US Law Enforcement Response, Time, Scale and Coordination (Galveston, TX)

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

If it's not obvious the "I" designation always indicates a road that's part of the Interstate highway system (and funded in that manner). Where the money starts out from decides where the legal authority ends up with.

I-45 isn't unique. I believe I-16 goes only from Savannah to Macon, all within Georgia.

State roads get an "SR" number (at least in Florida and adjoining states).

Very good.

What kind of authorization do the first responders, Galveston PD and/or Galveston County Sheriff, or any other possible LE agency that becomes involved, require to put up a police roadblock on the I-45 within the city of Galveston, in Galveston County?

Assuming that our nefarious NPCs estimate the risk of going through with their foolhardy, ad hoc scheme is less than having their masters come after them for appropriate punishment, I've located the only spot for an ambush where the OpFor can be reasonably certain that the police will drive through with their prisoner. On the corner of Broadway Street and 71st Street, right next to the I-45, as from here, those transporting the prisoner have a choice of two routes. Before that point, the choices mostly boil down to which direction to take on Broadway Street, away from the police station, County Jail and hospital, or toward them.

This means that the spot is almost certainly a possible ambush site, as any alternate route that diverges from Broadway Street earlier than this would be extremely odd, as it would just be adding distance for no benefit. Neither local cops nor ambulance drivers are likely to take a detour from the most efficient route that leads to their destination for no purpose. But Google Maps shows a branching out of possibilities after this corner, with more than one route being logical, depending on personal preference or possibly departmental protocol in re freeways vs. local roads. As the OpFor doesn't have enough information to know for sure which route their targets might choose, it makes it necessary to hit them here or not at all.

Also, this site is practical because the OpFor can fairly easily get to the other side of the freeway, as the 71st Street goes under it and leads conveniently to an on ramp less than a quarter mile away, putting them on the I-45 and headed for freedom. In fact, even driving at legal highway speeds and dealing with average traffic, the OpFor can leave the I-45 on the mainland only six minutes after they secure their package and start their escape and evasion drill.

Of course, while by GURPS rules and even technically in real training exercises (shooting man-sized targets through car windows at 10-30 yards with red-dot sighted Bushmaster XM-15 QRC, Colt LE9620 and DPMS Panther Oracle rifles is not technically hard), the OpFor should be able to shoot 2-4 armed police from ambush and remove one girl in less than a minute of Aim, All-Out Attack, Attack and Move maneuvers (technically, probably 10-15 seconds if everyone moves like hostage rescue operators), the NPC considering this crazy plan realizes that his sicarios are not Delta or HRT.

Service in the Bolivian or Pervian military, in the best case scenario followed by security work for Academi/Xe, Triple Canopy or Aegis LLC, does not produce SOF-quality troops. Even less so does belonging to violent gangs or militant groups, even if someone was hand-picked as an effective enforcer. In any case, while the OpFor sicarios have some experience working together in paramilitary teams, the leader's three best men are not used to working with the the imported shooters. The OpFor leader would be happy to be moving in two minutes after the first shot and fears that four minutes are quite possible (but must be avoided, if they want to succeed).

The negatives to the chosen ambush site are primarily two. 1.3 miles to the Galveston PD police station and ca 350-400 yards to the moored yacht Penemue, filled with PCs and the kind of armed security guards a billionaire with scary enemies employs.

However, assuming that the PCs and their NPC allies decline to fire at anyone 350+ yards away in the dark, when they can't be sure of identifying friend or foe, the most likely point of failure for the OpFor's rescue plan is being stopped on the I-45, before they reach the mainland where there are multiple potential routes and law enforcement will have a hard time blocking them all.

How long will it take for police cars to block the north-bound traffic on the Galveston Causeway?

Who needs to sign off on doing so?

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Very good.

What kind of authorization do the first responders, Galveston PD and/or Galveston County Sheriff, or any other possible LE agency that becomes involved, require to put up a police roadblock on the I-45 within the city of Galveston, in Galveston County?

Possibly a lot, but why would they do that? The normal response is that you whistle up a dozen police cars and a couple helicopters and form a moving roadblock (you can find many examples of that sort of thing; for example, I saw this pop up last week).

Originally Posted by Icelander

Of course, while by GURPS rules and even technically in real training exercises (shooting man-sized targets through car windows at 10-30 yards with red-dot sighted Bushmaster XM-15 QRC, Colt LE9620 and DPMS Panther Oracle rifles is not technically hard), the OpFor should be able to shoot 2-4 armed police from ambush and remove one girl in less than a minute of Aim, All-Out Attack, Attack and Move maneuvers (technically, probably 10-15 seconds if everyone moves like hostage rescue operators)

Nowhere near that easy. There are a series of problems:

1. Cars and vans can be controlled without exposing yourself. You can't really steer, but if you make it three blocks in a straight line, that's still plenty of distance to make a big mess of the ambusher's plans.
2. Cars and vans don't actually stop when the driver is killed.
3. Many vans have access to the driver's compartment from the back, meaning anyone in the van is potentially able to replace the driver, and in fact do so while never being visible to people outside the vehicle.
4. While reactions under fire are quite erratic, there's a high chance of the reaction being to accelerate to try and get out of the area.
5. The end result is, if you manage to stop the vehicle at all, it's likely to be hundreds of yards from where the ambush occurred, and is likely to involve a high speed crash. Which is less than optimal if you want to rescue someone alive and intact.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Possibly a lot, but why would they do that? The normal response is that you whistle up a dozen police cars and a couple helicopters and form a moving roadblock (you can find many examples of that sort of thing; for example, I saw this pop up last week).

Yes, I should have been clearer. The OpFor is worried about any police response that prevents automobiles from crossing the Galveston Causeway, over to the mainland, regardless of whether it's done using vehicles or barricades.

Originally, I was not sure whether the OpFor would plan on reaching the mainland before an effective response or whether they'd explore hiding in Galveston until the authorities had to open the bridge to traffic (the NPC leader is not known to the authorities and the target is known by a wrong name and a poor photo). However, for a variety of reasons, I think that the latter plan is impractical, so only speed and violence of action remain to be explored.

Originally Posted by Anthony

Nowhere near that easy. There are a series of problems:

1. Cars and vans can be controlled without exposing yourself. You can't really steer, but if you make it three blocks in a straight line, that's still plenty of distance to make a big mess of the ambusher's plans.
2. Cars and vans don't actually stop when the driver is killed.
3. Many vans have access to the driver's compartment from the back, meaning anyone in the van is potentially able to replace the driver, and in fact do so while never being visible to people outside the vehicle.
4. While reactions under fire are quite erratic, there's a high chance of the reaction being to accelerate to try and get out of the area.
5. The end result is, if you manage to stop the vehicle at all, it's likely to be hundreds of yards from where the ambush occurred, and is likely to involve a high speed crash. Which is less than optimal if you want to rescue someone alive and intact.

Well, failure is always a possibility, but the ambush is meant to start with the Spetsnaz sniper using his M82A1 CQ to disable the ambulance engine, then the driver (if practical) and only then engage any police vehicles.

After the ambulance loses power, the OpFor truck cuts it off, hopefully resulting in a relatively soft stop, especially as the ambulance will hopefully be going at a fairly modest speed, in case they mean to turn at this corner (50/50 chance). Ideally, the OpFor shooters can then move in on foot to enter the ambulance and deal with any police in other vehicles they didn't hit in their fire from ambush. If they fail to stop the ambulance at the exact right spot, they have two other vehicles to move to the right area.

[martinl]

Are boat-based escapes off the table?

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by martinl

Are boat-based escapes off the table?

Regrettably, the answer to that is probably yes.

None of the OpFor are naval people and they were certainly not recruited for their boating experience. I suppose there is a chance that one of the dozen sicarios has a hobby or used to work on a smuggling boat or something, but if so, the OpFor leader wouldn't know about it, as the dozen shooters are out-of-towners lent to him to do a single job. Events have overtaken him, so he won't do that job now, but as it turns out, the preparations for attacking the PCs will work for this ad hoc rescue operation. In fact, with only slight modifications, so will their extraction plan.

The OpFor already have four cars and two box trucks, but they have no boats. And obtaining boats in the two hours they have since they determined that they'd have to shoot cops seems difficult. I mean, aren't boat rental places closed after 22:00 at night?

[Apollonian]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Regrettably, the answer to that is probably yes.

None of the OpFor are naval people and they were certainly not recruited for their boating experience. I suppose there is a chance that one of the dozen sicarios has a hobby or used to work on a smuggling boat or something, but if so, the OpFor leader wouldn't know about it, as the dozen shooters are out-of-towners lent to him to do a single job. Events have overtaken him, so he won't do that job now, but as it turns out, the preparations for attacking the PCs will work for this ad hoc rescue operation. In fact, with only slight modifications, so will their extraction plan.

The OpFor already have four cars and two box trucks, but they have no boats. And obtaining boats in the two hours they have since they determined that they'd have to shoot cops seems difficult. I mean, aren't boat rental places closed after 22:00 at night?

Looking at the map of Galveston... I'd still think real hard about a boat. By your description, though, the only one likely to have any Boating skill is the Spetsnaz guy. Or maybe the OpFor guy, since boating could be a rich man's hobby. Also, it gives you an excuse to bring a narco sub into the picture.

Is it at all possible for the OpFor to have their getaway cars on Galveston already? Because if so, switching cars a few blocks from the attack seems a lot safer, as long as you can do it away from surveillance cameras.

So... if I were running this scenario, I'd have the OpFor look to ambush the ambulance a little further east, near the 61st St bridge south across Offatts Bayou. Assume the attack is successful. They take off southeast - maybe across the 61st Street bridge, maybe toward the downtown and hospital. Any witnesses see this. Police now have to consider two other exits in addition to I-45: by boat, as mentioned, and by the Bluewater Highway that heads southwest. That last is a toll bridge, though. If OpFor is being exceptionally cute, they "accidentally" leave a marina address in one of the attack cars. Transfer cars on the island (could leave them parked anywhere as long as they were careful about surveillance or home security cameras) and then try to leave via I-45. I'd guess about 15 minutes to do so.

If you want to get extremely cute, there's also a railroad bridge next to I-45. If that's down, they can try to sneak across there, but it seems more cute than good.

Maybe he splits up, has one of the sicario cars head down the Bluewater, then phones in another anonymous tip, betraying them to buy more time. Seems unlikely to work, though...

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Apollonian

Looking at the map of Galveston... I'd still think real hard about a boat. By your description, though, the only one likely to have any Boating skill is the Spetsnaz guy. Or maybe the OpFor guy, since boating could be a rich man's hobby. Also, it gives you an excuse to bring a narco sub into the picture.

There is clearly not a submarine available, just in case. In any event, the Consortium for which the OpFor work are unlikely to have any submarines. Their smuggling is usually through container ships in California, though actually, the leader of the OpFor does import things through the ports of Corpus Christi, Galveston, Houston, Texas City and other Gulf Coast ports. Not drugs, though, precious metals and they are legally imported (if not, perhaps, mined with all the required licenses).

We shall henceforth refer to the leader of the OpFor as Raul, for that's how he introduced himself to the PCs when he made them an offer he really wishes they hadn't refused. Raul is unlikely to do much boating, at least as an adult, as he has spent most of his life in the Andes mountains, before settling in Dallas seven years ago. Raul owns horses, not a boat. I guess he might have spent some time on a yacht or two on vacation, but that's Dabbler, at best.

To further simplify, we shall call Spetsnaz guy 'Igor'. Not because that's his name, but because that's what one of the two cultists in police custody called him, because he is heavily muscled, Eastern European, taciturn, scarred, ugly and served as a driver, bodyguard, handyman and general dogsbody to a warlock.

Igor's age is uncertain, but as it happens, he is over fifty and fought in Afghanistan. There are suggestions that after Igor's initial service in Soviet Ground Forces Spetsnaz, he was transferred to GRU Spetsnaz service. He was stationed in Irkutsk at some point, as well as other Siberian locations, and seems to have attended arctic operations training, mechanic school and extensive sniper training during his service. He also fought in Chechnya, before apparently retiring around 2010, as part of Russian military reform. So while it is not impossible that Igor has taken a training course involving boats at some point in his life (perhaps on Lake Baikal), his military service has been in very landlocked areas. At moving into position to take down a guerilla leader with a sniper shot in urban areas or getting a truck through difficult arctic or mountain terrain, Igor is a genuine expert, but in water, he is out of his element.

Originally Posted by Apollonian

Is it at all possible for the OpFor to have their getaway cars on Galveston already? Because if so, switching cars a few blocks from the attack seems a lot safer, as long as you can do it away from surveillance cameras.

They have time to place the getaway cars where they like, assuming it's within an hour's drive. The problem with switching cars on Galveston Island is that if they give law enforcement enough time, odds are that every way off the island will be blocked with numerous patrol cars. And every vehicle leaving would most likely be searched.

A paramilitary attack on cops and EMTs is a huge deal. Enough for a massive law enforcement response, once they get organized.

Originally Posted by Apollonian

So... if I were running this scenario, I'd have the OpFor look to ambush the ambulance a little further east, near the 61st St bridge south across Offatts Bayou. Assume the attack is successful.

The problem with ambushing the ambulance later in its trip is that when the OpFor planned their rescue, they could not be sure whether Galveston PD would transport the target by patrol car to the County Jail or by ambulance to the UTMB Texas Department Criminal Justice Hospital. They had to prepare for either. And they also couldn't know if the vehicle with the target would prefer the freeway, merging with the I-45 at some point after the 71st Street, regardless of whether they were headed to the jail or hospital.

Also, even once they knew for certain that the target would be taken in for an MRI and an examination at the UTMB TDCJ Hospital (because an officer told dispatch so over the open radio and the OpFor have a police scanner), there is still a 50/50 chance that the ambulance might turn left on the 71st Street intersection, take Broadway Avenue 'backward' a spell and get onto Harborside Drive much sooner than by driving Broadway Street. After all, Google Maps rates it as a faster route.

All in all, the only way to be certain that the target will be moved past a given ambush point is to choose the one that is set at the first choice between multiple routes.

Originally Posted by Apollonian

They take off southeast - maybe across the 61st Street bridge, maybe toward the downtown and hospital. Any witnesses see this. Police now have to consider two other exits in addition to I-45: by boat, as mentioned, and by the Bluewater Highway that heads southwest. That last is a toll bridge, though. If OpFor is being exceptionally cute, they "accidentally" leave a marina address in one of the attack cars. Transfer cars on the island (could leave them parked anywhere as long as they were careful about surveillance or home security cameras) and then try to leave via I-45. I'd guess about 15 minutes to do so.

The police have to consider a boat, yes, because they don't know that the OpFor don't have access to one. On the other hand, considering how far you'd have to drive along Bluewater Highway to reach any place where there is a realistic choice of routes, it is probably obvious that it is not a practical escape route. Long before anyone could escape that way, there will be law enforcement road blocks on around that road, anywhere you can leave it.

Originally Posted by Apollonian

If you want to get extremely cute, there's also a railroad bridge next to I-45. If that's down, they can try to sneak across there, but it seems more cute than good.

Maybe he splits up, has one of the sicario cars head down the Bluewater, then phones in another anonymous tip, betraying them to buy more time. Seems unlikely to work, though...

From what I can tell, neither is preferable to racing the 5.6 miles over the freeway and then starting the extraction once they are on the mainland, with multiple possible routes. Galveston Island is just too easy to close off to spend any time there once the reaponse starts.