September 21, 2006 Infogram

This INFOGRAM will be distributed weekly to provide members of the Emergency Services Sector with information concerning the protection of their critical infrastructures. For further information, contact the Emergency Management and Response - Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) at (301) 447-1325 or by e-mail at emr-isac@dhs.gov.

Partnering for Critical Infrastructure Protection

American critical infrastructures such as the emergency services provide the foundation for every activity throughout the country. This reality is the main reason why many terrorism experts believe that U.S. national, state, and local critical infrastructures are targets. Transnational terrorists have repeatedly expressed their strategy, which is to hasten the collapse of the United States by ruining the national economy and morale through the destruction of indispensable critical infrastructures.

Considering the terrorist threat to critical infrastructures a serious one, the Emergency Management and Response - Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) recognizes the burden for critical infrastructure leaders, owners, and operators. These stakeholders must have the capability to individually and cooperatively prevent attacks and protect against them. Additionally, each critical infrastructure sector has to be able to expeditiously recover and restore services including public health and safety.

To meet this burden, the EMR-ISAC again recommends local or regional partnering of all key public, private, and non-profit infrastructure stakeholders. Public and private partnerships are essential to effectively analyze vulnerabilities, assess risks, validate priorities, and develop an action plan for a municipality or multiple communities within a region. Only a genuinely integrated approach with unprecedented local or regional collaboration will assure optimal preparedness, response, recovery, and restoration in a time-efficient and resource-restrained manner.

Basic Housekeeping Promotes CIP

Protective measures are more efficiently executed after critical infrastructures have been identified and determined to be credibly threatened, vulnerable, and also adverse to risk. In most cases, these protective measures or "countermeasures" will vary from the very costly and complicated to good "old-fashioned" basic housekeeping.

The Emergency Management and Response - Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) suggests that simple inexpensive procedures such as basic good housekeeping have the potential to reduce threats, hoaxes, and false alarms within a department or agency. An organization's personnel will enhance surveillance and deter concealment by implementing the following practices to decrease the number of places where adversaries can hide and harmful devices can be situated:

Keep entrances, exits, reception areas, stairs, halls, lavatories, etc., clean and orderly.
Minimize furniture, machinery, displays, etc., in the above areas.
Lock all unoccupied offices, conference rooms, storage areas, cabinetry, etc.
Ensure everything has a place and that items are returned to that place.
Insert locks or seals on maintenance hatches, HVAC ducts, etc.
Prune shrubs, trees, and all vegetation.
Keep all external areas neat and clean.

Critical Infrastructure Protection Multipliers

The Emergency Services Sector (ESS) has partners in the war on terrorism and the practice of critical infrastructure protection (CIP). One partner is Citizens on Patrol (COP). COP is a generic name used by many to describe a special group of law enforcement volunteers. Estimates indicate that there are more than 75,000 of these volunteers with groups in all 50 states.

Before their voluntary service begins, they are screened, undergo background checks, and are trained by their local law enforcement agency. Usually group members must wear identifiable uniforms and drive in marked patrol cars. Although not authorized to carry actual weapons, the volunteers have a powerful weapon - their established bond with local law enforcement and the ability to communicate with police by radio or cellular phone using special dedicated phone numbers.

Some volunteers observe and report suspicious activities at airports to assist Transportation Safety Administration officers and the airport police, while others act as goodwill ambassadors. Law enforcement volunteers conduct routine observations of critical infrastructures and businesses, check homes of absent neighbors, perform safety visits with the elderly and disabled, aid stranded motorists, and assist with traffic control at roadway incidents.

The familiarity of Citizen Patrol Groups with their area and vested interest in protecting fellow citizens and police officers enhance their value for their respective communities. They have been credited with reducing crime rates and saving law enforcement agencies thousands of dollars. Therefore, the Emergency Management and Response-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) suggests that ESS leaders consider Citizens on Patrol as CIP multipliers.

The non-profit National Association Citizens on Patrol (NACOP) was founded by, and for, Citizen Patrol Volunteers. For a list of COP member Web sites, NACOP newsletters, and additional information, visit the NACOP Web site.

Simplified Guide to the Incident Command System

As the numbers of vehicles on America's highways continue to increase, so has the number of traffic incidents or crashes resulting in injuries, death, and long delays. For these reasons, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) component of the Department of Transportation strongly endorsed the establishment and use of efficient traffic incident management. The FHWA asserted that excellent transportation system management and operations depend on the aggressive management of temporary highway disruptions and the consequences of the disruptions.

To implement the Incident Command System (ICS) as a systematic tool for the command, control, and coordination of highway incidents and crashes, the FHWA recently published a Simplified Guide to the Incident Command System for Transportation Professionals. The Simplified Guide is completely consistent with the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and introduces ICS to personnel who will respond to and provide assistance at highway incidents. These individuals include those from transportation agencies and companies involved in towing and recovery. The Guide is also intended for the police, fire, and emergency medical responders who are familiar with ICS, but not how ICS concepts are applicable to transportation entities.

Material in this Guide is based largely on the Model Procedures Guide for Highway Incidents developed by the National Fire Service Incident Management System Consortium. Interested members of the Emergency Services Sector can access this Guide online at the FHWA's Web site.

FAIR USE NOTICE

This INFOGRAM may contain copyrighted material that was not specifically authorized by the copyright owner. EMR-ISAC personnel believe this constitutes "fair use" of copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use copyrighted material contained within this document for your own purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Reporting Notice

DHS and the FBI encourage recipients of this document to report information concerning suspicious or criminal activity to DHS and/or the FBI. The DHS National Operation Center (NOC) can be reached by telephone at 202-282-9685 or by e-mail at NOC.Fusion@dhs.gov.

The FBI regional phone numbers can be found online at www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm

For information affecting the private sector and critical infrastructure, contact the National Infrastructure Coordinating Center (NICC), a sub-element of the NOC. The NICC can be reached by telephone at 202-282-9201 or by e-mail at NICC@dhs.gov.

When available, each report submitted should include the date, time, location, type of activity, number of people and type of equipment used for the activity, the name of the submitting company or organization, and a designated point of contact.

Weekly INFOGRAM's are now available as an RSS Feed. More Information »