Adfero Group HSPI

It is always difficult to fully absorb the lessons from wide-scale crises in the wake of the catastrophe. Information is often incomplete or contradictory, or still evolving. Learning these lessons, however, provides an opportunity to address the shortfalls of catastrophic disaster response.

In Security Debrief’s annual April Fools coverage, we’ve collected some stories the rest of the media somehow missed.

I have to admit, when I got the e-mail notice that DHS Secretary Napolitano had established the Rick Rescorla National Award for Resilience, I went, “Huh? What’s this about?” I drew a complete blank at the name, but then remembered – Rick Rescorla was an American hero long before he safely evacuated over 2,700 Morgan Stanley employees from the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001. DHS and the Secretary got this absolutely right when they selected Rick Rescorla as the namesake for the resilience award.

Major disasters are relatively rare in Cyprus. Other than a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in 1996 that did not result in any casualties (but was the largest since 1953), annual wildfires and droughts, the island nation has generally avoided the brunt of manmade or natural disasters. But alas, tranquillity breeds complacency. In 2011, 98 containers of improperly stored explosives exploded in Cyprus with devastating impacts on human life, infrastructure and the Cypriot economy. Now is the time for Cyprus to address the hazards it faces.

By Jay Alan

The one-year anniversary of the Tohoku Japan earthquake brings renewed attention to the devastation and the vast recovery still facing the Japanese people. Our hearts and thoughts remain with the victims and families. But the tragedy should underscore the need for us to maintain focus, from an emergency preparedness perspective, not only to earthquake danger but also the danger of a tsunami. Yes, even in the United States.

By Jay Alan

At some point during my day I can usually see the scaffolding atop the landmark National Cathedral here in Washington, D.C. — a reminder of damage from the August earthquake. And a reminder that disaster can strike anywhere at anytime. We all know and preach the doctrine of preparedness, but building resiliency and knowledge takes time. This effort takes another great step forward on Feb. 7. The Great Central U.S. Shakeout will occur at 10:15am CST, with (as of this writing) 1.7 million people in nine states practicing the ‘duck, cover and hold’ earthquake drill.

A recent report by the UK-based think tank Chatham House describes the challenges associated with preparing for high-impact, low-probability events as well as potential global impacts. On the latter point, the report highlights how impacts will be felt well beyond an immediate disaster area, with the effects reverberating around the world because of our interconnected, global economy. In short, the best we can do is allocate resources based on risk assessments, and have a robust all-hazards plan to address the Black Swans that we could not have anticipated.

The LAPD operation to clear the park in City Hall was noteworthy for its change in style and was the correct conclusion to what has been a policing operation characterized by engagement and discretion by the police. This and other examples of policing Occupy Protests must be examined closely by the departments that will host National Significant Security Events next year, extracting the lessons that will apply to certain sections of the protest community, and creating effective plans for the those truly violent demonstrators who were patently absent from Occupy LA.

Earlier this month, I was at Rutgers University and fortunate to hear retired U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen speak at the 2nd annual Maritime Risk Symposium. In his address, Adm. Allen developed a theme in discussing resilience that I believe bears greater and deeper discussion. He discussed the Joplin, Missouri, tornado devastation this past spring. At the center of this lesson is a school teacher – it is the story of Dr. C.J. Huff, the young teacher-turned-school superintendent who demonstrated resilience in practice.

The newest threat to police from hardline protestors is “doxing” – the photographing of police and publishing their personal details, and sometimes that of their families, to the Internet. This tactic has been used to attempt to intimidate officers during events with protestors calling out officers’ names as they film and telling them they will be “doxed.” This tactic is an import from the hardline protest movements in Britain and should be of significant concern to police at all levels of operations and command, although it does have a very simple remedy.

The Homeland Security Policy Institute (HSPI) Preparedness, Response, and Resilience Task Force released its latest in a series of reports intended to inform policymakers on issues surrounding the achievement of national resilience. The report, entitled “Operationalizing Resilience,” recommends that policymakers use a systems-based approach to developing the integrated frameworks associated with the National Preparedness System called for in PPD-8. The Task Force also recommends that risk management practices be used as the underlying business case for preparedness efforts at all levels and across all sectors.

In the wake of “National Preparedness Month,” over the weekend the first edition of the National Preparedness Goal (NPG) was released. The NPG correctly recognizes resilience as a fundamental component of national preparedness – a desired outcome. The issue, however, is not what America can do but rather what America will do. There can be little doubt that since 9/11, America is far more physically protected. However, contrary to the assertion in the NPG, and as protected infrastructure failures and nature-driven consequences continue to demonstrate, America is anything but more prepared.

Though the near-insolvency of FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) is top news today, the situation should hardly come as a surprise. For the past several months, NPR has been following the looming crisis, and I’ve been commenting along the way. The challenge that now confronts FEMA isn’t something that Administrator Fugate can fix: either he provides funding to disaster victims (and in doing so, violates federal law) or he watches those in need go without the assistance they require.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) released their joint investigative report on the April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico waters off Louisiana. There are a multitude of regulatory recommendations but two key lessons: 1) NEVER skip established safety routines and protocols, and 2) ALWAYS address risk into your decision-making.

The world has faced tragic events of late: the Japanese earthquake and tsunami; the tragic bombing and shooting in Oslo, Norway; and post-Hurricane Irene floods along the U.S. East Coast. With these and other ever-present threats to our critical infrastructures and way of life, the National Defense Industrial Association’s (NDIA) 2011 Homeland Security Symposium is “Disasters: Preparing, Surviving and Responding to Dynamic Threats.”

Just in case anyone missed the news in the past week, the eastern U.S. experienced the shaking of an earthquake followed by torrential rains and winds associated with Hurricane Irene. By all accounts, local, state and federal officials along with their brethren in the non-governmental and private sectors performed well during their preparation and response. In between TV pundits, we caught glimpses of ordinary Americans talking in serious terms about what they, their families and their communities were doing to be prepared. It was the type of informed talk that has been a long time coming and is sweet to hear.

As the East Coast is cleaning up from the effects of Hurricane Irene, pundits have not been shy in expressing opinions about the use (mostly about the benefits) of social media tools like Facebook and Twitter to get information out to affected audiences. The FCC has launched an inquiry into whether phone calls to 911 emergency response agencies were affected by congestion on the cellular phone communications networks. The FCC might also look into how media solicitations for viewer video affects network congestion.

The London Riots prove, yet again, that one of the principal roles of the Metropolitan Police (“The Met”) in London is to be the whipping post of politicians pursuing an agenda. There are certainly commentators in the UK and the U.S. who are advocating for the much more widespread use of weapons in public order, some queries about why CS gas wasn’t used, etc. The answer is simple – if one cannot identify, incapacitate where necessary and arrest an individual for wrong-doing, as a police force, you simply become a weapon of suppression of the population, rather than a police force that is representative of the community protecting that community.

With Hurricane Irene now nothing but some sputtering winds and loosely formed rain showers, we are about to endure the aftermath of whining naysayers and professional complainers. Even as the storm was beginning to pass through North Carolina and Virginia, observers began to comment that the storm was not packing the punch that it had been forecast to hold. It’s almost as if there was a measure of disappointment from these complaining parties that there was not some type of large body count or more catastrophic destruction.

Earlier this week, all the talk was earthquakes and hurricanes. It was also the day that The Heritage Foundation released its latest report on how to fix homeland security –“Homeland Security 4.0: Overcoming Centralization, Complacency, and Politics.” It is always nice to have some real world disasters to remind us that the U.S. is still not well prepared for to deal with really big disasters.