Delta’s top cop discusses ‘Big One’ response following summer earthquakes along west coast

DELTA (NEWS 1130) – Several earthquakes have been felt along the west coast this summer.

A cluster of them — three within 10 minutes — hit the B.C. coast on July 5th, following a magnitude 5.8 that struck north of Vancouver Island on July 3rd. In between, a larger tremblor shook California on July 4th.

The seismic activity has once again sparked conversation about the “Big One,” which could cause damage throughout Metro Vancouver.

This week on Ask The Chief we’re speaking with Delta Police Chief Neil Dubord about the expectation for his officers and whether first responders will actually be the first to respond.

What is your department’s plan for an earthquake?

“We’re fairly lucky that most of our members, and most of the people who work in Delta, either live in this particular community or live south of the major bridges and tunnels. So, we’re fairly lucky that most people will have a decent path to work, we hope. However, we do certainly have concerns around how we communicate with those members. You know [for example], our cell phone tower is down, our home line is down — how do we actually get a hold of them to tell them to come into work?”

“We have several different plans in place. A plan only survives first contact and you have to problem solve after that. If a major catastrophe was to happen, and it impacted the Delta community, our members are asked to respond to the nearest fire or police station, if phone lines are down, and then begin a plan of how they get to work and where they respond to.”

Would officers from other police departments be asked to respond to Delta?

“I think everyone believes they’re going to be on their own for the first 24-36 hours before you get any kind of assistance from other cities. Depending on who’s hit and who’s not hit, of course. If, for instance, there were available resources coming out of Langley from the RCMP, they might be able to assist a little bit, but I think everyone has to plan to be on their own for 24 hours.”

Are your officers expected to help with immediate needs in their neighbourhood or prioritize getting to work to respond in uniform?

“We know from previous experiences, such as New Orleans, that typically people want to look after their family first. So, what we try very hard [to do] is to make sure officers are well prepared at home, meaning that they have emergency kits. We communicate well to them in case of a potential disaster so they are prepared for that and that they know and can be confident that their family is either taken care of or has a good plan so they can respond into work and then look after the community, as well.

Do you check to see if your officers have an emergency kit at home?

“We don’t check into it, for an accountability mechanism, but we certainly talk to people about having ‘go-bags’ for the officers, so they’d have their equipment ready and be able to leave.”

Should residents be prepared to be on their own following an earthquake?

“We ask them to be able to take care of themselves [and] take care of their neighbours for the first little piece, and then eventually, hopefully, emergency services will get to them, should they need critical service right away. We ask our people to create a kit [and] create a plan and that plan will include getting to know your neighbours and making sure you have some sort of way of looking after yourself for a short period of time until emergency services can get there.”

Listen to the full interview with Delta Police Chief Neil Dubord: