Postcard from Mumbai: Modern Urban Siege it was noted that the concepts provided break through thinking on survival in urban “war amongst the people.”  Authors John Sullivan and Adam Elkus continue their “intersectional” thinking  with two additional pieces in this series.

• Toward Operational Art for Policing at GroupIntel

• Police Operational Art for a Five-Dimensional Operational Space, at Small Wars Journal

Tags: 4GW, Culture of Preparedness, Essential Elements of Information, HLS, Intelligence, Medici Effect, resilient communities