UDC 351.74/.75:623.45 341.675/.678 POLICE DEPLOYMENT IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS CAUSED BY THE ABUSE OF WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION1 Dragan Mladjan, Vladimir Cvetkovic Academy of Criminalistic and Police Studies, Belgrade, Serbia  Abstract: In their line of work police officers face a large number of emer- gency situations-criminal incidents related to hazardous materials that can be abused as the weapons of mass destruction. Deployment of police officers in cases of terrorist attacks has its specific features, since it is carried out in extreme circumstances with outstanding dangers to life and health. Apart from the emergency medical service and fire and rescue units, the police have a decisive role in the elimination of consequences of such incidents. In these emergency situations, police staff offers primarily assistance to the injured persons, prevents the expansion and elimination of consequences of the emergency situation, and pays considerable attention to the criminal processing of the scene of incident. Apart from giving the overview of police officers deployment in priority tasks, this paper also gives a comprehensive review of their position in the emergency management system, where the emergency situation has been caused by the abuse of this destructive weapon.   INTRODUCTION The combat against international terrorism is no longer a matter of ideology, as the terrorists cannot be persuaded that they live in a democratic society and they will not calm down until they have accomplished their projected terrorist goals. Having such a difficult situation in mind, protection and rescue forces2 must be adequately prepared for reacting in emergency situations3 caused by the abuse of weapons of mass destruction used for terrorist purposes. Authorities in charge of planning defense against terrorist attacks have finally realized that planning a response to incidents that are very likely to happen instead of mak- ing plans of everything that might happen was not […]