Wyoming Emergency Management

Emergency management is simply the act of dealing with risk occurrence and risk avoidance. The range of situations that draws the attention of the emergency management agency is extensive. The risk of a terrorist attack is one of the threats that make the emergency management agency an integral part of the States security system. Therefore, it is essential for states to establish an emergency preparedness plan to avoid occurrence terrorist attack and minimize casualties that could result in the case of an attack. Emergency management is an important responsibility of the government. The constitution tasks the State governments with the role of public safety against terrorist and other major risks. The Federal government role is to assist the states, local or nongovernmental entities to neutralize terrorist risk and reduce casualties.

In response to the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attack, emergency management became a national issue where the Federal, States, and Local government were tasked with the responsibility to prevent reoccurrence of such an incident. Based on this foundation, the purpose of this report is:

• to analyze the occurrence of the terrorist threat, at coal mines located in Campbell County, in the State of Wyoming;
• review the role of Federal government, private and public sectors, and non-governmental organizations in providing response and recovery services to a terrorist attack;
• identify the type of media communication used during a crisis;
• give recommendations about changes needed in the Federal government to improve emergency response and recovery during a terrorist attack.

Terrorist Threats 

A terrorist threat is a crime that generally involves violence committed with the aim of causing serious public inconvenience in limited consideration of the risk associated with such an attack. Most terrorist attacks result in risks such as endangering life, harassment, and destruction of property. International terrorism remains one of the most lethal and most persistent threats to the United States national security. The motive of the perpetrators and the methods used by the terrorist groups continues to evolve constantly. This complicates analysis and counteraction of an attack by both federal and states security agencies (Meyer, 2009). The rise of a new breed of a terrorist with an interest of causing mass deaths and destruction is a major threat to national security. The perpetrators have a highly widening global reach in addition to the use of sophisticated weapons and strategies. As a result, they can strike anywhere at any time motivated by seemingly unrelated events which they blame the US government for.

The greatest threat to US national security currently is posed by Islamic extremist groups which have an established hierarchical structure and enjoy support from state sponsors. Above their increased sophistication, these groups are more dangerous than the traditional terrorists’ organizations due to lack of centralized activities. They are also highly flexible, thus limiting the constraints from their sponsors. The new groups intend to cause heavy national security threat by inflicting massive civilian casualties (Meyer, 2009). One example of these new breeds include the World Trade Center bombers and the 9/11 attackers. The targets of these terrorist groups mostly involve highly populated areas where the number of casualties after an attack is considerably high. This aspect makes the coal mines at Campbell County in the State of Wyoming, a possible target for the terrorist attack. Since the mines are under the federal and states governments, the threat of terrorist attack poses a major risk to national security.

Federal Homeland Security 

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is an agency in the Federal government which has the responsibility to protect the United States against threats. Its structure is designed to provide a variety of security services, such as emergency response, border control, and terrorist threats. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the office of DHS was introduced to design strategies for safeguarding the country from attacks and respond to any subsequent terrorist threat. On its establishment, the DHS integrated twenty-two different departments from the federal agencies to a unified single cabinet agency (May, Jochim & Sapotichne, 2017). The agency mission involves five main security goals such as mitigate terrorism and strengthen security, safeguarding and securing cyberspace, ensuring resilience to disaster, securing and managing the US borders, and implement the US immigration laws.

In the case of the terrorist threat in the State of Wyoming, the commission found that the Federal government has the full responsibility as per the constitution, for those factors of military and intelligence policy which identify and neutralize terrorist entities and their sponsors. It is also by legal and practical definition accountable for establishing a tactical vision that spots and disseminates instances of evolving terrorist threats, and likely domestic targets of a terrorist attack. The Homeland Security Act of 2002, provides legal authority embedded within the federal government security roles about the duties which the DHS can play in instances of a terrorist threat at coal mines in Campbell County (May, Jochim & Sapotichne, 2017). The commission established that firstly, DHS through the US secret service is responsible for achieving maximum awareness of impending threats. Personnel in the agency can gather the information that can help counter potential terrorist threat due to its anonymity operations. The Federal Emergency Management Agency under the DHS has been prepared to mitigate all types of threats, including a terrorist attack that present on the US soil (Ansell et al. 2010). This agency can act efficiently to prevent the US from impending terrorist threats such as bombing and mass shooting. The commission also establishes that the US Coast Guard has great capability to neutralize terrorist threats along the coast.

Federal Emergency Response 

In analyzing the preparedness of the federal government to mitigate the terrorist attack, the commission found the federal government has established the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The agency has developed process and structure for a systematic and efficient delivery of services to address the risk of a terrorist attack. FEMA’s response activities involve immediate actions to save lives and protect assets. The agency has advanced measures to respond to terrorist threats (Kapucu, Arslan & Demiroz, 2010). These measures include the evacuation of victims from the place of attack to safe facilities where they can receive medical care. Immediate deployment of the response team, medical stockpiles, and other assets essential for saving the lives of the victims of an attack. Despite providing a direct response to terrorist attacks, the federal government helps the states and local government to improve their emergency response strategies to reduce the casualties caused by the threats. FEMA’s recovery activities intend to provide vital services and recover damages resulting from terrorist attacks (Kapucu, Arslan & Demiroz, 2010). These services include the reconstruction of the government operations and services in the places of attacks, a housing plan for the displaced communities and replenishing the assets destroyed at the site. The agency also has developed training programs to enhance fast recovery.

The commission also learned that the federal government had established a framework to address disasters caused by terrorist attacks. In 2011 President Obama gave out a Presidential Policy Directive which provides guidelines on how the federal government can mitigate the effect caused by acts of terrorism in the US. The policy Directive states that emergency preparedness can be attained through subdividing emergence management elements into a system of frameworks. The frameworks assign responsibilities to different federal agencies to increase the effectiveness in federal emergency management (Copeland & Cody 2010). These frameworks include National Prevention Framework, which assigns roles and correlate federal agencies involved with intelligence and sharing of information, warning the public and other factors which assist the federal government to identify and locate the terrorist threat. National Mitigation Framework addresses the capabilities that can reduce the destruction of property and loss of life by lessening the impact of an attack.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has approved programs for promoting national defense against terrorist attacks. The program includes; intelligence and warning systems. This helps to prevent terrorist attacks within the US, minimize damage from terrorist attacks, and reduce the vulnerability of the threat (Hayes, 2009). Border and transportation security program which help to recover from terrorist attack and reduce the vulnerability of an attack. Protection and restoration program which helps to restore the damaged assets from an attack.

Role of Public and Private Sectors, and Non-Governmental Organization in Terrorism Response 

In analyzing the roles played by public and private sector, and the non-governmental organizations, the commission found that there is mutual interdependence among these sectors in responding to terrorist attacks. The main public agency involved with the issues of emergency management in the US is FEMA. This agency is vital in responding to emergencies such as terrorist attacks. FEMA roles are first, securing potential terrorist targets. The federal government takes security measure to protect people, organizations, and natural resources such as coal mines and others that could become the target of attacks (Hardouin, 2009). The government also has strategies to minimize the impact of an attack when it happens. Second, recognizing and curbing aspects of radicalization in the states. This measure was established due to the advance strategy used by terrorist groups to plan and execute attacks in the country. Lastly, establish severe punishment for terrorism perpetrators and suspicious sympathizers of radicalization.

Multiple private organizations play significant roles in operating and maintaining elements of the country’s vital infrastructure. The interrelation between the public and private sector provide a way beyond individual sector preparedness for the public involvement in disaster response efforts. The private sector actively helps victims of terrorist attacks recover from the incidents efficiently. NGOs are also independent organizations which offer significant support in response to terrorist attack within the country. Their narrow focus enables the NGOs to provide expert services in their area of specialties. For instance, the Red Cross specializes in mass care, a role they are known to provide effectively in emergencies (Hardouin, 2009). The Emergency Support Function recognizes the Red Cross as a support agency in disaster response, thereby highlighting how vital interrelation between public and private sectors can be in responding to terrorist attack and other life-threatening disasters.

Types of Media used for Communication in Crisis 

The commission found that there is a significant change in the mode of communication during a crisis in the current era compared to the traditional media. The biggest change for crisis communication strategy is the revolution of social media. This platform spreads information during a crisis at a high rate compared to traditional reports on television and printed media. Social media provides the capability to communicate efficiently and quickly changing how people receive information during a crisis. With the right tools in place, social media platform plays an essential role in creating awareness about an occurrence of crisis which enables the federal emergency agency and other sectors to respond with immediate effect. As a result, the casualty of the crisis is minimized (Van der Meer & Verhoeven, 2013). However, social media communication during terrorist attacks does not only shape how information circulates but also the public’s access to information affects how an event is talked about. The commission also asserted that terrorist attacks create major traffic as large audience competes to access the information through the platform. This unverified information during crisis leads to hate crimes resulting from disinformation and rumors (Van der Meer & Verhoeven, 2013). Since people only know what they see and read, unverified information spread through social media creates fear for the public during a crisis. A terrorist intends to instill fear to the public, which plays well on their side to win more souls that are susceptible to radicalization. The perpetrators also use social media to verify the number of casualties caused by their attacks and thus motivating their course to plan and execute subsequent attacks.

Recommendations 

The commission recommends the following changes and innovations to be implemented in the federal government emergency response agencies for efficient preparedness, response, and recovery for future terrorist attacks in the State of Wyoming and other parts of the United States. Firstly, evaluates the need and capability of both states and local agencies in responding and mitigating an attack. In association with other federal agencies, FEMA should help the state and local governments to evaluate community awareness and preparedness for an emergency attack. The tools for a terrorist response should also be availed in terrorism-prone areas such as Coal mines in Campbell County (Comfort & Wukich, 2013). The federal government should also assist interdisciplinary organizations in helping communities respond and recover quickly from an attack. Secondly, efficient training for preparedness, response, and recovery from a terrorists attack. Many individuals in the state of Wyoming responsible for disaster management have limited knowledge inefficient strategies to respond and help the victims of terrorist attack recover from the incident. Training at the state level is essential as it would enable the State to develop its mechanism for emergency response and recovery (Comfort & Wukich, 2013). The federal government needs to take the initiative to establish a training program at the state level. Thirdly, improve cooperation between the public and private sector. When a terrorist incident occurs in the State of Wyoming, there is a need for proper coordination between the public organization and the private sector. This would enable quick response and recovery in case of a future attack. Lastly, the federal government should establish proper management of volunteers and donated resources during a crisis. For fast recovery from an attack incident, the state government of Wyoming should cooperate with FEMA to distribute donated resources to the victims of an attack.

References

Ansell, C., Boin, A., & Keller, A. (2010). Managing transboundary crises: Identifying the building blocks of an effective response system. Journal of contingencies and crisis management, 18(4), 195-207.

Comfort, L. K., & Wukich, C. (2013). Developing decision-making skills for uncertain conditions: The challenge of educating effective emergency managers. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 19(1), 53-71.

Copeland, C., & Cody, B. (2010). Terrorism and security issues facing the water infrastructure sector.

Hardouin, P. (2009). Banks governance and public-private partnership in preventing and confronting organized crime, corruption, and terrorism financing. Journal of financial crime, 16(3), 199-209.

Hayes, J. (2009). Identity and securitization in the democratic peace: The United States and the divergence of response to India and Iran’s nuclear programs. International Studies Quarterly, 53(4), 977-999.

Kapucu, N., Arslan, T., & Demiroz, F. (2010). Collaborative emergency management and national emergency management network. Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, 19(4), 452-468.

May, P. J., Jochim, A. E., & Sapotichne, J. (2011). Constructing homeland security: An anemic policy regime. Policy Studies Journal, 39(2), 285-307.

Meyer, C. O. (2009). International terrorism as a force of homogenization? A constructivist approach to understanding cross-national threat perceptions and responses. Cambridge review of international affairs, 22(4), 647-666.

Van der Meer, T. G., & Verhoeven, P. (2013). Public framing organizational crisis situations: Social media versus news media. Public Relations Review, 39(3), 229-231.