Texas Department of Public Safety

Local, State, Federal Partnerships

Local, State, and Federal Partnerships

Q1.Explain the chain-of-command structure when receiving information about a possible act of terrorism in your city. The incident is confirmed to be the work of terrorists. Now what?

The mayor (or city or county manager) is charged with providing strategic guidance and coordinating resources during an emergency. As part of the mayor's responsibility for the public's safety, he or she is charged with coordinating "preparation and training for effective response" and working with members of Congress and federal agencies to do so (NRF, 2014: 15). In the case of a confirmed act of terrorism this might include working with the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, or the CIA to not simply provide assistance and relief to affected individuals (as would be the case with a natural disaster) but also to gather information on the possible perpetrators. The city's local emergency manager is charged, in contrast, with the "day-to-day authority and responsibility for overseeing emergency management programs and activities" such as damage assessment (NRF, 2014: 16). Various department and agency heads also assist the emergency manager in specific emergency functions, such as providing food and supplies to displaced persons, dealing with environmental hazards, and constructing emergency shelters (NRF, 2014: 17-18). As well as government organizations, government agencies also coordinate their efforts with NGOs, or non-governmental organizations that provide critical relief to residents. These may include local organizations or national entities such as the Red Cross.

Q2. Review the NRF and the NIMS in reference to terrorism (e.g., explosions, shootings, biological attacks) and note the locations in these documents.

Security documents issued by these agencies not only denote general types of responses to terrorist attacks, but also specific responses to specific types of attacks. Terrorists have a wide range of potential weapons at their disposal, spanning from conventional means such as bombings and shootings to biological and even cyber-attacks. All of these different methods require their own response and different types of contingency planning and coordination. There must always be a balance between the need to provide standardized guidelines which can be implemented and specific detail. "The purpose of the NIMS is to provide a common approach for managing incidents. The concepts contained herein provide for a flexible but standardized set of incident management practices with emphasis on common principles, a consistent approach to operational structures and supporting mechanisms, and an integrated approach to resource management" (NIMS, 2014).

Q3.What do the documents note concerning biological, chemical, radiological, and nuclear terrorism?

Nonproliferation is a critical component of reducing biological, chemical, radiological, and nuclear terrorism. "Nonproliferation efforts have been a top U.S. priority for decades, reducing the amount of chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) material produced and stored by states, restricting the diversion of materials and expertise for illicit use, and preventing the trafficking of CBRN weapons and related material" (Chapter 4). Thus, addressing these types of terrorism cannot be healed by an immediate, local, or even federal agency-level solution. Geopolitical negotiations are required on an international level to reduce the risk of such weapons falling into the wrong hands. Although terrorists will still be able to engage in some types of biological or chemical warfare regardless of what agents are illegally circulating in the underground economy, nonproliferation agreements can hopefully reduce the severity and the scope of the weapons they have access to, as will joint policing efforts. International organizations such as the United Nations could also be very helpful in creating a coordinated response. Other examples of international cooperation include The Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT), co-chaired by the United States and Russia, which "is an international partnership of 83 nations and four official observer organizations dedicated to strengthening individual and collective capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to a nuclear terrorist event. Partners engage in multilateral activities and exercises designed to share best practices and lessons learned on a wide range of nuclear security and terrorism issues" (Chapter 4).

Q4.Go to the Texas Department of Public Safety website and find the document regarding the biological terrorism response plan. Summarize the document's strengths and weaknesses as a response plan in light of the prior questions and readings.