CIP Update

November 14, 2008

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 44 communities in 23 states with over 3,500 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
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

CIP Program Activities

November 18, 2008:  Dearborn, MI (Overview of CIP Program)

December 01, 2008: Lake-Cook Regional, IL (Facilitating Tabletop Exercise)

December 11, 2008: Outagamie County, WI (Facilitating Tabletop Exercise)

January 13, 2009:  Romulus, MI (Initiating CIP Program)

January 21, 2009:  Superior, WI (Facilitating Tabletop Exercise)

February 26, 2009:  Eau Claire County, WI (Facilitating Tabletop Exercise)

Working Through the CIP Program

A couple months ago the CIP staff initiated the program with the City of Detroit whose interest focused upon the high-profile downtown area.  At the workshop, there was a diverse team of public and private sector professionals representing city, county, state, and federal entities, as well as non-profit organizations.  From the business sector, Olympia Entertainment, MGM Detroit, Motor City Casino, General Motors Corporation, Greektown Casino, Ilitch Holdings, and others worked together to build the relationships.  These individuals discussed assessing risks using the Incident Command System for joint response, and much more.  When it came time to identify opportunities (planning, training, exercising, and information sharing), determine available resources, and discuss the needs, the participants offered many suggestions. 

Here are some of the suggestions these professionals shared:

• Media should participate in a tabletop exercise, and provide a pre-exercise media release
• Develop a communication tree, including non-traditional flow of information
• Host town hall meetings throughout the city to demonstrate the benefits of public/private partnerships
• Tap into private sector expertise to assist with public sector critical incidents
• Create a schedule of joint public-private training drills
• Determine if private sector technology can be integrated into public sector systems
• Create a lesson learned clearinghouse from special events that occurred in past
• Coordinate the partnership with professional associations
• Create a website for sharing information and intelligence between the sectors
• Liaise with small businesses in order to enhance their level of preparedness
• Use utility networks, such as DTE, AT&T, cell phones and other companies to provide information
• Ensure that existing plans incorporate public-private partnering, such as the Buffer Zone Protection Plan, Downtown Detroit Neighborhood Watch Program, and others
• Verify the “basics” are current and readily accessible, such as identifying evacuation shelters, updating city evacuation plans, and other plans and procedures
• Reduce costs by sharing items, such as security/surveillance systems, and other technology, facilities, information, personnel, and hardware.

As you can see, communities across the nation are looking to build similar relationships through specific initiatives.

Success of Community Recovery Depends on Private Sector

In their article, A New Model for Hazard Mitigation and Long Term Recovery Planning, Jane Bullock and George Haddow state that for, “every dollar spent on hazard mitigation results in four dollars in savings in disaster assistance” (Bullock & Haddow, 2008, pg.1).  The authors purport that hazard mitigation holds a role of second place in the nation’s emergency management system while funding has been reduced over recent years.  Further, more can be done in the area of the private sector’s needs and the value that the private sector offers in emergency management.

Bullock and Haddow also noted, “We propose that the functions of mitigation and long term recovery be supported by a different quasi-governmental structure that would promote a significant partnership with the private sector… …When a community recovers from a disaster, the success of their efforts is very dependent on how quickly the infrastructure that supports the private sector is restored” (Bullock & Haddow, 2008, pg. 2).

The above authors include a former FEMA Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff and propose that a new entity be created of public and private sector representatives to direct mitigation implementation and long term recovery programs.

IACP, ASIS, NSA, BENS, and DHS Collaboration on Public/Private Partnerships

Over the years, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the American Society for Industrial Society (ASIS) through their respective corporate staff and committees have been working together on specific ways to enhance collaboration.  Last week, the CIP staff conducted a briefing on the status of partnerships nationally, along with opportunities to the IACP Private Sector Liaison Committee and the ASIS Law Enforcement Liaison Council in San Diego.  In addition, the President of the National Sheriffs’ Association attended.  These organizations recognized the need to present to their membership across the nation the value in partnering and how to work together.

The main focus of the CIP staff is to promote partnerships at the city, county, and regional level by delivering workshops to new communities through the CIP Program and to assist current communities participating in the program.  The workshops began in 2002, and since 1998, we have produced a publication and various other initiatives.  Today, there is more discussion on partnerships, such as the IACP and ASIS collaboration, and between the local, tribal, state, and federal levels, business groups and others.  For example, Business Executives for National Security (BENS), which created partnerships around the nation, is looking at what can be done nationally to assist new and current partnerships.

Also, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has formed a Regional Consortium Coordinating Council (RCCC) as their last step in the implementation of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP).  The goal of the RCCC is to serve as the focal point between DHS and the Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources (CIKR) in the nation.  Additionally, RCCC will look to energize at the community level the protection of critical infrastructure through existing regional partnerships and other entities.

Therefore, our support and encouragement to you who are championing these efforts; however, there is much more that needs to be done.  We continue to seek new communities to work with on developing partnerships.

Private Sector Critical Homeland Security Initiatives for the Obama Administration (GAO)

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is the investigative arm of Congress which seeks to improve the responsibilities of the federal government.  Recently, a list of thirteen “urgent issues” was indentified as those needing attention of President-elect Barrack Obama.  Among the list are the following which pertain to public and private sectors:

• Coordinating with federal, state and local governments, and private sector partners to prevent, prepare for, and respond to acts of terrorism and other disasters
• Strengthening the protection and resiliency of the nation’s cyber and other critical infrastructure, including the banking and finance, transportation, and energy sectors
• Improving the sharing of intelligence, law enforcement, and homeland security information between federal, state, local, private sector, and international partners (Kinery, 2008).

For more information on GAO and their recommendations, please go to: http://www.gao.gov/transition_2009.

Private Sector Equipment/Grants for Public Emergency Services Sector

Public sector first responder agencies can apply through January 9, 2009, for the award of a Polaris Ranger 6X6 utility vehicle sponsored by the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company through their Operation Ranger program. This program recognizes the dedication and services of first responders and provided nearly 80 vehicles to organizations in 2008, and has awarded more than 450 off-road vehicles nationally since the program launched in 2002.  For more information, please go to: http://www.ustinc.com/corp_giving/operation.asp.

Also, Georgia-Pacific launched their Bucket Brigade program provides grants, educational awareness materials, product donations, as well as volunteers to assist fire departments in locations where Georgia-Pacific has nearby facilities in the United States.  More than $300,000 has been awarded to fire departments in at least 50 communities since 2005.  For additional information, please go to: http://www.gp.com/aboutus/bucketbrigade/help.html.

Our thanks to EMR-ISAC CIP INFOGRAM for making us aware of this important information.

Free Webinar on Business Continuity Practices – Nov. 19th

Varolii and the Disaster Resource GUIDE (DRG) is offering this webinar on the latest practices and trends in business continuity, which was compiled from their 2008 Annual Survey of over 700 professionals.  The webinar will focus on trends and figures, along with identifying the major influences on business continuity, and the growing focus on employee accountability and workforce continuity.

The webinar is scheduled for November 19, 2008 at 1:00pm EST.  To learn more, please go to:

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/681503498.

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’ website, you can either access it through our main website at www.cip.msu.edu and click on ‘members only’, which will redirect you to https://angel.msu.edu and click on Angel Guest Account from the drop-down menu.  Click on ‘proceed’ and in the next webpage box, enter “msu.msu” in the Angel Guest User box and “partnership” (both without quotation marks) as the password and then click on Log On. On the next page, click on Critical Incident Protocol (CIP) – Community Facilitation, which then launches you to the main menu.

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

· Business Continuity Event Planning: Business Impact Analysis (CSO & CIO)

· National Gang Intelligence Center

· A Resource Guide on Risk Management

· Risk Management & the Law:  How Liable is Your Organization? (ICOR)

· 2008-2008 13^th Annual Disaster Resource Guide

There are numerous other resources located on the website. To locate a specific topic, utilize the "search" function. 

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

Bullock, Jane A. & Haddow, George D.  (November 5, 2008).  A New Model for Hazard Mitigation and Long Term Recovery Planning.  Continuity e-Guide by Disaster Resource Guide.

Kinery, Anthony.  (November 7, 2008).  GAO Outlines Critical Homeland Security Priorities for Obama Administration.  Homeland Security Today.

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