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MIAMI-DADE COUNTY AND TERRORISM *Chuch Lanza, CEM, Director,* *Miami-Dade Office of Emergency Management* The Division’s strategic plan has six primary critical initiatives: 1) train and equip the County’s first responders, 2) protect the County’s critical infrastructure, 3) improve intelligence gathering and application, 4) develop procedures to improve information sharing, 5) obtain and manage State and federal terrorism grant funding, and 6) improve coordination and effectiveness of proposed federal community-based initiatives. The broad heading of “critical infrastructure” includes not only buildings, but also the infrastructure of the County’s information technology, including computer networks and the Internet.
The Staffing Strategy The Division consolidates current terrorism-related resources within the OEM by adding four (4) “permanent” full-time staff positions, and augmenting these new positions with six (6) “loaned” personnel; three full-time positions each from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and Miami-Dade Police Department. A combination of “permanent” and “loaned” positions will allow the Division to quickly implement its objectives while ensuring that staffing levels can maintain projects over the long-term basis.
Homeland Security Division The Homeland Security Division is divided into two functional bureaus. (See Attachment 1 Table of Organization) The Terrorism Response Bureau is responsible for planning, developing, and maintaining the operational readiness of the various response elements of the Terrorism Response Plan. The Bureau will: maintain the Terrorism Response Plan; maintain, train, and further equip the Metropolitan Medical Response System; assist local hospitals in planning, training, equipping, and exercising staff to improve capability and readiness; plan and coordinate the response of hazardous materials teams, technical response teams, and urban search and rescue teams in terrorist events; maintain, train, and exercise the terrorism warning point; serve as staff for the Terrorism Advisory Committee; coordinate one of the new federal initiatives, the Medical Reserve Corps. The Terrorism Preparedness Bureau is responsible for the planning, integration, development, and maintenance of the various preparedness elements of the Terrorism Response Plan. The Bureau will consolidate the anti-terrorism efforts being undertaken at various levels within the County, State of Florida, and the federal government. The Bureau will: work to centralize terrorism intelligence reporting and warning dissemination throughout the County; plan, develop, and implement the various community-based anti-terrorism programs; regularly review vulnerability assessments of critical County assets; develop plans to protect the critical infrastructure of the County (including our cyber infrastructure); assist the Terrorism Response Bureau in maintaining currency of relevant sections of the Terrorism Response Plan.
To align the Division with our federal partners and to garner broad based community support we established a Citizen Corps Council. Members of the Citizen Corps Council include leaders from law enforcement, fire and emergency management offices, businesses, school officials, faith-based groups, public health organizations, and mental health and educational groups. Future participants may include representatives from non-profit organizations, community foundations, and other institutions with local presence and the ability to build capacity.
The Council is responsible for developing a community action plan that would include a local assessment of infrastructure vulnerabilities, possible threats, available resources, and how to best organize and expand local efforts. The Community Action Plan will also coordinate the community-based prevention and preparedness efforts. Miami-Dade County has realigned its Local Mitigation Strategy Working Group with the Citizen Corps Council; the working group already meets the representation required to make it successful. A counter-terrorism initiative was added to the countywide mitigation strategy at the first meeting of the Council. Miami-Dade County has a very strong community preparedness plan for natural and manmade disasters. It also has a great deal of experience, knowledge, and success in mitigating terrorism, as well as, dealing with its consequences. Although we have not experienced events to the magnitude of September 11^th we have been the target of assassinations, bombings, and civil unrest instigated by regional and international terrorist groups. As recently as 2001, Communist agents sent by Fidel Castro to infiltrate and disrupt life in Miami stood trial in Federal court. Though continuous improvement in planning, the County is uniquely qualified to lead the nation by serving as a model in the development of a local homeland security program. Miami-Dade County is embracing an intensive, long-term, and well-funded homeland security program. The County is implementing a carefully conceived plan that ensures all efforts yield maximum-security benefits at the least possible financial and social costs. The Division of Homeland Security is operational, moving on duel tracks; developing protocols, procedures, and setting goals, as well as establishing alliances with the numerous agencies involved in anti-terrorism planning. Frequently new departments suffer at the hand of outside influences, mostly related to politics, ego, and turf; this program has had its “growing pains” as well. Nevertheless, the importance of the program and the thoroughness and logic of the developmental documents have, to this point, thwarted the critics. Attachment 1. Table of Organization


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Attachment 1. Table of Organization