December 29, 2003—Homeland security consultant W. David Stephenson said recently the risk of a serious homeland security incident has increased because the federal government “has not done enough to inform the public about how to prepare for and/or respond to attacks, or to involve us in reporting suspicious activities without infringing on civil liberties.”
Stephenson, principal of Stephenson Strategies, earlier this year created the “Terrorism Survival Bundle” for PDAs, summarizing personal anti-terror preparation and response data, so that handheld users would have all the information needed to prepare for or respond to attacks. He did so after authoring numerous speeches and articles during the past two years arguing that, “The general public must be full partners in this effort, not afterthoughts.” Stephenson pointed to numerous studies showing that people who are better informed are less likely to panic in a disaster.
While praising the Department of Homeland Security for significant progress in improving airport security and restricting illegal immigrants, Stephenson pointed to the Topoff2 exercise as an “example of this failure to involve you and me.” The DHS’s recent critique highlighted areas for improvement, but Stephenson said, “The exercise’s very design—even its name—was fundamentally flawed.” “Topoff” referred to involvement of top federal, state, and local officials. “Why, two years after 9/11, are we still running exercises where actors play the public rather than directly involving and informing us?”
Stephenson also commented, “The Ready.gov web site itself has a wide variety of substantive information, but the companion print brochure didn’t give enough detail, and took weeks to reach those who asked for it. Worst of all, the campaign’s introduction was handled so poorly that all anyone remembers is duct tape jokes.” He continued, “Even worse, after botching the initial launch, instead of stepping up outreach, they went into stealth mode.”
Stephenson said that the Department of Homeland Security “must instead elevate public involvement into a first-rank priority,” calling for activities such as prime-time TV specials, interactive web sites, and finding productive ways to solicit tips from individuals. “That doesn’t mean Ashcroft’s TIPS program, but educating us about what really constitutes suspicious activity (distinct, from, for example, religious minorities’ normal practices), then providing a practical way for people with substantive concerns to report them without clogging the system.” He cited the brochure Israeli police send each household on how to recognize car bombers, as an example.
For more information, contact David Stephenson at 508/359-5112.
