CIP Update

March 20, 2009

This newsletter is for public agencies, businesses, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders involved or interested in public-private partnerships for joint emergency preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery.

Michigan State University (MSU) produces the newsletter through the Critical Incident Protocol (CIP)-Community Facilitation Program under a grant awarded by the Training & Exercise Integration/Training Operations, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This newsletter provides ideas, suggestions, best practices, and lessons learned to establish critical incident protocols using public-private partnerships.

Michigan State University through the CIP Program will “enhance cities, counties, and region’s capabilities to prepare for, respond to, and recover from man-made and natural disasters through public and private sector collaboration, communication, and cooperation.”  MSU facilitates public-private partnerships and the CIP Program is free of charge to participating communities.

Please visit our website at www.cip.msu.edu for more information about the program.

Participating Communities in the CIP Program
The CIP Program has been initiated in 45 communities in 23 states with over 3,800 participants establishing community public-private partnerships for joint management of critical incidents. We are looking to work with other cities, counties and regions. Is there a location in the nation that you think may be interested in developing a public-private partnership? If so, please let us know.

Currently, we are working with the following communities:
Alabama:  Hoover
Arizona:  Casa Grande
California:  Mountain View
Colorado:  Littleton
Connecticut:  Norwalk

Florida:  Western Panhandle
Illinois:  Lake-Cook Regional, Libertyville, Naperville
Indiana:  Evansville
Kansas:  Douglas County
Maryland:  Annapolis, Carroll County, Rockville
Michigan:  Detroit, Marquette County, Monroe, Oakland County
Missouri/Illinois:  Gateway Citizen Corps Coalition, St. Louis
Montana:  Lewis & Clark County
Nevada:  Clark County, Northern Nevada
North Carolina:  Buncombe County, Greensboro
Ohio:  Brooklyn
Pennsylvania:  Allentown, Bethlehem, Northampton County, Perkiomen Valley

South Carolina:  Columbia, Horry County
Texas:  Dallas
Utah:  Layton, Sandy City
Virginia:  Arlington County, Richmond
Washington:  Redmond
Wisconsin:  Brown County, Dane County, Eau Claire County, Milwaukee, Outagamie County, Racine County, Superior, Winnebago County

Status of CIP Program

On March 17, 2009, we notified the readers of the CIP Update newsletter and other stakeholders that the CIP Program will not receive continuation funding; therefore, the program and staff will be terminated around August 2009.  In the meantime, we will continue to provide program services and if anything changes, we will notify you.

Application for Award in Public/Private Cooperation (Due May 1, 2009)

The 2009 Michael Shanahan Award for Excellence in Public/Private Cooperation is being offered by the International Association Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the Security Industry Association (SIA).  The award seeks to recognize outstanding achievement in the development and implementation of public/private cooperation in public safety.  It also recognizes agencies that have demonstrated outstanding achievement in cooperative efforts in public safety.  Travel expenses to the conference will be provided for the winner (one representative from a private security organization and one representative from a law enforcement organization).

The deadline for submission of the application is May 1, 2009.  To learn more, please go to:

http://www.theiacp.org/About/Awards/TheMichaelShanahanAward/tabid/98/Default.aspx.
For additional information, contact Nancy Kolb at (800) 843-4227, ext. 813 or kolbn@theiacp.org.

We encourage you to take a few minutes to go to the IACP website and read the information and application.  During times of economic strife, such as what the nation is experiencing, it is particularly important to acknowledge and promote collaboration between the private and public sectors in public safety.

A Public/Private Partnership’s Mission and Purpose

One progressive community we are working with is Eau Claire County, Wisconsin.  Many participants are committed to the partnership and recognize the value in sustaining their efforts through validating the processes.  They have selected the name Disaster Ready Chippewa Valley (DRVC) for their group, along with formalizing their strategic plan.  The plan includes a purpose, organizational mission, structure, objectives, education, and out-reach activities.

Occasionally, we receive inquires about creating a new partnership organization’s mission, purpose, and objectives.  Listed below is The Disaster Ready Chippewa Valley’s Purpose Statement:

Protect life and property, and allow for the efficient, effective recovery of businesses

and the community, should a disaster occur.  If Eau Claire area businesses are prepared for a disaster, then our community is better prepared.  (Memo of January 21, 2009 by DRVC).

The DRVC Organizational Mission Statement is to:

Ensure community preparedness for disaster threats in the Eau Claire area by:

· Providing businesses with the tools to assess their risks and develop appropriate plans

· Developing an effective system of coordinating response and resources in times of emergency

· Increasing private sector involvement in community-wide planning and procedures (Memo of January 21, 2009 by DRVC).

We hope that this information will provide ideas for other partnership groups who are looking to formalize their work.

Homeland Security Training – Vigilant, Prepared and Resilient Communities & Embracing Tribal Partnerships

The Western Community Policing Institute, Monmouth, Oregon has a history of providing quality training programs using a community-outreach approach to homeland security.  They focus on collaboration and the best efforts of the whole community, including the public and private sector. 

Here are a few programs that you might be interested in:

“Creating Vigilant, Prepared, and Resilient Communities for Homeland Security” is for developing strong partnerships, enhancing networking capabilities, and organizing community infrastructures in the war on terrorism and other events of national significance.  This is a two-day course.

“The Leader’s Role in Creating Vigilant, Prepared, and Resilient Communities” is designed to increase public safety executives’ level of terrorism awareness and preparation skills using an all-hazards foundation.  Upon course completion, participants will have developed an initial plan for addressing anti-terrorism and all-hazards issues.  This is a one-day course.

“Embracing Tribal Partnerships for Regional Homeland Security Collaboration” seeks to encourage all relevant stakeholders, tribal and non-tribal to create and sustain collaborative partnerships.  Participants will focus on homeland security and tribal infrastructure protection on tribal lands.  The course offers “hands-on” application and insight into the community’s role and responsibility in managing homeland security and national/domestic events using an all-hazards approach.  This is a two-day course.

For more information on the Western Community Policing Institute and these courses, please go to http://www.westernrcpi.com.

Good Samaritan Laws for Public and Private Response to Critical Incidents

During a number of program workshops, the CIP staff has been asked about Good Samaritan laws that could “provide coverage to the private sector” during emergency response activities in critical incidents.  The state of Nevada has laws that provide an example for those states who are looking for examples.  The statues are NRS 414.110 and NRS 414.120, which are listed below.

NRS 414.110 Immunity and exemption.

      1.  All functions under this chapter and all other activities relating to emergency management are hereby declared to be governmental functions. Neither the State nor any political subdivision thereof nor other agencies of the State or political subdivision thereof, nor except in cases of willful misconduct, gross negligence, or bad faith, any worker complying with or reasonably attempting to comply with this chapter, or any order or regulation adopted pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, or pursuant to any ordinance relating to any necessary emergency procedures or other precautionary measures enacted by any political subdivision of the State, is liable for the death of or injury to persons, or for damage to property, as a result of any such activity. The provisions of this section do not affect the right of any person to receive benefits to which he would otherwise be entitled under this chapter, or under the provisions of chapters 616A to 616D, inclusive, or chapter 617 of NRS, or under any pension law, nor the right of any such person to receive any benefits or compensation pursuant to any act of Congress.

      2.  Any requirement for a license to practice any professional, mechanical or other skill does not apply to any authorized worker who, in the course of performing his duties as such, practices that professional, mechanical or other skill during an emergency or disaster.

      3.  As used in this section, “worker” includes, without limitation, any full-time or part-time paid, volunteer or auxiliary employee of this State, of any political subdivision thereof, of other states, territories, possessions or the District of Columbia, of the Federal Government, of any neighboring country, or of any political subdivision thereof, or of any agency or organization, performing services for emergency management at any place in this State subject to the order or control of, or pursuant to a request of, the State Government or any political subdivision thereof.

      [11:293:1953]—(NRS A 1983, 173; 1999, 236, 1247) (Nevada Revised Statues, 2009).

NRS 414.120 Limitation on liability of private persons. Any person owning or controlling real property or other premises who voluntarily and without compensation grants a license or privilege, or otherwise permits the designation or use of the whole or any part or parts of such real property or premises to shelter persons during an actual, impending, mock or practice attack, or during an emergency or disaster as described in NRS 414.020, and his successors in interest, if any, are not civilly liable for negligently causing the death of, or injury to, any person on or about such real property or premises, or for loss of, or damage to, the property of such a person.

      [12:293:1953]—(NRS A 1999, 1248) (Nevada Revised Statues, 2009).

Or, one can go directly to http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-414.html#NRS414Sec110.

Test your Readiness Quotient?

From our friends at FEMA Region V, they wanted to remind everyone of this simple online test offered by The Council for Excellence in Government (CEG).  According their website, “From power outages to terrorist attacks . . . hurricanes or tornados . . . floods to fires . . . the most important message is simple:  Be Prepared.  Get Ready. Be Informed. But how do you know if you are ready enough?  How do you know that you’ve done all the right things to be prepared? Take the RQ Test and find out. RQ stands for Readiness Quotient . . .and was developed by a broad coalition of experts.  Through rigorous testing and validation, experts agree these ten simple questions are actually the most predictive of an individual’s preparedness. The RQ Test scores you on what you know and have already done to get prepared.  It also provides you with the simple steps to take to improve your score and increase your preparedness (CEG, 2009)”.

The RQ tool is for individuals, families, businesses, government, and schools to determine and evaluate their readiness.  To learn more, please go to http://www.whatsyourrq.org/test.shtml.

Recent Postings to the CIP Information Exchange Website
The CIP Information Exchange website is a large database for public and private sector professionals interested in homeland security, emergency preparedness, business continuity, disaster recovery, and emergency management.  It also contains research publications, government documents, news items, and more.

To enter the ‘CIP Information Exchange’ database, please go to https://angel.msu.edu and using the drop-down menu, select Angel Guest Account.  Click on ‘proceed’, and on the next webpage, enter “msu.msu” in the Angel Guest User box and “partnership” (both without quotation marks) as the password to log on.  On the next page, click on Critical Incident Protocol (CIP) – Community Facilitation, which launches to the main menu.

Located in the folder "Bulletin Board - Information for all Communities" are a variety of recent postings, including:

· DHS Interaction with State & Local Fusions Centers: Concept of Operations

· Impacts of Economic Environment on Security (ASIS)

· Protecting our Nation’s Infrastructure

There are numerous other resources located on the website. To locate a specific topic, utilize the "search" function on the left side.  On top left side click on “guide” and when the sidebar box opens, go to the bottom in the box and click on “search” and follow the directions. 

Past Newsletters
If you are interested in viewing past CIP Update newsletters, please go to www.cip.msu.edu and select "Newsletters" from the main menu.

Closing
If you have any topics and/or ideas for a future CIP Update newsletter, please contact Brit Weber at weberbr@msu.edu or (517) 355-2227 or other MSU staff members. About every three weeks you will receive this newsletter via email. If you no longer wish to be on this list, please reply to this email.

Disclaimer
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or Michigan State University.

Sources

Disaster ready Chippewa Valley (DRVC).  (January 21, 2009).  Memo from Tom Gillett and Hal Swanstrom, Co-Chairmen on Committee Structure for Disaster Ready Chippewa Valley.

The Council for Excellence in Government (CEG).  (2009).  Retrieved on March 20, 2009 from http://www.whatsyourrq.org/test.shtml.

Nevada Revised Statutes.  (2009).  Retrieved on March 20, 2009 from http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-414.html#NRS414Sec110.

Brit Weber
Program Director
CIP-Community Facilitation Program
School of Criminal Justice
Michigan State University
1407 S. Harrison Rd., 335 Nisbet Bldg.
East Lansing, MI 48823
Work:  (517)  355-2227   Cell:  (517) 206-1640
weberbr@msu.edu
Please visit our website:  http://www.cip.msu.edu