Instructions:Please respond to at least 2 other students. Responses should be a minimum of 150 words and include direct questions.
Student #1 has posted a questions about your post this week, respond to his questions.
Nice run down. You state, “DHS will work with federal agencies and departments granted responsibilities under the NRP in order to make sure the identified weaknesses are addressed and to ensure they progress.” So what are some o the identified weaknesses and how are they being addressed?
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Student #2
John Conway
How did the DHS structure the NPR and what principle tools were used to develop the Key Findings?
The structure of the National Preparedness Report, or NPR, is based on five distinct categories that describe just how the NPR should be aligned with Presidential Policy Directive 8. Those five categories are Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response and Recovery.
The term “prevention” refers to those capabilities necessary to avoid, prevent, or stop a threatened or actual act of terrorism (DHS, 2011).Within the category of Prevention, the key findings is that there is a National Network of Fusion Centers spread across the United States that have the mission and responsibility of reporting nay suspicious activity and sharing that information collectively, with other agencies that may benefit from knowing in advance whether or not the information provided needs acting upon. The data collected at fusion centers is analyzed and disseminated to the lowest levels, or at least it is supposed to be. Often times, information is not shared and the state and local officials that, had they received the information in ahead of time, they could have prepared for whatever the situation was. Fusion centers have come a long way since their inception and have provided adequate information sourcing. According to the National Preparedness Plan, as of 2015, the fusion centers have advanced to the Mature stage. The other stages being Fundamental, Emerging and Advanced. By reaching the mature stage, the National Network of Fusion Centers now has the full capacity to integrate resources among individual fusion centers to share intelligence across all levels of government (DHS, 2016). The main ideology of PPD 8 and the NPR is to discuss the resiliency in the aftermath of emergencies that can cause catastrophic damage to the infrastructure of the United States.
Protection works in hand with the prevention since the term prevention is just what it says, taking the information gathered from sources and using it to prevent certain disaster. Protection is also just what the term implies, protection the public and the nation from disaster. Protection capabilities include, but are not limited to, defense against WMD threats; critical infrastructure protection; protection of key leadership and events; immigration security; and cybersecurity (DHS, 2011). One of the core capabilities is the operation comradery of all agencies across the national security area. The protection of the nation requires all parties involved to share vital information and also to ensure that the priority is the following of the core capabilities described in the National Preparedness Report. Several of the core capabilities are cybersecurity, interdiction and disruption and public information and warning (DHS, 2016).
Recovery is perhaps the most crucial element in disaster preparedness and response. When disaster strikes, this means that the rest of the categories either failed or the agencies and managers, as well as the public, were no prepared and now suffer the effects of whatever disaster happened, potentially a natural disaster such as a hurricane or massive flooding. Either way, the operational status now changes to recovery operations. The term “recovery” refers to those capabilities necessary to assist communities affected by an incident to recover effectively (DHS, 2011). The ability for an area to recover after disaster is reliant upon the actual damage and whether or not local agencies can handle the recovery without intervention from federal agencies. In the event of a natural disaster that destroys parts of the local infrastructure, it is critical that all affected have the ability to recover and repair the damaged infrastructure components that are critical for survival. In 2014, self-assessments by states and territories showed that proficiency in recovery training was 10 percentage points lower than the average of all core capabilities (DHS, 2016). The reasoning behind such a low percentage was lack of training being conducted at the local level. Federal agencies have the ability to conduct proper recovery training yet they had not done so. This caused the President and the administration to order mandated training for emergency managers and first responders at the state, local and tribal levels, as well as with private stakeholders who control much of the critical infrastructure.
DHS. (2011). PRESIDENTIAL POLICY DIRECTIVE/PPD-8. Washington, D.C.: Department of Homeland Security.
DHS. (2016, March 30). 2016 National Preparedness Report. Retrieved from edge.apus.edu: https://edge.apus.edu/access/content/attachment/383882/Forums/1d7f38a1-18a0-4ee5-b24a-6e228d5e57bc/National%20Preparedness%20Report%202016.pdf