Family Plan For Civil Disorder
A FAMILY PLAN FOR CIVIL DISORDER
What to do when hard times hit...
by John "J.R." Moore
Reprinted with permission from American Survival Guide, April 1996
You wake up after three hours of restless sleep. Your wife's coffee, made on a camp stove in your kitchen, smells good in the pre-dawn light. It's the second day of full-blown riots and you're praying for strength and guidance to get through another uncertain day. The rioters' fires are closer, but not threatening. Your block-watch group has scared off four cars of looters and no harm has come to your neighborhood....yet.
Is the above scene from L.A. April/May '92, or some other city in the future? Despite politicians' confident pronouncements, there are no guarantees to your family's security beyond what you can ensure through personal planning. Even tiny Warrensburg, Missouri, pop. 13,000 and 35 miles from Kansas City, had a riot in its small business district in May 1992. Only a catalyst is required to get the chain of events into motion. Occurrences such as a power grid failure, tornado, earthquake, hurricane, political event (unpopular jury verdict, assassination, police action), riots in another community - all have been causes of riots and/or looting. Now, since the bombing of the World Trade Center and the federal building in Oklahoma, the threat of international and domestic terrorism and the opportunities for civil disorder "piggy backing" on it loom ahead.
The following is a discussion of how to develop a family plan for your loved ones in the event of rioting and civil unrest.
Reduce your plan to writing. Always remember the KISS principle: Keep It Simple Stupid. Make multiple copies. Use a photocopy machine to make reduced size copies that will fit in wallets and laminate them in plastic. Everyone should have his copy on his person. Never leave home without it. The plan should list the addresses and telephone numbers of all places of work, school and home. Also list any pre-selected "safe houses" to be used if getting home is not possible (a safe house being friend, relative, co-worker that you have an agreement with to provide shelter).
Mental Attitude. A positive mental attitude is your most important asset. Being properly prepared, knowing you have done everything within your power to ensure the safety of your loved ones, will go a long way toward instilling a positive mental attitude. For more on this read Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill work on the subject.
Physical Conditioning. When the "balloon goes up" would be the worst of all times to realize you aren't in the best physical condition. Now is the time to get in the best condition you can for your age and health. No excuses, no exceptions.
Determining The Threat. If you live near any densely populated urban area, the threat is constant. Probably the single most difficult matter in planning is the "if or when" aspect. Unless you have "inside" information from a gang planning a "spontaneous" riot, you have few options for getting hard intelligence. Here are some good ways to get that intelligence. Learn to "read between the lines" when you read your daily newspaper, listen to the news or watch it on TV. Think about the implications of what you learn for possible riots. Get a scanning radio receiver and program it for police, fire, paramedics, disaster preparedness and news agencies. Develop a personal network of contacts in the police department, fire department and National Guard. Very often these agencies get inside information about possible civil disorder months in advance.
First: Get The Kids - Schools are generally safe havens during riots and the government will expend all necessary resources to ensure children's safety. Still, most parents will want to get their child as soon as possible. In your plan, list the first, second and possibly third routes home from each location and method of transportation. Choose a relative or trusted friend outside your metropolitan area but (if possible) inside your area code, to act as a family communication center. In a major riot you may not be able to call outside your area code (others may be unable to call in). The relative chosen must be briefed on and have a copy of your plan. Consider back-up communications with CB and/or Ham radios.
Cellular Phones. Let's say you have a wife and two children - one child in elementary school, one in day care. Both you and your wife work. During a typical day your family is at four locations, several miles apart. You and your wife should both have transportable (bag phone with battery) cellular telephones. These have proven themselves in a number of recent emergencies to be very reliable but they can be unusable if too many people try to use them at once.
Dead Drops. Choose spots at places of work/school/day care where you can make a mark with a rock, pencil, stick, etc. This mark could indicate that the person who works or goes to school there has left, stayed, gone to a safe house or home and by what route. Use a simple code that would be listed on the plan (as would the location of the message), For example, on a certain brick near the front door to mom's work the code "A-1-A" would mean, (A) left work for home, (1) by route #1, (A) will pick up Johnny at school. Something as simple as a piece of string tied at a certain place can act as a message. Things happen, this code will be useful when all other communications have failed.
Live Drops. A message handed to someone, who in turn will deliver it, is a "live drop." For example, you have decided to stay and guard your business from looters. You prepare a message for a trusted friend to deliver to your wife at home. This is a live drop. If you do choose a code, it and a copy of your plan, should be laminated in plastic and in the bag with the phone, also, attach them near the home telephone. Put extra copies in the glove box of each car and any other place you believe would be handy.
Transportation. The best motor vehicles for survival transportation, without getting into exotic military hardware like the Humvee, are full size vans, full size pick-up trucks, and any full size truck with 1/2 ton or larger rating. Get the largest V-8 offered, automatic transmission, power door locks and windows. I personally like the Chevy Suburban and Dodge Vans. Other good choices are the full size Bronco, Blazer and Ram Charger. You want power and mass. Of course you may "get by" with a smaller truck or mini-van but the more you compromise, the more you reduce your odds.
Always park it for the evening with at least 1/2 tank of fuel. Read the owners manual and comply with the maintenance schedule except for oil and lube intervals. Get your oil change and lubrication every 2,500 miles. Equip your truck with first-quality all-weather steel belted radials (I like Michelin) and the largest battery you can get (check out the Die-Hard Gold). Consider carrying a small hydraulic floor jack and a large four-way lug wrench along with the usual emergency equipment (flares, spare tire, flashlight, fire extinguisher, tow strap, jumper cables).
If you want ballistic resistance in your truck, be prepared to spend considerable time and money to "do it yourself," It takes 2 1/2 inches of Lexan (Space-Age plastic) or 1/4 inch steel plate, to stop a .44 magnum point-blank. Automobile body shops have the expertise to install these materials, finding one willing to may be a problem. For Lexan look in the yellow pages under "plastic."
Car-Kit. Include basic field gear including: backpack, poncho, Swiss Army Knife, compass, penlight, canteen (bottled water and 72 hour food supply), $50 cash, map.
A mountain bike or two in the back of your van could be the difference between a not-so-unpleasant bike ride and a very long walk. Good quality walking shoes/boots are your final back-up for transportation.
Shelter. Pre-stock any special material and tools ahead of time such as plywood for windows/doors, sandbags, fire fighting equipment, saws, hammers, nails, shovels. Plan to camp-out in your home or business for up to two weeks. Prepare to meet all physical needs, light, heat, hygiene, independently. Helpful Hint: Pre-cut your plywood (most lumberyards will do it for a minimum charge) for windows four inches short to leave a look-out space at the bottom. Get double head nails, they are much easier to remove. To find sandbags look in the yellow pages under "bags."
Create at least one secure area in your home or business that has complete ballistic resistance. This will be where the non-combatants stay and where you will sleep. Use sandbags (two layers), or 1/4-inch steel plate, The U.S. Army (Survivability FM 5-103) recommends the following to stop a 7.52 mm projectile at 100 yards: brick masonry 18" ; concrete, not reinforced 12" ; concrete, reinforced 6"; stone masonry 12"; timber 35" ; wood 24"; sandbags, filled with dry sand, 20", filled with dry loam, 30", filled with gravel/crushed rock, 20"; walls of loose material between boards, brick rubble 12", dry clay 35", gravel/small crushed rock 12", dry loam 24", dry sand 12". For loose materials when wet double the thickness (except loam, 50% increase).
Food. Basic rule of thumb: Two weeks worth at work and at home. Be sure to remember water; two gallons per person per day minimum, the more the better. Figure extra amounts of everything for friends and relatives who are refugees. Prepare a 72-hour food kit for every vehicle. Many children will starve prior to eating unfamiliar food. Stockpile food they normally eat as much as possible. Be sure of a way to cook without benefit of any public utilities. A stock of disposable plates and flatware will make life easier.
Defensive Weapons. While at home or in your business a .223 semi-auto rifle or 12-gauge shotgun will suffice. Full-metal jacket bullets for the rifle and buckshot or slugs for the shotgun should do the job. Heavier rifle calibers could over-penetrate, be cautious. Pistols of .38 caliber or larger are handy while traveling.
Defensive Tactics. Your plan should include defending your neighborhood apartment
building/complex or business area, not just your individual home or business. Remember the KISS principle. Unless you live in Los Angeles you will not find many people receptive to pre-planning for a riot. You may get a more receptive audience for earthquake or storm preparedness. Do what you can ahead of time. Develop your plan and recruit assistants. A neighborhood watch group started now could be the foundation for a defense force later. All you need is armed adults with flashlights to man roadblocks and run off looters (manning one road block with two people, 24 hours a day for three or four days is simple, but not easy). Don't forget your cellular telephones. Here is where they will prove their value.
The more firefighting equipment you can acquire, the better. Large fire extinguishers, of course. Also such items as rakes, shovels, garden hoses, axes, sand are all useful in fire fighting. Have a large American flag for any roadblock, fly it high and provide fresh coffee for the police and National Guard.
Bug-Out Kit and Caches. If you must abandon your home or business be sure to have prepared ahead of time. Determine the location of all valuable documents and family photographs you want to save. Then decide whether or not you will transport them in your bug-out kit or hide them in a cache. You probably won't have more than a few minutes when you must leave, so have everything prepared well in advance. The cache should be buried and protected from fire, smoke, water, and looters.
Insurance. The time to determine adequate insurance coverage for civil disorder is now. Be sure to also ask about policy limits on certain items: for example a typical homeowner's policy will cover only $1,000 worth of stereo equipment unless you get a "rider" to cover any excess value. Make a complete inventory of valuables with serial numbers and value. Consider a videotape record of your home/business. Simply walk with the camcorder and describe what you see as you go through the premises. Your insurance agent should have copies of the inventory/video tape, originals in a safe deposit box.
Riot Plan Rehearsal. Once you have completed your plan, laid in provisions, done everything you feel you can, it is time for rehearsal. All family members over the age of 10 should be well practiced as to their role. A "dry-run" can be done at the kitchen table with everyone reciting from memory what their responsibility is. This is the time to determine what extra training such as map reading, or knowing the four compass points, may be needed. Make no assumptions about knowledge or skills, be detailed.
The plan outlined here will help not only in other disasters such as storms and earthquakes. It will add to your quality of life overall with the new skills and responsibilities everyone in your family acquires.