“Though she be but little, she is fierce!”
― William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Citizen Involvement in Counter-Terrorism
In today’s environment where the effectiveness of the fusion center information-sharing concept is being questioned and resources for public safety activities are shrinking, public engagement in the Nation’s homeland security activities has taken on greater importance. Since its implementation in July 2010, the “See Something, Say Something,” public education campaign has been the primary method for community involvement in suspicious activity reporting for criminal activities and terrorist threats. This campaign is based on the long accepted belief that members of the public have a vested interest in keeping their neighborhoods safe and, therefore, serve as the eyes and ears of their community. However, a 2013 Gallup Poll clearly indicates the campaign has not been as successful as anticipated with less than half of those surveyed reporting they had heard of the campaign. This finding raises concerns about its effectiveness in engaging the general population in gathering information about potential terrorist acts.
As the primary mechanism for community-based engagement in an all-hazards approach to homeland security, Citizen Corps’ mission is to: “harness the power of every individual through education, training, and volunteer service to make communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to respond to the threats of terrorism, crime, public health issues, and disasters of all kinds.” To a large degree this campaign has been more successful than the “See Something, Say Something” campaign, but only in the area of natural disasters. The latest Citizen Corps preparedness survey revealed that 94 percent of those surveyed felt they would be able to deal with a natural disaster. This is in stark contrast to 65 percent of the respondents who felt there was something they could do in response to a terrorist attack. Taken together this survey and the Gallup poll clearly indicate a disparity between the public’s perception of their role in natural disasters and human-caused disasters such as a terrorist attack.
The Problem: What these findings indicate is the American public’s participation in community-based terrorism prevention is minimal. Given the public’s potential as a force multiplier, we can no longer ignore this gap in furthering our Nation’s counter-terrorism capabilities.
Our National Preparedness Goal is “a secure and resilient Nation with the capabilities required across the whole community to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from the threats and hazards that pose the greatest risk.” The “See Something, Say Something” campaign promotes the concept that “an alert public plays a critical role in keeping our nation safe.” Based on these statements we, as a Nation, have publically committed to engage the American people in safeguarding the security of our Country.
Citizen Corps program partners and affiliated programs provide ample opportunities for education and public involvement in activities to support our homeland security’s mission areas. Citizen Corps Councils reported more than 3 million hours were contributed by 176,699 program volunteers in 2010. Additionally, 93 percent of Citizen Corps Councils train volunteers for disaster response and recovery and 76 percent reported having used these volunteers for disaster responses in their communities. The Corporation for National and Community Service reported 64.5 million volunteers donated 7.9 billion hours of civic service through their programs in 2012. Of these, AmeriCorps and Senior Corps RSVP volunteers contributed more than 3.6 million disaster service hours. This data supports the strong commitment of the American people to civic volunteerism and to engaging in activities related to disasters.
A large percentage of the American population engages in voluntary activities as a personal choice. Many of these are affiliated with an established organization and have received advanced training to support natural disaster preparedness, response, and recovery activities. However, complementary training for human-caused events such as a terrorist attack does not exist above the basic introductory level.
While preventing terrorism should be the responsibility of every American, the prevailing perception is it lies with government agencies. To a large degree this perception is sustained by the actions of many agencies that perpetrate this belief. One such example is fusions centers that continue to operate in an “all crime” environment that will does not share information outside of the law enforcement community. Another is the elimination in 2013 of specific funding for Citizen Corps activities through the federal preparedness grants. Although subtle, both of these actions are in direct conflict with the concept of “a whole of community” approach and dissuade citizen participation.
While there are multiple definitions of terrorism, it is generally agreed the goal is to generate terror by threatening or committing violent acts against civilians. Studies by mental health professionals indicate that the best way of strengthening a community’s psychological resilience to the threat of terrorism is by reducing their fear of the unknown. Other studies have shown that continuing to keep counter-terrorism activities shrouded in secrecy can produce a heightened state of anxiety and uncertainty in the public. These findings suggest that if we engage the public we could accomplish two goals: increase the number of people who can see something, say something and lessen the feeling of terror that the threat of terrorism brings to our communities.
