Earlier this month, I wrote about Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s announcement that the Department was launching a national “See Something, Say Something” initiative.
In order to help develop the new program, FEMA’s Individual and Community Preparedness Division is partnering with the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) to research how to improve the public’s response to suspicious activity. FEMA and IACP plan to present the research findings and recommendations at the police group’s Annual Conference in late October.
I think it is a terrific partnership which recognizes that the while the local “See Something, Say Something” campaigns are viewed as successful, law enforcement authorities are not yet fully tapping the public’s potential as a homeland security asset. The challenge is new, sensitive and requires some careful study both in the content and distribution which I expect it will receive from the joint FEMA/IACP research.
More details on the project should be forthcoming soon, and I will report on them here.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Dr. Marchand // Jul 13, 2010 at 11:18 am
FEMA is wasting tax money by interfeing with local law enforcement citizens and law enforcement have already demonstrated capacity to respond but FEMA has not FEMA needs to do whar it is qualified to do: write checks
2 Roberto // Jul 13, 2010 at 7:41 pm
Hmmm, to what extent do these programs produce valuable intelligence versus wasting law enforcement time and effort and infringing citizen privacy and rights by putting public security surveillance in the hands (and eyes) of untrained people.
3 As DHS & FEMA Develop New National Citizen Terrorism Tips Campaign, Addressing Public Skepticism Will Be Key // Jul 19, 2010 at 10:43 pm
[...] week, I wrote about a new partnership between the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the International Association of Chiefs [...]
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