The book explores the distinctions between military and police operations and includes an examination of the U.S. counterterrorist policy, assessment of the various weapons of mass destruction and the terrorist ability to make and use them, the legal limitations of police response operations, and the defensive response to this form of attack. Relying on both experience and research, the author synthesizes the varied military, law enforcement, and private security approaches into a detailed analysis of the threat posed by the terrorist use of vehicular bombs and the police response to such a threat. A chapter on the assessment of vehicle bomb/conventional weapons of mass destruction focuses on destructive device classification, vehicle assessment, basic physical properties and effects of explosions, basic physical properties and the effects of pressure wave, pressure wave interaction with terrain and structures, pressure wave effects on people, and the production of planning and decision materials. A chapter on tactical assessment includes a historical review of various terrorist incidents of vehicular bombings. A 99-item bibliography and a subject index