Critical Incident Response Group
The Critical Incident Response Group (or CIRG) is the part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation which facilitates the FBI's rapid response to, and the management of, crisis incidents. In response to public outcry over the standoffs at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, the FBI formed the CIRG in 1994 to deal more efficiently with crisis situations. The CIRG is designated to formulate strategies, manage hostage or siege situations, and, if humanly possible, resolve them "without loss of life," as FBI Director Louis Freeh, who assumed the post four-and-a-half months after the Waco fire, pledged in a 1995 Senate hearing. CIRG was intended to integrate tactical and investigative resources and expertise for critical incidents which necessitate an immediate response from law enforcement authorities. CIRG will deploy investigative specialists to respond to terrorist activities, hostage takings, child abductions and other high-risk repetitive violent crimes. Other major incidents include prison riots, bombings, air and train crashes, and natural disasters. Each of the three major areas of CIRG (the Operations Support Branch, the Tactical Support Branch, and the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime) furnishes distinctive operational assistance and training to FBI field offices as well as state, local and international law enforcement agencies.
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