Security Planning of a City - Essay Example

of the of the of the Security Planning It is the aim of the Center for the Study of High Consequence Event Preparedness and Response to prepare the country to face high consequence issues. Security assessment has to encourage the development of sophisticated and creative technologies. This Center has to collaborate with the Department of Homeland Security Centers of Excellence. The various aspects of importance in this endeavor are preparedness, which entails governmental and first responder preparedness, community preparedness, national preparedness and private sector preparedness. Further, the preparedness of the nation as a whole in order to counter threats to the homeland has also to be investigated by it (Department Of Homeland Security Centers). In this endeavor, attention has to be given to the provision of gas masks to the public and the shortcomings in tackling terrorist attacks, natural calamities and emergencies has to be ascertained. In addition, it is essential to estimate the extent of safety enjoyed by citizens, governments, communities, businesses and systems of information technologies in the context of such attacks, calamities and emergencies. The cost effective nature of preparedness in respect of uncertain and unpredictable has also to be estimated (Department Of Homeland Security Centers). Another vital aspect to be considered is that of prevention and deterrence, and the measures that have to be adopted with regard to terrorist attacks and natural calamities. There has to be a substantial improvement in vigilance, intelligence gathering and situational awareness. The modus operandi of terrorist threats requires significantly different forms of prevention and deterrence. This can be achieved by resorting to a careful analysis of terrorist events. Such analysis requires a complete understanding of the high consequence events and their unique characteristics, especially when weapons of mass destruction are involved (Department Of Homeland Security Centers). Decision making is a very important aspect of this exercise. There has to be a commitment to comprehend the manner in which decisions are made in respect of high consequence events (Department Of Homeland Security Centers). Moreover, it is essential to resort to modeling and simulation so that an approximation can be obtained in respect of the actual incident to be encountered. A well designed model can prove to be immensely useful in countering terrorist and other threats (Department Of Homeland Security Centers). In order to respond to major emergencies, networks have to be established, which on occasion function beyond the traditional means of communications. The individuals' participation in pacifying major homeland security crises and the constitution of social networks are necessary for countering major emergencies. Formation of temporary or event - based networks are better equipped to handle such events. Hazard, economic, transportation and other modeling operations should be rehearsed as they result in an understanding of the causes and effects of emergencies. Moreover, they are helpful in identifying and adopting suitable action during crises (Department Of Homeland Security Centers). Of these aspects decision making is the most important and if a mistake is committed, while taking a decision, then the consequences can be disastrous. Further, the damage caused can be much higher if a wrong decision is taken. 2. Government at the federal, state, and local level must actively collaborate and partner with the private sector, which controls 85 percent of America's infrastructure . . . the nation's infrastructure protection effort must harness the capabilities of the private sector to achieve a prudent level of security without hindering productivity, trade, or economic growth. - The President's National Strategy for Homeland Security. The federal government has the capacity to organize, convene, and coordinate broadly across governmental jurisdictions and the private sector. It has the responsibility to develop coherent national policies, strategies, and programs for implementation. In the context of homeland security, the federal government will coordinate the complementary efforts and capabilities of government and private institutions to raise our level of protection over the long term as appropriate for each of our critical infrastructures and key assets. Every terrorist event has a potential national impact. The federal government will, therefore, take the lead to ensure that the three principal objectives detailed in the Introduction of this Strategy are met. For example, in the state of Illinois the Infrastructure Security Awareness Program or ISA was implemented in order to enhance the flexibility of the state's battle against terrorism. This program mainly utilizes community based strategies and the expertise of corporate sector security professionals in order to discover and deter crime and terrorism (The Infrastructure Security Awareness Program ). The Homeland Security Department has established an internet portal; appropriately named as the Homeland Security Information Network, so that there can be an exchange of vital information between the members of this project. Some of the information provided by the Homeland Security Information Network can be classified as theft occurring in the retail sector, situational awareness, a library containing relevant documents and a calendar or schedule for imparting training and recording important events (The Infrastructure Security Awareness Program ). It would be of immense help if personnel like directors of security, managers and supervisors whose job role entails the operation, maintenance or supervision of vital infrastructure participate in this program. Similarly, criminal and terrorist activities could be reduced significantly, if managerial staff and security directors working for commercial organizations that possess critical assets participated in this program (The Infrastructure Security Awareness Program ). Despite the passage of several years after 9/11, the USA has not geared up its security to a sufficient extent. This has rendered it susceptible to natural disasters and terrorist attacks. There are serious lacunae in most of the states in respect of tackling emergencies and even the much publicized airline passenger screening and enhanced airport security is not up to the mark. The major reason for this sorry state of affairs is that the private sector has not contributed significantly to improving the security of the nation, despite the fact that it owns eighty five percent of the vital infrastructures. Moreover, the Bush government is chary of imposing any security standards on the private sector. 3. In order to instill enthusiasm in the employees, the management has to fulfill three goals to encourage their employees. These are first, equity; all the employees are to be given equal treatment with regard to their salaries, benefits and job security. Second, achievement, the accomplishments of the employees are to be given due recognition so that the employees should feel pride in doing their job. Third, camaraderie, the management must assure that good relations exist between the workers and management. These requirements are essential in order to maintain an intensely interested workforce (Sirota, Mischkind and Meltzer). Fulfilling these three goals of equity, achievement and camaraderie, and providing security enhance the productivity of the employees. Furthermore, there are other issues, which relate to achievement and include, instilling an inspiring purpose, in which the manager requires to clearly explain to his subordinates the importance of the task and the reason behind the mission. Managers are required to recognize the contributions of the employees without declaring them to be insignificant. It is essential for managers to behave as expediters and not as commanders or controlling authorities, as the latter behavior could demotivate employees (Sirota, Mischkind and Meltzer). The present work environment requires team work to achieve targets. Such team work provides inspiration and motivation to the team members. Hence promoting team work is important and managers have to promote teams so that they can be self - supportive and self - managed. This enables these teams to have control over intricate issues, like quality control, scheduling and other work strategies. Self - sufficient teams need less management and result in a reduction in costs (Sirota, Mischkind and Meltzer). A careful assessment is required in creating teams. In this exercise it is mandatory to consider the competences of the team members, so that a mixture of competences could be achieved. Since, employees constitute a rich source of information regarding the various aspects of a job, managers must implement a participative operation so as to reap rewards in efficiency and quality of work (Sirota, Mischkind and Meltzer). 4. Workplace violence has been defined by the Workplace Violence Research Institute as an act committed in relation to an employee that renders the milieu of the workplace violent. Instances of such acts are assaults of the physical or verbal variety, danger, compulsion and harassment. In a study conducted by the Northwestern Life Insurance Company, it was discovered that one fourth of the workers had been subjected to workplace violence. The perpetrators of such violence were mainly colleagues at the work place and customers to a lesser extent. However, if the employer had implemented a competent system of addressing grievances and harassment, then there was a drastic reduction in incidents of work place violence (Kaufer and Mattman). The American Management Association conducted a similar study and established that half of the companies that they had surveyed had acknowledged that they had countenanced incidents of work place violence in their establishments. Incidents of such violence had transpired in thirty percent of the surveyed workplaces and out of these twenty five percent of such incidents had been committed by an existing employee. In nine percent of the cases such violence had been perpetrated by a former employee (Kaufer and Mattman). In a study conducted by the US Department of Justice it was established that there had been around a thousand incidents of homicide at the workplace and that colleagues and former employees had accounted for fifty nine of such murders. Customers had committed around forty murders and the prediction of the study was that twenty five percent of employees would have to face work place violence (Kaufer and Mattman). The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health or the NIOSH, has stated that the danger of falling victim to homicide was enhanced by indulging in acts that involved an exchange of money with members of the public; making it a practice to either work alone or in small groups; cultivating the habit of commencing work in the early hours of the morning, continuing to work very late in the night; working in areas that have very high rates of crime; attempting to guard or protect property that was valuable and electing to work in places that have a community setting (U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety & Health Administration). Concrete measures have to be adopted to ensure that the work force functions in a secure and congenial ambience. Employees' working conditions, job satisfaction and improvement programmes should be accorded a great deal of importance. Further, employees should not hesitate to communicate with the management. A clear message should be sent out to everyone in the establishment that workplace violence will be treated very seriously. Moreover, a system for dealing with potential violence should be implemented (Strategies for Reducing Violence in the Workplace ). Intervention neutralizes a potentially volatile incident of workplace violence and does not focus on determining the seriousness of the offense or on arriving at a final judgement. Its purpose is to indicate that the management will prevent such incidents in the future and award stringent punishment to the guilty. (Strategies for Reducing Violence in the Workplace ). The organization can either commence recovery immediately or it can procrastinate and squander vital assets (Strategies for Reducing Violence in the Workplace ). Recovery is the last component of this process and constitutes a measure of the resilience of an organization to restore the status quo ante. (Strategies for Reducing Violence in the Workplace ). Employees should be trained to respond in a non violent manner while resolving conflicts. A holistic approach that includes appropriate training to the staff should be adopted towards controlling and preventing workplace violence. In addition, there should be an emphasis on strictly complying with administrative guidelines and controls, and there should be general awareness regarding such violence (Violence in the Workplace, RISK FACTORS AND PREVENTION STRATEGIES). 5. The US Federal Aviation Administration or the FAA commenced to check passengers and baggage in the year 1973. The US Federal Government assumed charge of airport security, in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Subsequently, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act was implemented by the United States Congress. This act made the checking of baggage and passengers more stringent and every item of luggage was subjected to special checks with special devices that could detect explosives. Moreover, the number of armed federal marshals on domestic flights was enhanced and international airlines were required to furnish details of the passengers that they would have on board, prior to the take off of those flights, to the US Custom officials (Nolan). However, the Homeland Security Dept. Secretary Michael Chertoff stated that terrorists could separately a number of innocuous substances on board that would on combination constitute a deadly explosive. His apprehension was that it would not be always possible to detect such materials, which could have disastrous consequences (Halperin). The present age is characterized by stupendous advances in science that have been successfully used to improve the quality of life and to solve several of the problems faced by the people of the US. The influence of science and technology on every facet of life has been overwhelming. It has become essential to use these resources are utilized in order to ensure that Americans continue to lead a safe and prosperous life (Strategic Planning Document - National Security. The Vision). Works Cited Department Of Homeland Security Centers. Center for the Study of High Consequence Event Preparedness and Response. 9 July 2007 . Halperin, Alex. "Airport Security Goes High - Tech." Business Week Online 11 August 2006. Kaufer, Steve and Jurg W Mattman. Workplace Violence: An Employer's Guide . 10 July 2007 . Nolan, Michael S. "Airport." Microsoft Encarta 2006. [DVD]. Microsoft Corporation, 2006. Sirota, David, Louis A. Mischkind and Michael Irwin Meltzer. Why Your Employees Are Losing Motivation. 10 April 2006. 10 July 2007 . Strategic Planning Document - National Security. The Vision. 10 July 2007 . Strategies for Reducing Violence in the Workplace . 20 June 2006. 10 July 2007 . The Infrastructure Security Awareness Program . 2003. 10 July 2007 . U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety & Health Administration. 10 July 2007 . Violence in the Workplace, RISK FACTORS AND PREVENTION STRATEGIES. 16 July 1996. 10 July 2007 . Read More