CIP Update

September 04, 2009

This newsletter is for public agencies, businesses, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders involved or interested in public-private partnerships for joint emergency preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery.

 

Michigan State University (MSU) produces the newsletter through the Critical Incident Protocol (CIP)-Community Facilitation Program under a grant awarded by the Training & Exercise Integration/Training Operations, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This newsletter provides ideas, suggestions, best practices, and lessons learned to establish critical incident protocols using public-private partnerships.

 

Michigan State University through the CIP Program will “enhance cities, counties, and region’s capabilities to prepare for, respond to, and recover from man-made and natural disasters through public and private sector collaboration, communication, and cooperation.”  MSU facilitates public-private partnerships and the CIP Program is free of charge to participating communities.

 

Please visit our website at www.cip.msu.edu for more information about the program.

 

Participating Communities in the CIP Program
The CIP Program has been initiated in 47 communities in 24 states with over 4,200 participants establishing community public-private partnerships for joint management of critical incidents. We are looking to work with other cities, counties and regions. Is there a location in the nation that you think may be interested in developing a public-private partnership? If so, please let us know.

 

Currently, we are working with the following communities:
Alabama:  Hoover
Arizona:  Casa Grande
California:  Mountain View
Colorado:  Littleton
Connecticut:  Norwalk

Florida:  Western Panhandle
Illinois:  Lake-Cook Regional, Libertyville, Naperville
Indiana:  Evansville
Kansas:  Douglas County
Maryland:  Annapolis, Carroll County, Rockville
Michigan:  Dearborn, Detroit, Marquette County, Monroe, Oakland County
Missouri/Illinois:  Gateway Citizen Corps Coalition, St. Louis
Montana:  Lewis & Clark County
Nevada:  Clark County, Northern Nevada
North Carolina:  Buncombe County, Greensboro
Ohio:  Brooklyn
Pennsylvania:  Allentown, Bethlehem, Northampton County, Perkiomen Valley

South Carolina:  Columbia, Horry County
Texas:  Dallas
Utah:  Layton, Sandy City
Virginia:  Arlington County, Richmond
Washington:  Redmond

West Virginia:  Beckley/Raleigh County
Wisconsin:  Brown County, Dane County, Eau Claire County, Milwaukee, Outagamie County, Racine County, Superior, Winnebago County

Status of CIP Program

On March 17, 2009, we notified the readers of the CIP Update newsletter and other stakeholders that the CIP Program will not receive continuation funding; therefore, the program and staff will be terminated late Fall 2009.  In the meantime, we will continue to provide program services and if anything changes, we will notify you.

 

We encourage you who have participated in the CIP Program or are familiar with it to contact your legislators indicating your support in continuing funding for the program.  Thank you.

 

CIP Program Calendar

September 9/10, 2009 – Washington, D.C. (National Research Council on Partnerships Conference)

September 11, 2009 – East Lansing, MI (MSU Participation in the On 9/11 Drill Down for Safety Campaign)

September 20, 2009 – Anaheim, CA (Facilitating Tabletop Exercise for ASIS Conference)

September 29, 2009 – Detroit, MI (Participating in SecureWorld Expo on Public-Private Partnerships)

 

Goodbye, Richard Kos – Facilitator for the CIP Program

Because the CIP Program is projected to shut down by late 2009, the staff has been searching for other employment opportunities.  Rich has been with MSU for two years as a Program Facilitator and has travelled across the nation working with the leadership from public agencies, businesses, and non-profit organizations.  For the tabletop exercises we facilitate in each community, Rich revised the After Action Report/Improvement Plan to reflect the DHS Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) model.  When Rich joined Michigan State University, he offered a unique perspective having a previous career with General Motors and 20 years experience in emergency management.

 

Our thanks to Rich for all the great work and advice he provided on improving the CIP Program.  We wish him the best of luck in his new career with the City of Novi, Michigan as their Emergency Management Coordinator, which begins September 8, 2009.  Rich can be reached at rskos@hughes.net or cell of 989-277-5544.

 

Welcome!  Dearborn, Michigan Joins the CIP Program Partnership

On August 18, 2009, the City of Dearborn began building their public/private partnership through the CIP Program.  Mayor John B. O’Reilly Jr. welcomed the 52 public and private sector leaders by thanking them for attending the workshop and also noting the city’s commitment to partnering.  The city’s department leaders worked side-by-side in the break-out sessions with businesses, non-governmental organizations, and with city leaders from other communities near Dearborn.  The private sector included Fairlane Town Center, Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford Village, Detroit Metro Airport Authority, Hyatt Regency, University of Michigan-Dearborn, The Auto Club Group, United States Steel Great Lakes, and representatives from the Grand Rapids American Red Cross.

 

The workshop opened with a lecture and discussion, and was followed with breakout sessions.  Although, some may have recognized other participants, others did not and had the opportunity to spend a couple hours getting to know the people at their tables.  When a significant critical incident occurs, often people are brought into the decision-making processes that have never worked with each other.  The four break-out sessions are designed to build the partnership and understand the value of assessing risk and the Incident Command System for joint response.  The last two break-outs are used to extrapolate ideas for partnering, identifying resources, note the issues affecting partnerships, stating the concepts that will enhance the partnership, and needs.  Essentially, these items can become the agenda items for the partnership in future meetings.

 

For example, here are some of the ideas shared at the workshop:

·         Put on drills where businesses can share resources in simulations

·         Utilize public sector mass alert system to reach out to all businesses

·         Create a critical incident management committee

·         Develop an online newsletter of best practices

·         Utilize MOU’s for public-private sector shared emergency response

·         Partnership group could do quarterly presentations of important topics

·         Develop a database of subject matter experts that could be shared

·         Expand the partnership by creating a regional partnership as well

·         Bring businesses into the local public sector planning processes

·         Use various businesses for alternative training sites

·         Form business planning teams

 

The MSU team collected 60 sheets of suggestions, ideas, resources, and needs from the participants.  Copies of these were shared with the public and private sector points-of-contacts for Dearborn to use in future meetings.

 

With Dearborn joining the CIP Program as the 47th community, the MSU team is proud to have shared their beliefs on the value of partnering.  More importantly, the participants shared with us the significance and value of community collaboration for resiliency.

 

Continuity Insights Profiling Partnerships

Buffy Rojas, Editor of Continuity Insights in the July/August 2009 edition states, “To emphasize the importance of public/private alliances, Continuity Insights will be profiling a different public/private partnership in every issue.” (Rojas, 2009, p. 10).  In reading the Rojas’s article, it is great to see that we know and have worked with several of the experts in the field.  These people are committed to partnerships and willing to share with others the best practices and lessons learned.

 

 “The key to successful public/private partnerships is in the name:  Partnerships,” notes Daniel Hahn, Office of Emergency Management for Santa Rosa County, FL (Rojas, 2009, p. 11).  “There have to be people on both sides in invested in making it work…(Rojas, 2009, p. 11)”.  Hahn is the Citizen Corps Coordinator for the county and Administrator for the county COAD, known as Santa Rosa SAFER (Support Alliance for Emergency Readiness).  When working with prospective communities, the CIP staff emphasizes the importance of public and private sector co-leadership and having a balanced mix of public and private sector members.  One of the major challenges to growing a public/private coalition is in recruiting businesses.  When speaking of human nature habits, people belong to networks based on their similar interests.  Therefore, if you want businesses to be a viable part of the alliance, then business executives should co-lead and hold key positions in the group.  These actions will appear to prospective business employees that the private sector has a “say-so” in the partnership.

 

Robbie LaRocca, Business Continuity Program Director, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals is the co-founder of Montgomery FIRST, which is based on the Chicago FIRST model of public/private partnerships.  LaRocca discusses the issue of starting small versus going large when creating a partnership group.  “What I am hearing over and over is that it has to stay small (Rojas, 2009, p. 11)”.  Further, “At the local level, it really works brilliantly…You need to be able to pick up the phone and talk to people you have relationships with (Rojas, 2009, p. 11)”.  When the CIP staff begins working with a community, we advise them to start slow.  It is extremely challenging for the public/private alliances to keep the momentum going.  And if the partnership struggles, this can send a message to the full membership that there may be concerns.

 

Buffy Rojas closes his article by discussing the value of partnerships.  “And that is the real goal of public/private partnerships: solutions made possible by partnerships (Rojas, 2009, p. 11)”.  )”.  To learn more about Continuity Insights and to read this article in the magazine, please go to: http://www.continuityinsights.com.

 

Sharing Intelligence: Business and Law Enforcement?

The government and business community continues to struggle in how to create a mechanism for government to share intelligence issues with businesses.  However, there are pockets of groups that have created their own solutions either at the federal, state, or local level.  Due to the sensitivity of this issue, there has been much discussion and focus on how best to share critical information and intelligence.                                                                                                                                                                                                             

 

Sharing intelligence between federal authorities and state and local government has increased since the 9/11 attacks, but the process could benefit from additional improvements.

 

One of the national experts on this issue is David Carter, Ph.D., School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University.  Carter has written a number of books and has developed various training programs.  With funding from FEMA, MSU offers their Intelligence Toolbox Training to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies across the nation to develop their intelligence capacity.  Carter has discussed intelligence issues with various security directors as well.  With this in mind, Carter has released his second edition of Law Enforcement Intelligence: A Guide for State, Local, and Tribal Authorities.  Recently, the Homeland Security Digital Library profiled this book and stated, “The second edition…captures the vast changes that have occurred in the 4 years since the first edition published in 2004 and the watershed events of September 11, 2001…This guide serves as a road map to understanding criminal intelligence and its related methodology (HSDL, 2009, Abstract)”.  Not only is this guide extremely helpful to the law enforcement community, but to security directors in establishing their intelligence program.

 

To access the book, you can find it the “CIP Information Exchange” database and the directions to enter the database are at the bottom of this newsletter.

                                                                                                                                                                    

CIP Program Partnership Model Adopted by MIAAHC Group

Our staff has always stated that the CIP Partnership Model that is used to create partnerships at the city, county, and state level is easily adaptable for other types of alliances, in addition to joint crisis management. 

For example, the Michigan Alliance Against Hate Crimes (MIAAHC) represents a Michigan statewide coalition of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, civil rights organizations, community-based groups, educators and anti-violence advocates.  MIAAHC provides information and resources that assist local hate crime coordinating units (Community Response Systems), which engage specific community partners in education and prevention initiatives.  The MIAAHC goal is to reduce the occurrence and mitigate the impact of hate crimes and bias incidents.

 

The MIAAHC Steering Committee provides direction and guidance to the different sub-committees and membership.  The Steering Committee is composed of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Hate Crime Coordinator, Eastern District of Michigan, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, Hate Crime Coordinator, Western District of Michigan Chair, Chair, Michigan Civil Rights Commission (MCRC), Chair MCRC Hate Crime Committee, and Director, Michigan Department of Civil Rights.

A couple years ago, MIAAHC was researching to find a community partnership model that would be adaptable to their mission.  This led to the CIP Staff presenting at their annual conference and other functions.  Also, MIAAHC was going to incorporate a number of the principles and methods used in the CIP Program in developing a MIAAHC led community partnership groups.

 

The CIP staff wishes the MIAAHC group the best in using their new community-partnership model to reduce and mitigate the impact of hate crimes in Michigan.

 

Regional Partnership Council

Brian Tishuk, Executive Director of ChicagoFIRST (Financial Industry Resilience, Security & Teamwork) has been working throughout the United States promoting the value of public/private partnerships.  ChicagoFIRST is a non-profit association of private firms that collaborates with the public sector to promote resiliency.  There have been a number of communities that have formed their version of the ChicagoFIRST model with Tishuk’s guidance.  Further, many of these have formed the Regional Partnership Council.

 

To learn about how other organizations are creating public/private partnerships for crisis management and resiliency, please go to both https://www.chicagofirst.org and http://rpcfirst.org.  The Regional Partnership Council (RPC) has over 30 public/private alliances established in a number of states.

 

Join Former Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta in 9/11 National Drill Down Safety Campaign

Honorary Chairman Secretary Mineta is inviting agencies, businesses, non-profit organizations, and citizens to demonstrate their emergency preparedness by participating in the On 9/11, Drill Down for Safety campaign led by the Safe American Foundation.  Also partnering with Safe America as the lead public sector entity is Region V (Chicago) FEMA, in collaboration with other FEMA Regions.

 

On September 11, 2009, you and members of your organization, agency, school, hospital, business, and community can participate in emergency preparedness initiatives by conducting a drill, such as an evacuation or shelter-in-place.  If drill activities do not fit your plan, then implement another event which profiles preparedness and the organization’s commitment.  Michigan State University is participating in this event by activating the university wide emergency alert system which can reach up to 55,000 staff and students.

 

Many business executives are participating, as they reach out to other executives to join them, including UPS, Motorola, Office Depot, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Allstate.  The leadership from FEMA, American Red Cross, International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), National Association of Emergency Managers (NEMA), National Association of Government Communicators (NAGC), National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO), and the National Association of EMTSs (NAEMT) are also participating.

 

For more information, contact Bob Surrusco at bsurrusco@safeamerica.org.

 

To learn about the Safe American Foundation and this upcoming opportunity to demonstrate emergency preparedness in honor of September 11th, please go to http://www.safeamerica.org.  

 

Recent Postings to the CIP Information Exchange Website
The CIP Information Exchange website is a large database for public and private sector professionals interested in homeland security, emergency preparedness, business continuity, disaster recovery, and emergency management.  It also contains research publications, government documents, news items, and more.

 

To enter the ‘CIP Information Exchange’ database, please go to https://angel.msu.edu and using the drop-down menu, select Angel Guest Account.  Click on ‘proceed’, and on the next webpage, enter “msu.msu” in the Angel Guest User box and “partnership” (both without quotation marks) as the password to log on.  On the next page, click on Critical Incident Protocol (CIP) – Community Facilitation, which launches to the main menu.

 

Located in the folder "Bulletin Board - Information for all Communities" are a variety of recent postings, including:

·         Integrating Public/Private Partnerships for Law Enforcement Intelligence

·         USFA Report on Fire Agencies and Maritime Joint Preparedness

·         Guidance for Businesses and Employers to Plan and Respond to the 2009-10 Influenza Season

·         Communication and Public Health Emergencies: A Guide for Law Enforcement

 

There are numerous other resources located on the website. To locate a specific topic, utilize the "search" function on the left side.  On top left side click on “guide” and when the sidebar box opens, go to the bottom in the box and click on “search” and follow the directions. 

 

Past Newsletters
If you are interested in viewing past CIP Update newsletters, please go to www.cip.msu.edu and select "Newsletters" from the main menu.

 

Closing
If you have any topics and/or ideas for a future CIP Update newsletter, please contact Brit Weber at weberbr@msu.edu or (517) 355-2227 or other MSU staff members. About every three weeks you will receive this newsletter via email. If you no longer wish to be on this list, please reply to this email.

 

Disclaimer
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or Michigan State University.

 

Sources

Rojas, B.  (July/August, 2009).  Hitting the Mark with Public/Private Partnerships.  Continuity Insights. 7(4): 10-11.

 

Carter, D.  (2009).  Law Enforcement Intelligence: A Guide for State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement Agencies, 2nd Ed.  U.S. Department of Justice, Community Oriented Policing Services.

 

Brit Weber
Program Director
CIP-Community Facilitation Program
School of Criminal Justice
Michigan State University
1407 S. Harrison Rd., 335 Nisbet Bldg.
East Lansing, MI 48823
Work:  (517)  355-2227   Cell:  (517) 206-1640
weberbr@msu.edu
Please visit our website:  http://www.cip.msu.edu