Zombie CSU (41 page)
The dog would likely react with increased aggression, and its handler/partner would be none too pleased. A bit of zombie stomping might occur at this point.
Whether the dog could become infected is unknown—and never addressed in the Romero films
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—though its mouth would carry infectious materials (skin, blood) and it could, therefore, be a danger to its handler. In the earliest stages of an outbreak, this could lead to secondary infections, but once the nature of the infection was understood and the pattern of the spread of infection recognized, this kind of thing would likely not occur again.
More probably the cadaver dogs—those police dogs used to search for body parts in rubble (as in the wreckage at Ground Zero) or remains (in woods, inside the walls of a house, etc.)—might find a new role as zombie sniffers. If they’re trained to bark at the presence of decomposing flesh, then they will become invaluable aids in searching for zombies. The dogs are attracted by cadaverine, a molecule produced by protein hydrolysis during putrefaction.
Should the crisis continue, it’s reasonable to assume that there would be an intense push to train more and more dogs for this job—not to find the dead, but to detect their approach so that civilians can flee and the police can prepare.
Zombie Bit My Dog
On the subject of dogs catching the zombie virus, this has been touched on in some films, and in the
Dawn of the Dead
remake it’s shown that zombies won’t even attack a dog. Although we know that some diseases can be passed on from animals to man, it isn’t that common, as Dr. Bruno Vincent, a world-class expert on prions, tells us: “Luckily, large-scale contamination of human population with contaminated bovine meat (as in Mad Cow Disease) seems not to have occurred since no recent cases have been reported during the last couple of years. This may be due to what we call the ‘species barrier.’ Transmission of prions from one species to another is by far less efficient than intra-species transmission.”
J
UST THE
F
ACTS
SWAT on the Job
Police departments are tough, but when the ante gets upped and the standard training, arms, and equipment a patrol officer has at his or her disposal are not appropriate to the needs of the situation, there is a fallback plan: SWAT.
Expert Witness
SWAT (special weapons and tactics) is an acronym used by many police departments, and refers to a military-style approach to crime fighting. Other acronyms include SRT (special response team), QRT (quick response team), HRT (hostage rescue team), and others. Ted Krimmel is a member of SERT (South Central Bucks Emergency Response Team), and he shares a few of the differences between the film/TV version of SWAT and the real thing. “In films you often see the SWAT team at odds with the situation negotiator, but in reality the negotiator is a part of the team working with tactical to resolve the situation. You also see SWAT guys being all trigger-happy, but that just isn’t so. In fact the life expectancy of suspects, hostages, and other involved persons rises
significantly
upon SWAT arrival.”
SWAT Alley Fight
by Jonathan Maberry
Modern police officers are highly trained, heavily armed, and thoroughly conditioned to stay calm and efficient in all circumstances.
Michael E. Witzgall, a former Dallas SWAT officer and now a tactical training consultant, agrees that the pop culture perception of SWAT is skewed. “First and foremost while we are the apex A-type personality, we are not the Neanderthals Hollywood has made us out to be. Most of us are well educated and have very stable family lives (divorce rate in SWAT is very low). Nor do we have the ‘kill them all, let God sort them out’ mentality.”
This opinion is echoed by Walt Stenning, Ph.D., former head of the psychology department at Texas A&M University, who says: “Generally speaking, a sound tactical operator (SWAT officer) is a very intelligent individual who performs well in an independent and/or team environment. These people must be able to think quickly and correctly without caving to exterior pressures.”
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Sgt. Krimmel says that SWAT does, however, come prepared. “At a minimum, each officer carries a handgun (Glock or new S&W M&P in 9mm, .40 or .45), extra ammunition, handcuffs, gas mask, tactical body armor, ballistic helmet, eye protection, radio, gloves, knee and elbow pads, small tools, a good knife, a flashbang, a smoke grenade, OC spray, a small mirror, water, and a nomex hood. Depending on their assignment, they will also carry a long gun, typically a shotgun or Colt M-4 Commando machine gun (shortened M-16 variant). If not carrying a long gun, they might be carrying a less lethal shotgun, a 40 mm gas gun that fires both gas projectiles and less lethal projectiles, a pole camera, a ballistic shield or breaching equipment. Some officers carry a small revolver or pistol as a backup. Snipers carry Remington 700 sniper rifles in .308. We just got TASERs, but haven’t fully implemented them yet.”
The Zombie Factor
So, how then would a SWAT team respond to zombies in the streets attacking civilians? Witzgall observes, “Since I have no practical experience with zombies (most tactical commanders do not) after I changed my underwear, I would treat the situation by using our most basic operational concepts of contain, isolate, and control.”
This means:
Contain
: Keep the zombies from spreading to greater areas.- Isolate
: Get zombies away from innocent people. - Control
: Make the zombies move where we want them to go.
Bruce Bohne: Andy Takes Aim
In the remake of
Dawn of the Dead
, actor Bruce Bohne plays Andy, the owner of a gun shop located across the street from the mall. His character, who has virtually no dialogue in the film except for a wry message scrawled on a dry-erase board, nonetheless gained a huge fan following (particularly among gun enthusiasts and law enforcement officers) because of the character’s superb skill with a rifle. In one of the most bizarre (and darkly hilarious) scenes, the survivors in the mall select zombies for Andy to shoot based on their resemblance to celebrities, including Jay Leno, Rosie O’Donnell, and Burt Reynolds.
I asked Bruce to comment on the significance of his role in the film. “I think the addition of Andy and his gun shop was a brilliant creative stroke for the plot. It moved some of the action from the confines of the mall; it gave the main cast hope and reason for attempting a breakout (arming themselves with Andy’s guns); and it provided what many fans have told me was a favorite part of the film—the celebrity shooting.”
Despite his involvement in such a landmark horror flick, Bohne says, “I’ve never been a huge horror movie fan, but have certainly seen my share of them. Zack Snyder’s
Dawn
is the kind of horror I like best, with a great sense of humor along with the requisite blood and gore.” He said he also liked the faster zombies. “It just makes it more in-your-face, amped-up, whoa-look-out-behind-you scarifying—which I like.”
On the DVD release, Andy was given a far more complex backstory in a video short,
The Lost Tape: Andy’s Terrifying Last Days Revealed
.
And when I asked him about seeing the original
Night
, he said, “That was almost 40 years ago. I was in 10th grade and saw it at a drive-in movie theater with a carload of beer-guzzling high school buddies, so my memory of it is a bit, um, hazy.”
“To achieve my first goal of containment,” says Witzgall, “I would use a series of ever tightening phase lines along each route of advancement and egress. This would mean that all streets would have SWAT teams holding the line. To keep zombies from moving into buildings, I would place patrol officers inside each building with orders to lock and barricade doors and windows. Anything making entry without contacting the officers first, would be shot. Civilians would be allowed to pass through our lines and proceed to medical & evacuation points. There would be several lines of defense. As my first phase line repels the zombies, my second line would pass through the line and pursue the zombies for approximately 50 yards. At that point the next phase line would hold as the previous line advances. By using this leap-frog method it would be hoped that I could drive the zombies into a location of my choice thus isolating them from civilians. Keeping the pressure on, we would eventually begin to control all the zombies’ movement. If the terrain is used correctly—and the zombies are not allowed to break out, as my units close in an inner perimeter will gradually form. If the zombies break through or push a phase line back, that phase will egress and join the rearmost lines, tripling that line’s strength.”
Sgt. Krimmel’s tactics are slightly different, showing the range and flexibility of this kind of response. “In response to a dozen zombies chasing civilians down the street, first I would establish they are in fact, zombies. Working off the assumption that the zombies are already dead and that the bite of a zombie will cause death or serious bodily injury, as SERT commander, I would authorize the use of any force needed to stop the zombies. I would send snipers to high ground or rooftops to deal with the zombies via head shots. On the ground, I would use SERT officers with M-4s and shotguns riding on top of our various armored vehicles, carrying as much ammunition as they can. I would set up a wide perimeter using uniformed patrol officers and K-9s. Most of our patrol officers carry shotguns and some assault rifles. They would have the same rules of engagement as the SERT officers. I’d also advise bringing personally owned axes and swords (the PD doesn’t issue them), in case ammunition supplies run low. You don’t have to re-load axes and swords. I’d also utilize helicopter or other aircraft if they were available.”