Surprise!

At the same time, the planning roles of city officials who would deal directly with a terror attack, such as the police and fire chiefs, were minimized and uncoordinated, said the jurors. This confused approach has meant that the city's thousands of first responders -- police officers, firefighters, doctors, nurses, paramedics, engineers, heavy equipment operators, and volunteers -- are not being organized into a force capable of acting quickly and efficiently in a disaster.

San Francisco cops, firefighters, and others who would have to cope with a CBRN event receive a copy of Jane's Chem-Bio Handbook, which cautions them to watch out for panic-stricken victims. Such people, it warns, "may become agitated and fearful and may attempt to either leave the exclusion zone or approach, or even contact, rescue personnel." Penning up CBRN victims within the contaminated "hot zone" is imperative to avoid contaminating others, the book says.

But the San Francisco Police Department is woefully undertrained and -equipped to cope with hordes of panicky CBRN victims, according to a number of officials.

The SFPD currently has only 25 "Level A" protective suits for the 2,223-member force, according to Cmdr. James Dudley. Costing up to $3,000 apiece, such suits have a self-contained breathing apparatus and resist both chemical and germ agents. Hundreds of cops might have to put them on to enforce a hot zone perimeter.

But Dudley, who heads a 100-member anti-terror unit, and other experts say even if there were enough suits, they're difficult to wear. After five minutes inside them, the temperature rises by 20 degrees and the humidity is 100 percent. After about 20 minutes, the suits are so uncomfortable they must be taken off and, because they're contaminated, thrown away. Wearers must then douse themselves with copious amounts of water mixed with cleaning solvents. Nonetheless, Dudley says he wants many more Level A suits, but is budgeted only for an additional two dozen.

Linehan says the cops also don't have enough training in how to control crowds while encased in clumsy protective suits. "We are simply not ready to sustain a response for hours and days. We need training on how to wear ... protective suits. They have respirators that are hard on the heart and lungs, especially under stress."

Dudley has assigned a CBRN-trained officer to each of the city's 10 police stations, hoping that some of their expertise will wear off on the rank and file. He wants to provide CBRN training for all police officers, and has applied for up to $3 million in federal grants to get it started. He also wants to buy a reusable van designed to operate inside a hot zone and to equip every patrol car with the relatively inexpensive Level C protective suits that can resist toxic dust, but not poisonous vapors. In addition, he needs new radio equipment, air testing devices, crowd control gear, and software to access anti-terrorist intelligence databases.

"[Getting ready for] terrorism requires a 10-year commitment," Linehan says. "You can't just strap on a Level A suit and walk out and function. It will be bedlam, total panic if a weapon of mass destruction goes off. People will be trampling each other to get away."

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One day in November, SF Weekly asked Lucien Canton for a copy of the city's evacuation plan. "Evacuation is not handled well in the emergency plan," he replied. He began searching his office for the document.

"The SFPD is supposed to know the section on evacuation, if they have one," he murmured. "I do not know how much [trickles] down to the lower levels. It should be here, but I do not have a copy."

It turned out that the Police Department didn't have a copy of the evacuation plan either -- because it didn't exist.

"It will be similar to New Year's Eve when we have 2 million people in the city," explains Police Chief Alex Fagan. "People will panic. Our job is to instill confidence. The problem we have is that evacuation requires training."

Singer says the grand jury determined that although police can handle relatively controllable events like New Year's Eve, they are not prepared to evacuate the terrified population of an entire neighborhood, or the even larger numbers of people who'd flee a fear-inspiring attack like a dirty bomb detonation.

The city is prepared, however, to get help if San Franciscans start "self-evacuating" without government permission. Mayor Newsom could request aid from both the state and federal governments to seal off the city.

The California National Guard has a Hayward-based unit, the 95th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team, which could be airlifted to Hunters Point within fours hours of a CBRN attack, according to National Guard Maj. Jeff Smiley. The centerpiece of the 22-member team is a lead-lined, $1.5 million van stuffed with just about every kind of communications device known to man.