D.C. region officials finalize strategic security plan
Sep 21, 2006 3:39 PM
Two years of planning and effort have led officials from the Washington region to approve a Homeland security strategic plan, which includes steps to improve disaster response.
The 118-page plan takes aim at one of the main problems in coping with a disaster: the fragmentation of the region, which includes more than 20 cities and counties and scores of federal agencies, spread out over two states and the District, the Washington Post reports.
"This is actually a very significant milestone in regional preparedness," Gerald E. Connolly, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors tells the newspaper.
The report was delivered a year later than promised, and several months after a hearing at which U.S. senators blasted regional officials and the Department of Homeland Security for moving too slowly. The plan outlines goals for Homeland security spending and activities for the next three years.
Officials emphasized that the plan is a blueprint for improvements -- not a manual on responding to a terror attack.
"When something bad happens . . . this is not the document you pick up to figure out what to do," says Edward D. Reiskin, the District's deputy mayor for public safety. Local governments already have such plans, he adds.
Drawing up the plan turned out to be an elaborate process, because it involved so many officials at different levels of government, as well as business groups and nonprofit organizations, officials said.
The new plan is divided into four areas. The first, "Planning and Decision-making," includes such steps as hiring and training more staff and testing the effectiveness of programs. The second, "Community Engagement," includes programs to set up an outdoor emergency warning system and provide Homeland security messages in different languages.
The third area, "Prevention and Protection," involves such projects as improving communication among first-responders and increasing the number of hospital beds for a crisis. The fourth, "Response and Recovery," tackles such needs as decontaminating victims of a chemical attack and purchasing more satellite telephones for each jurisdiction, the newspaper reports.
Each objective includes a timeline and budget estimate. Officials plan to review the plan every three months to measure progress.
For more on emergency response in the National Capitol Region, see Michael Fickes' article in the June issue of GOVERNMENT SECURITY, NCR's Rapid Response
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