Thankful for a More Secure Nation: Reflection on November 2001
On Thanksgiving, it’s appropriate to reflect on how we felt back in November 2001. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was going to be the first major public event in New York City since the 9/11 attacks. While the public gathered on the parade route, workers continued digging through the massive pile of debris in Lower Manhattan. We questioned if terrorism was the new norm and how we would cope when the next attack was just around the corner.
Security was tight, as it has been throughout the city since the terrorist attacks.
“This year, we have again been working with NYPD as well as state and federal law enforcement agencies to put in place the appropriate security plan to ensure the safest and most secure parade,” Macy’s spokesman Orlando Veras said.
As for the parade, many traditions remained while several changes were made to reflect the nation’s mood.
To honor the more than 350 police and firefighters who died when the twin towers collapsed as they were trying to rescue people trapped in the buildings, a troop of children of New York City firefighters and policemen also marched at the head of the lineup. (Source: CBS News)
As our nation continues to face new and evolving threats, we should be thankful for all of the progress that the homeland security enterprise has made since 9/11 to secure and prepare our nation.
Common Playbook
The National Incident Management System and Incident Command Structure have created a standardized method for managing small and large emergencies across the nation. While every organizational concept has flaws and limitations, generally any police or fire official can command any type of incident in any jurisdiction using the same structure, terminology, and management principles. This allows responders from different jurisdictions to surge to a large incident and coordinate effectively based on a shared understanding of the operating system.
This may seem like a basic way for organizations to function but it was not established as a national standard prior to 9/11. There are 18,000 different police departments and 27,000 different fire departments in the United States. Getting almost everyone on the same page to respond to major incidents is a huge step forward.
Better Equipped and Informed Police
Prior to 9/11, patrol officers did not have long rifles, tasers, body cameras, automatic license plate readers, training in counter-terrorism and CBRNE threats (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive), encrypted radios, and mobile computers.
Neighboring departments did not have on-going coordination through fusion centers and joint terrorism task forces. Systems did not exist to quickly share information between local and state police departments with the FBI, Intel community, State Department, and International partners. These partnerships and coordinating structures have contributed to stopping at least 6 major terrorist attacks.
Modernized Fire Departments
Prior to 9/11, few fire departments had equipment like chemical detectors, hazmat suits, and thermal imaging cameras. Many departments had a single analogue portable radio per unit, protective gear that was 10–20 years old, and front-line apparatus with open cabs that lacked seat belts. Through FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighter Grants Program, the Department of Homeland Security has invested more than $700 million per year since 9/11 into local fire departments to modernize stations, apparatus, and equipment.
It is now standard for protective equipment to be less than 10 years old and manufactures are working to develop new technologies to protect responders from cancer by blocking smoke and particulates. Almost all firefighters are equipped with a multi-channel digital radio that is programmed to communicate with other departments in neighboring jurisdictions. New fire apparatus have anti-roll systems, airbags, and crash protection. Pumps and ladders can be controlled by iPads. Fire research conducted by NIST is creating a better understanding of how buildings and materials burn and which tactics are most effective to rapid extinguish fire. All of these advancements that help firefighters better serve the public and protect themselves from hazards have been spurred by enormous investments from the federal government.
Disaster Response Capabilities
To respond to three concurrent major hurricanes, FEMA was able to deploy more than 12,000 employees to manage the disaster responses. During 9/11, FEMA only had 2,600 full time employees. Hurricane Katrina highlighted the shortfalls of the nation’s disaster response capabilities and many changes have occurred since 2005.
Even though there are shortfalls during every disaster, FEMA has managed to sustain simultaneous supply chains across three different geographic areas and deliver more than 1 million meals and liters of water per day to Puerto Rico. These are capabilities that didn’t exist prior to 9/11. Disaster response isn’t perfect but the federal government has a created a robust and flexible systems for providing highly trained rescuers, emergency food, water, generators, sheltering, fuel, medication, communications, and heavy equipment to any part of the country.
Highly Educated Homeland Security Leaders
The concept of homeland security didn’t exist prior to 9/11 and it has rapidly transformed into 100,000 employee agency with a $40.6 billion budget. To equip leaders with the education and knowledge necessary to critically analyze and shape the mission of the department, the Center for Homeland Defense and Security was created to establish the first homeland security advanced degree program.
15 years after its inception, the program has graduated more than 800 executive leaders and master degree recipients who lead federal, state, and local government agencies including hundreds of police and fire departments. These graduates have the advanced education needed to:
- Develop policies, strategies, plans and programs to reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism and catastrophic events within the United States
- Build the organizational and interagency arrangements needed to strengthen homeland security
- Help mayors, governors, other elected officials and federal leaders improve homeland security preparedness by developing actionable policies and strategies
Thankful for our Security
In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, we questioned if major attacks were the new norm. They are not. We are substantially more safe and secure than we were 16 years ago. Our police and firefighters are better equipped, our intelligence community coordinates more closely, our homeland security leaders are better educated, and our national response capabilities are more robust than ever before.
We still aren’t perfect but we have made a lot of progress to be thankful for.
David Riedman is an expert in critical infrastructure protection, disaster preparedness, and emergency management. He is a co-founder of the Center for Homeland Defense and Security’s Advanced Thinking and Experimentation (HSx) Program at the Naval Postgraduate School.
