Essay Sample on Terrorism as a Worldwide Threat: HME509 Case 3

Introduction

Emergency planning and coordination can be done at various levels starting from the federal or state governments all the way to the local government to ascertain the protection of the citizens. The San Francisco Bay Area local emergency management plan also provides a different framework that can be applied in disaster response like the cases of counterterrorism by responsible bodies and management in cases of emergency around the San Francisco Bay area. The disaster management plan outlines the chain-of-command arrangement when getting information regarding an emergency incident like terrorism. Apart from the roles and responsibilities of various entities of authority described in the emergency coordination plan, the manner in which individuals in various objects handle the emergencies is also outlined.

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Generally, in a scenario of terrorism creates an operational situation that is very different from other emergency conditions regarding qualitative assessment and therefore the law enforcement agencies and personnel withhold vital roles in establishing resilience in other emergency response situations. Thus, in the case of suspected terrorism within San Francisco Bay, the local law enforcer is supposed to make the first step of establishing and sustaining reliable communications with the other law enforcement units at the regional emergency operation centers. Moreover, the local law enforcer can enhance the coordination and tracking of the use and accessibility of local authority as well as field law administration assets from the operational zone of emergency operations centers. Additionally, the local law enforcer is supposed to be receiving demands for non-law administration assets from the regional law enactment mutual manager and facilitating the transmission of those requests to the appropriate local area emergency operations center personnel.

The position of the Terrorism Liaison Officer in the San Francisco emergency plan is designated for the individual with basic knowledge who can serve as point contact concerning terrorism matters by a public agency. The general responsibility of the Terrorism Liaison Officer in San Francisco is to represent the law enforcement organizations, the fire departments and the health department in regards to their various demands in counterterrorism. However, some of the typical responsibilities of the Terrorism Liaison Officer in regards to response to terrorism include the upholding a relationship with the local fusion center to facilitate the dissemination of information and intelligence related to terrorism to the responsible agencies in a timely and legal manner. Also, the Terrorism Liaison Officer is supposed to help responsible emergency agencies identify probable terrorism-related situations and share intelligence that is related to terrorist activity.

Consequently, the Terrorism Liaison Officer is responsible for receiving leads on suspicious terrorist activities and disseminating the information to the local authorities who are then responsible for conducting follow up however the TLO can also refer intelligence reports to the local operations center for the purposes reporting suspicious terrorist activities. The TLO can also assist the San Francisco emergency department with training in topics relates to response to terrorism and even facilitate community conferences and other events that enhance dissemination of terrorism information.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation within the region is supposed to be involved in a terrorism emergency by supporting the response of the local authority following the National Response Framework. The Federal Bureau of Investigation in the region may respond by either response actions at the Federal amenities or in Federal domains which fall under the responsibility of the Federal agencies or by agreements between the Federal agencies and the local authorities like a memorandum of understanding within which the FBI assists in response to the emergency. Finally, the FBI can also be involved in supporting the local authorities or emergency agencies with lifesaving operations and protection of property in cases of terrorism emergency.

The National Response Framework (NRF) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS) all provide emergency response structure by interoperability and compatibility that would the diverse set of agencies both private and public to establish clear and efficient emergency management and response operations. The NRF and NIMS are determined to safeguard the command control of the local authorities regarding the response to emergency activities such as terrorism. The essential responsibilities of preparedness for terrorist activities are a mutual concept enclosed in both NIMS and NRF even though the specific elements specified in both documents regarding counterterrorism may be slightly different. For instance, in both the NIMS and NRF documents regarding bioterrorism incidents, they determine that the response management strategy would involve a mix of law enforcement agencies, emergency control, the public health agencies, and medical personnel. Both documents recommend the designation of medical advisors during response operations particularly to bioterrorism incidents (Pinto et al. 2018)

The NRF recommends that in cases of chemical or nuclear terrorism response and planning the National Guard as one of the significant state and federal assets should be made available for the response process and even the activities of emergency management planning because they have the expertise in regards to these types of terrorism and even ways of decontamination (NRF. Pp. 35). Similarly, the NIMS emphasizes that such events of terrorism will require unique coordination amongst participant agencies all the way from federal agencies to the private sector (NIMS, pp. 67).

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is clear that terrorism is increasingly becoming a threat worldwide and particularly for San Francisco Bay Area and therefore anti-terrorism and emergency response strategies should be critically evaluated to make a directed impact on the security of the people of San Francisco Bay Area. Thus, the emergency response agencies should enhance their insight into the probable emergency risks of terrorist attacks in various ways like nuclear, chemical and even bioterrorism.

References

Baggett, R. K., & Simpkins, B. K. (2018). Homeland security and critical infrastructure protection. ABC-CLIO.National Response Framework, 3rd Edition (NRF). Read "Coordinating Structures and Integration," pp. 32 to 45.

Pinto, P., Wong, R., Curley, J., Johnson, R., Xu, L., Materman, L., ... & Kondolf, G. M. (2018). Managing Floods in Mediterranean-Climate Urban Catchments: Experiences in the San Francisco Bay Area (California, USA) and the Tagus Estuary (Portugal). In Managing Flood Risk (pp. 93-133). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.