Comprehensive news coverage of the deadly mass shooting in Maine included reports on the hundreds of law enforcement officers who joined the hunt for the gunman. These officers represented local, regional, state and federal law enforcement agencies, including many from Massachusetts, who brought various degrees of training and experience to the scene.

This massive response didn’t happen by accident. It was through the implementation of the National Incident Command System created by a directive from President George W. Bush who wanted a consistent nationwide system to be used to respond to major crises and disasters.

The national incident command system ensures effective communications, resource allocation, and decision making. It helps prevent chaos, coordinates the response by multiple police agencies, gathers intelligence, and leverages technology like drones and underwater surveillance equipment which ultimately increases the likelihood of a successful apprehension

A 24/7 incident command center is established. The commander, usually a high ranking police officer, appoints a section chief responsible for tactical operations and manpower deployment, a planning chief who is in charge of background research on the alleged killer, and who is also communicating with the medical examiner, local funeral homes, and state and federal prosecutors for search warrants. Also there is an investigative chief who oversees and directs evidence recovery, and a public information officer to communicate and update the community through news briefings and social media.

Others participating with the incident command team may be responsible for family reunification and death notification, grief and trauma counseling for victim’s families, the community-at-large and first responders, hostage negotiations, tactical emergency medical care, feeding and housing law enforcement officers, and setting up a process to receive and respond to telephone tips of which there were more than 500 from Maine residents.

Every police department and public safety agency in Massachusetts should be motivated by Maine’s mass shooting to review and fine tune their incident command plans, regularly practice its implementation and alert the community to its existence so local residents have a higher level of confidence in a public safety response to an extreme crisis.

Can this type of mass shooting happen in Mass.? Yes it can.

Let’s not forget the mass shooting on Dec. 26, 2000, when an ex-employee armed with a shotgun, a semiautomatic assault rifle and pistol opened fire, killing seven co-workers at Edgewater Technology in Wakefield,

No community is safe. Municipalities must be prepared.

Billerica resident Rick Pozniak has extensive experience as an incident command public information chief who has also trained professionals and crisis communications students on the incident command system