The challenge for local and state homeland security planning lies with the top-down nature of disaster response and relief and the technologies that are needed in order for adequate response to become possible. As authors Schafer, Carroll, Haynes, and Abrams (2008) write,
"Emergencies often have causes and effects that are global. However, emergencies are also inherently local: They occur in a particular place and point in time. While it is critical for governments and society to better organize emergency management top-down, it is also important to become more aware of local community-level values, planning, involvement, knowledge, and skill. Local communities plan collaboratively for potential emergencies of varying scales."
This means that the federal government, though ultimately responsible for the state and local planning, must take a secondary or passive role in the planning at these lower levels due to the fact that the federal government is not equipped with the very specific local knowledge and capabilities as the local first responders.
Federal
The federal requirements for planning are outlined in an interagency planning element called the Incident Management Planning Team (IMPT), which was established to provide national contingency and crisis action incident management planning to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from natural disasters and terrorist acts. (Christopher, Frye, and Reissman, 2010). This team was created in direct response to the Hurricane Katrina debacle, which left many feeling as though the federal government missed its opportunity to take care of its own citizens. This planning team is responsible, on the federal level, for building and enacting new homeland security planning strategies based upon the ever-changing tactics and threats posed by terrorists and other groups looking to do harm to the U.S.
More specifically, the IMPT was created with the idea in mind that flexibility and adaptability were more important than having an over-arching contingency plan. In other words, the IMPT is able to respond to nearly any type of accident or incident because of the broad resource base...
Homeland Security and U.S. Intelligence Formation of Department of Homeland Security & U.S. Intelligence on Terrorism Definition of Intelligence Rationale for Formation of DHS Effectiveness of DHS Importance of Intelligence & Analysts Research Philosophy Research Methods & Its Limitations Data Collection & Analysis National security has been a major concern for United States in past few decades. However, since 2001, this concern has turn into a serious threat for national security. The given research is performed with the intent
("Lynchburg Virginia Emergency Operations Plan," 2012) Elements of Disaster Response, Recovery, and Incident Command In the event of a disaster, the City Manager is appointed as the local spokesperson for all issues, events and the coordination of resources. They work directly with the Mayor and the City Council (who sit as an advisory board to the City Manager). In the event that there are any political issues, the Mayor will interact
National Incident Management System: NIMS has been designed with the sole purpose of integrating emergency practices on all levels of government. These practices include mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery and NIMS provides the single platform where all these practices would merge in order to better respond to national terrorist crises. The strengths of the program are: 1. It provides standards for organizational structures, processes and procedures 2. It also offers standards for planning,
DHS The United States Department of Homeland Security was formed in response to the growing threat of international terrorism. Since its official inception in 2002, the Department's mandate has expanded to encompass immigration law enforcement and bolstered response to natural disasters affecting the United States. The DHS represented a significant restructuring of several American federal government agencies. The stated mission of the Department of Homeland Security, indicated on the Department's Web site,
On the other hand, the Department in itself was projected to deal with a large number of aspects surrounding homeland security. The arguments supporting the idea were focused on the principle that the citizens must be protected from foreign threats, such as terrorism, and they must be given the help needed to face the treacheries of nature. In aiming to accomplish the latter, the Federal Emergency Management Directorate was established.
They have also provided intelligent analysis to state, federal and local law enforcers promoting competency and improved support missions in and out of the United States. Navy and marine corps have participated in multi- service working groups to ensure to update and produce multi- service CBRNE defense. CBRNE is also incorporated into air command, where the training is incorporated into courses; the instruction in the course includes instructions addressing the
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