A hostage or terrorist situation may demand more tools and tactical expertise than first responders bring to the scene. When even the local SWAT team and state crisis negotiators aren't enough, law enforcement may call in the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team (HRT).

The 30-year-old program was developed in preparation for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Extreme? No. Not after the world had witnessed terrorists abduct and murder 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 games in Munich, Germany. At the time, only the military had the assets and training to deal with such a situation, but it could not deploy within the U.S.

                                                               HRT Motto: Servare Vitas
                                                                      "To Save Lives"

This civilian counterterrorism team has responded to nearly 800 incidents since 1983. "When needed, the team is prepared to deploy within four hours of notification to anywhere in the U.S. in response to terrorist incidents, hostage situations, and major criminal threats," FBI.gov. On occasion, they assist the military with sensitive situations in other countries.

High-Risk Missions

• Terrorists
• Hostage-takers
• Violent criminals

Recently the HRT joined local law enforcement officers near Midland City, Alabama, to help rescue a 5-year-old boy, in an underground bunker, from his armed captor. They used military surveillance equipment to monitor activity in the 6 ft. by 8 ft. bunker. At the end of the 144-hour standoff, the boy was safe and the abductor was dead, DothanEagle.com.

The HRT had built a mock bunker to train for possible entry. "The FBI Hostage Rescue Team blew the doors off the bunker and shot dead the survivalist during the daring raid...after footage from a secret hi-tech camera showed the boy's life was in imminent danger," DailyMail.co.uk. The press kept many details confidential until the standoff ended. Any publicity could have tipped off the abductor and endangered the boy.

This tremendous success comes on the 30th anniversary of the team's founding. Not all of the team's actions are always praised. In 1993, the HRT was involved in the tragic standoff with the Branched Davidian sect in Waco, Texas. Seventy-four of the cult's members died during the siege, CBSNews.com. To see an overview of how the Hostage Rescue Team is supposed to work, view the FBI's new video, "Hostage Rescue Team Marks 30 Years."


Resources:

Collins, Laura and Thomas Durante and Rachel Quigley, "I Can't Describe How Incredible it is to Hold Him Again," DailyMail.co.uk, 2-5-2013.
FBI, "The Hostage Rescue Team: 30 Years of Service to the Nation," FBI.gov, 2-1-2013.
FBI, "Hostage Rescue Team Marks 30 Years," Youtube.com, 2-1-2013.
Frontline, "Waco: Chronology of the Siege," PBS.org, (accessed 2-25-2013).
Griffin, Lance, "Hostage Safe, Gunman Dead in Midland City Standoff," DothanEagle.com, 2-4-2013.
Miller, John, "Behind the Scenes of FBI's Secretive Hostage Rescue Team," CBS This Morning, CBSNews.com, 2-6-2013.

Heartfelt thoughts go to those directly affected by Superstorm Sandy. May you find courage and hope!

I want to discuss something most of us would have once considered to be as unlikely as the confluence of weather systems that caused this tragic storm...a latent fingerprint matched to two different men.

On March 11, 2004, a series of 10 bombs exploded on commuter trains in Madrid, Spain, resulting in nearly 200 deaths. A fingerprint found on a bag of bomb-making equipment in a vehicle became a crucial piece of evidence.

The FBI entered the print into its database and 20 possible matches were generated. Each shared a minimum of seven unique traits with the print in evidence. To make a "positive ID," there would have to be 12 matching traits. One set of fingerprints on file for a lawyer in Portland, Oregon, shared 15 traits with the print in evidence. He must be the bomber, right?

At the time, a U.S. counter-terrorism official told Newsweek it was an "absolute incontrovertible match."

Later, Spanish authorities found the prints of a second man, a known terrorist, that also "matched" the sample in evidence. Parts of those fingerprints were so similar that both men were POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED as the bomb maker. It turns out that processing and interpreting fingerprint evidence is not an exact science, yet. It is valuable, but it is not absolute.
   
The National Academy of Sciences studied the discipline. In July 2009, they found there is inadequate "scientific rigor" in the methods and procedures.

This case and others are highlighted in the NOVA program "Forensics on Trial" which aired this month. (It can be viewed online here). It points out human errors in this case. It also introduces CTF impressions, a new technology that replicates the topographic features of fingerprints without altering them. Its possible field use is under review.

More sophisticated methods would be welcome, but we must deal with examiner bias and set reasonable standards to further improve our justice system.

See these sources for more details:

NOVA: Forensics on Trial, Aired on PBS, October 17, 2012
FBI is Cleared of Misconduct in Jailing of Oregon Man, NY Times, January 6, 2006
U.S. Settles Suit Filed by Ore. Lawyer, Washington Post, November 30, 2006
Badly Fragmented Forensic Science System Needs Overhaul, National Academy of Sciences, 2009