CIP Update


November 4, 2006

This newsletter is for cities, counties, and communities involved in public-private partnerships for joint emergency preparedness, planning, and prevention. 

Michigan State University (MSU) produces the newsletter through the Critical Incident Protocol (CIP)-Community Facilitation Program under a grant awarded by the Office of Grants & Training, Preparedness Directorate, 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.

Please go to: www.cip.msu.edu for more information about the program.

Participating Communities

Allentown, PA / Annapolis, MD / Bethlehem, PA / Brooklyn, OH / Brown County, WI / Carroll County, MD / Casa Grande, AZ / Clark County, NV / Douglas County, KS / Evansville, IN / Hoover, AL / Layton, UT / Lewis & Clark County, MT / Libertyville, IL / Littleton, CO / Marquette County, MI / Milwaukee, WI / Monroe County, MI / Northampton County, PA / Oakland County, MI / Perkiomen Valley, PA / Redmond, WA / Racine, WI / Richmond, VA / Rockville, MD / Sandy City, UT

We are currently working with 26 communities and will work with another 23 cities, counties, and communities over the next couple of years.  Of the available CIP Programs, we are in contact with 10 communities.  Is there a location in the nation that you think may be interested in building a public-private partnership for joint emergency preparedness?  If so, please let us know.

Welcome Brown County (Green Bay), WI – CIP Program

Recently, MSU initiated the CIP Program in the greater Green Bay area, which is our 26th participating community.  Brown County, with a population of over 230,000 people, is located on the port of Lake Michigan and is home to the Green Bay Packers.  According to the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, residential communities and business growth earned Green Bay the Inc. Magazine designation as the #1 medium-sized city to start a business.

We appreciate the support and help of the Brown County Office of Emergency Management, Schneider National Inc., and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay for co-sponsoring the CIP Program and arranging the logistics, along with bringing in diverse representation from the public and private sectors to develop a partnership for joint crisis management. 

In addition to the aforementioned co-sponsors, the following organizations also attended the workshop:  American Food Groups, American Red Cross, American Transmission, Ashwaubenon Public Safety, Austin Straubel International Airport, Bay Park Square, Copps Food Center, County Rescue-Eagle III, DePere Fire Rescue, Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad, Federal Bureau of Investigation, FM Global, Foremost Farms USA, Georgia Pacific, Green Bay Area of Chamber of Commerce, Green Bay Metropolitan Sewage District, Green Bay Police, Humana, Oneida Nation Office of Emergency Management, Packerland Packing, Salvation Army, Target Corporation, U.S. Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Wal-Mart Stores, Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance, and Wisconsin Public Service Corporation.

Morris County, NJ Public-Private Partnership

 

Morris County is located in northern New Jersey, west of New York City and home to fifty Fortune 500 companies.  Morris County understands the value of public-private partnerships; in 1999 the Morris County Chamber of Commerce (MCCC) became actively involved with the County Bioterrorism Task Force.  The chamber created a preparedness committee and conducted workshops for its stakeholders on legal implications of planning, weapons of mass destruction, handling emergency communications, business continuity, and more.

 

In 2002, the Morris County Prosecutor, working with MCCC, created a county Infrastructure Advisory Group (IAG) to identify vulnerabilities in the business community, as well as best practices on preparedness and counterterrorist functions.  The IAG became an integral part of the Morris County Counterterrorism Task Force, which was created as a public-private partnership comprising local, county, state, and federal authorities with members from the private industry.

 

Initially, MCCC created ten industry specific sub-committees: Chemicals, Communications, Culture and Entertainment, Education and Research, Finance and Professional Services, Food, Health, Real Estate, Transportation, and Utilities.  Over 200 companies subsequently became members of the subcommittees which meet quarterly.  In addition, the Morris County Office of Emergency Management collaborates with the subcommittees on response and recovery issues while focusing on identifying what resources are available to mitigate the impact of manmade and natural disasters.

 

IAG is a forum of communication for the public and private sectors, along with developing standards, emergency planning, identifying best practices, conducting vulnerability assessments of cyberspace, and encouraging target hardening methods.  This public-private partnership has further aligned itself with the state of New Jersey, and the Infrastructure Advisory Committee.  The county and state collaborate on various preparedness initiatives.  In 2002, MCCC partnered with the U.S. Department of Defense by co-sponsoring the First Annual Preparedness Conference, which featured county, state, federal, and military experts.

 

The prosecutor’s office, Office of Emergency Management, and other county agencies regularly participate in the MCCC Infrastructure Advisory Group.

How do you Measure your Community’s Preparedness?

Cities, counties, and regions can benefit from a variety of tools to measure the level of emergency preparedness for major events.  The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently released their draft updated Target Capabilities List (TCL). To meet the challenges of major manmade and natural disasters, the federal government has developed a list of capabilities or performance tasks for emergency preparedness.  This involves a shared and coordinated response which includes all levels of government, the private sector, non-government organizations, and citizens.  Specifically, the TCL describes and sets targets for capabilities of prevention, protection, response and recovery.

There are 37 core capabilities with definitions and explanations on how to address each of them, including performance tasks, required resources, and assigned responsibility to maintain the core capability.  These core capabilities assume that local jurisdictions have an operational level of capabilities although communities should review the TCL to ensure coordination and compatibility.

To review the Target Capabilities List you may access the document on our website by following the directions listed below in the “Recent Postings to the CIP Information Website”.

National Blueprint for Secure Communities

The National Council of Readiness and Preparedness (NCORP) is a non-profit organization formed after September 11, 2001, by former Virginia Governor James S. Gilmore, who served five years as the Chairman of the Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction (known as the Gilmore Commission).  NCORP establishes community-level programs and public-private partnerships that strengthen homeland security in the nation.  You may view their website at: www.ncorp.org.

NCORP, along with the Kennedy School of Government solicits input for their National Blueprint for Secure Communities program.  They hope to glean best preparedness and response practices from professionals, practitioners, citizens, community leaders, and experts who will submit their ideas and experiences into the website at www.nationalblueprint.org.  NCORP will eventually share with communities the results.

Safety Training and Resources (STAR) Program

Planning and preparation are the building blocks for agencies, businesses, organizations, and communities which respond to critical incidents and ensure that recovery processes are in place.  The Safety Training and Resources (STAR) initiative is a training and database program designed to provide emergency responders with crucial private and public sector resource information.  STAR was developed by the Community Safety Institute, in partnership with the National Sheriffs’ Association through a grant awarded by the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) organization.

The centerpiece of the STAR initiative is a toolkit, which contains assessment and educational components to assist in preparing for manmade and natural disasters.  The CD-Rom has database templates, and an internet website that can be tailored to individual communities to upload resource information.  This will allow communities to have a centralized database which contains public and private sector resource information.

For more on STAR, please contact Fred Wilson, Director of Training, National Sheriffs’ Association at 800-424-7827 or email of fwilson@sheriffs.org.

Recent Postings to CIP Information Exchange Website

To enter the "CIP Information Exchange" website, please go to https://angel.msu.edu and enter msu.msu@angel in the User/NetID and partnership as the password to log in.  Click on CIP, which launches to the main menu.

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

“Target Capabilities List – September 2006”

“Major Corporations Want in on National Disaster Planning”

“Pandemic Influenza Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Guide for    

  Critical Infrastructure”

“Food and Agricultural Emergency Responder Toolkit”

There are numerous other resources located on the website.  To locate a specific topic, use the "search" function, which can be found on the main menu page on the right-hand side in the green task bar.

Starting a CIP Program

Feel free to make a referral to the MSU staff about possibly starting a CIP Program elsewhere in the United States.  We can use your assistance! 

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.


Brit Weber
School of Criminal Justice
Michigan State University
1407 S. Harrison Rd., 335 Nisbet
East Lansing, MI 48823
Work:  (517)  355-2227
Cell:  (517) 206-1640
Visit our website at
www.cip.msu.edu