Countering Urban Terrorism in Russia and the United States Proceedings of a Workshop (2006) / Chapter Skim
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Critical Integration and Coordination Issues in Urban Security
Critical Integration and Coordination Issues in Urban Security
Pages 46-59
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From page 46... ...
Integration and coordination constitute one of the most difficult challenges in urban security, indeed, in any security system, as they span social and technological aspects and their critical interfaces. Clearly, the concerns and measures involved in urban security are of concern also to government jurisdictions beyond cities, but the purpose of this paper is to focus specifically on some of the major critical issues in achieving such coordination and integration in a city.
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From page 47... ...
. This has to do specifically with the architecture of the relation between the city's top decision makers -- typically the mayor -- and the first responders and emergency managers.
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From page 48... ...
In Architecture A, the mayor is the ultimate authority, as is usually the case, but an emergency management control center relieves the mayor and his or her immediate staff of more detailed involvement in coordinating the inputs of the first responders and the consequence management activities. Architecture B characterizes the situation in New York City, where the first responders (police, fire departments, and emergency medical services)
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From page 49... ...
Extraordinary volumes of cellular phone calls, which are typical of incidents, can lead to gridlock; hence the need, through coordination, to utilize a multiplicity of networks, including private business networks. Preferential access for priority communications and alternative channels of communication need to be provided, and critical components of the multiple communications system should not be placed in the same location, as they were on September 11, 2001.
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From page 50... ...
After the World Trade Center attack, private engineering firms assisted the city in assessing damage and planning recovery, and private construction and earthmoving and carting companies were engaged to secure damaged sites and remove the large amount of debris created by the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings. Insurance companies could be significant in recovery operations, too, as with fallout of radioactive material on the roofs of buildings and other surfaces.
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From page 51... ...
Apparently, thus far, no major city worldwide has an effective evacuation plan for the entire city, but at best has only plans for partial evacuation. Evacuation, among its many aspects, requires providing simultaneous access to first responders and coordination of traffic lights through the areas of concern and often through much of the city.
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From page 52... ...
, with different Commons (Park) FO R First Responders Building R O FO Financial Operations Building UT Utility Headquarter R U Educational Institutions Buildings C FO College S S U School U University FO M O C U FO Office Building U UT PO Public Entity Office H Hotel M M Subway Station PO C O H FIGURE 4 A site requiring local integration (Metrotech)
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From page 53... ...
; business offices; institutes of higher education; a school; highly technological financial services facilities; a hotel; commercial establishments, such as restaurants and other shops; multiple subway lines and stations; and crowded road and pedestrian traffic. A major incident in such a dense and diverse area could force evacuation to street level of up to 30 thousand people.
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From page 54... ...
In various measures, all these institutions can -- and many do -- research issues pertinent to urban security and train and prepare personnel at all levels, from security staff to fire protection engineers, from structural engineers to decision makers (Hall, 2004)
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From page 55... ...
These institutions can reach into the general public at many levels, but thus far have been involved only to a limited extent in conveying to the public a realistic understanding of terrorist actions and their real impact. Thus, fostering their interaction with terrorism experts, researchers, first responders, and emergency managers is a critical component of a coordinated response to urban terrorism that needs to be addressed systematically and on a broad front (Figure 6)
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From page 56... ...
. IDENTIFICATION AND PROTECTION OF POTENTIAL TERRORIST SUPPLIES A city possesses a broad array of resources -- explosive material, biological agents, chemical factories and stores, radioactive sources, electronic devices, vehicles, fire weapons, and so forth -- that can be misused by terrorists to attack objectives within the city (Box 3)
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From page 57... ...
CRITICAL INTEGRATION AND COORDINATION ISSUES IN URBAN SECURITY 57 Box 3 Potential Terrorist Resources in a City University, College, and Other Educational Institutions Electronic devices Chemical supplies Biological organisms Computers and access to networks Sensitive information Hospitals Chemicals Biological organisms Radioactive sources Transportation Infrastructure Cars Trucks Gasoline tanks Chemical Industry and Chemical Stores Toxic material Chemicals Explosives Poisons Energy Utilities Liquefied natural gas Gas pipelines Nuclear materials Financial Institutions Money Electronic Stores Devices (sensors, batteries, microwave generators) Ports Boats and ships Storage facilities Airports General aviation Libraries and Databanks Sensitive information Data tampering possibilities
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From page 58... ...
Examples of measures that can reduce urban security costs through integration with other needs include building designs; more effective maintenance; multipurpose guards and surveillance personnel; and multi- or dualpurpose sensors for security, traffic monitoring, air pollution, fire detection, and store surveillance. TWO META-ISSUES: HUMAN-MACHINE AND SECURITY-CIVIL LIBERTIES INTERFACES Human-machine integration and the interface of protection, laws, and civil liberties are two meta-issues critical to effective integration of urban security systems, but can only be briefly mentioned here.
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From page 59... ...
CONCLUSION In brief, the extent to which different aspects of coordination and integration, such as those set forth in this paper, are carried out is a measure of the effectiveness of an urban security system. Coordination and integration are essential for reducing the probability and impact of terrorist attacks, but they are also essential for lessening the impact of natural disasters and for enhancing the long-term sustainability of a city.
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