Jurisdictional Emergency Planning for Domestic Terrorism

Despite the confluence of multiple unprecedented existential threats to the United States and its citizens, including an ongoing global pandemic which is proving remarkably resilient, intensifying climate change and corresponding global warming, as well as Russian and North Korean dictators who are increasingly rattling their nuclear-tipped sabers, many security analysts agree that the most pressing threat facing America today is domestic terrorism. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the relevant literature to develop an informed and timely discussion concerning the respective roles of the local, state, and federal jurisdictions as they relate to the preparation plan process, mitigation practices, and area evacuation for each jurisdiction. Following this discussion, the paper presents a summary of the research and key findings about preparing for and responding to domestic terrorism threats in an effective fashion in the conclusion.

Preparation Planning

Although it is impossible to predict if and when a domestic terrorism incident will occur, it is still critically important for public and private sector leaders at the local, state and federal levels to prepare for this eventuality in order to minimize harm to persons and property and to facilitate recovery efforts (McEntire, 2019). For this purpose, preparation planning for potential domestic terrorism attacks requires the use of a threat assessment. For instance, according to McEntire (2019), A threat assessment is a careful study of the targets that might be appealing to terrorists (p. 210). The proactive activities that are needed for this purpose vary depending on the jurisdiction, but generally include a risk assessment of potential hard targets such as key assets and critical infrastructure (discussed further below) as well as soft targets such as shopping malls, schools and government buildings (McEntire, 2019).

In the event that communities are sufficiently large or contain an inordinately large number of potential targets such as towns near important military bases, civic leaders at the local or state levels may elect to create an emergency response team that is tasked with coordinating such risk assessments and keeping them current (McEntire, 2019). In any event, local business leaders are in an especially good position to help identify potential terrorist targets based on their intimate knowledge of the communities in which they compete.

In the context of domestic terrorism, hard targets that include critical infrastructure...

…his associates report that, No-notice emergency events refer to unpredictable disasters such as earthquakes, chemical spills, or terrorist attacks, where it is impracticable to forewarn the public about their occurrence and design evacuation plans for them (2019, p. 364). Here again, while much of the impetus for identifying potential evacuation routes prior to or following a domestic terrorism attack is on local communities, state and federal departments of transportation can provide timely guidance concerning how best to approach this problem.

Conclusion

Although many of the jurisdictional responsibilities overlap, the research was consistent in showing that there are multiple steps that local, state and federal authorities can take in coordination with the private sector to help protect American communities from domestic terrorism attacks. Densely populated urban areas that are replete with numerous critical infrastructure and key assets are at greatest risk of domestic terrorism, but the research also showed that these threats extend into the very heartland of the United States and no one is 100% safe from terrorist attacks. In the final analysis, it is reasonable to conclude that the extent to which local, state and federal authorities are effective in their planning practices for domestic terrorism will…