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7. State Homeland Security Assessment and Strategy Program for Agriculture
- Texas A&M University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
S ince the late 1990s, the Office of Grants and Training, formerly known as the Office for Domestic Preparedness, an office originally under the U.S. Department of Justice but now under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has been the agency responsible for the State Homeland Security Assessment and Strategy (SHSAS) process.1 The intent of this program is to assess threats, vulnerabilities, capabilities, and needs related to community preparedness at the state and local levels for terrorism incidents involving weapons of mass destruction. Following is a brief explanation of the process. overview of the agricultural assessment component The SHSAS issued by the Office of Grants and Training for fiscal year 2003 incorporates the post–September 11 realities. One of those is a realistic evaluation of the threats, vulnerabilities, capabilities, and needs related to use of WMD against agriculture. This assessment tool has been developed by Office of Grants and Training and the USDA in accordance with the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security.2 The Office of Grants and Training SHSAS is a three-volume set consisting of a Jurisdiction Handbook, State Handbook, and Reference Handbook. The information that follows is largely from those volumes. This chapter is not intended to replace that process. It is strongly recommended that communities and states participate in the SHSAS and complete the optional agriculture portions. The books, and technical assistance in completing the assessment, are available from the Office of Grants and Training online at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/odp or through the Office of Grants and Training helpline at (800) 368-6498. 7 state homeland security assessment and strategy program for agriculture jurisdictional and state assessment processes This process of identification of potential threats, vulnerabilities, capabilities , and needs is essential to overall emergency response system. The process assists states and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to learn where needs exist and then to allocate resources appropriately. To aid states and other jurisdictions, the process has been made as simple as possible, including the posting of results to the Office of Grants and Training website instead of filling out bundles of forms. The process begins with the local jurisdiction. Each jurisdiction must individually complete the assessment and submit the information to the state administrative agency. Each state has identified a state administrative agency (SAA) to be the central contact point for the Office of Grants and Training. In addition the SAA is the collection point for the information from local jurisdiction assessments. Theinformationthusgatheredisanalyzedandreflectedinthestateassessment , to be used to update the State Homeland Security Strategy and to guide the allocation of domestic preparedness resources.3 The assessment evaluates information about the following:4 state homeland security assessment and strategy 103 Assessment of the threats, vulnerabilities, capabilities, and needs in community preparedness must take place at the state and local levels, each community evaluating its own situation. Photo by Scott Bauer, courtesy USDA. [3.227.252.87] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 20:28 GMT) • Potential threat elements in your jurisdictions • Conducting vulnerability assessments for potential targets • Developing planning scenarios • Identifying current equipment, training, exercise, planning, and organizational capabilities • Determining equipment, training, exercise, planning, organizational, and technical assistance needs The process for the risk and needs assessment begins with the jurisdiction appointing an assessment point of contact. From there, the jurisdiction should organize a working group of stakeholders in the community. This group should consist of leadership from the following disciplines and services: fire, law enforcement, emergency medical services, emergency management, public works, government, public health, hazardous materials , public safety communications, health care, and of course the agriculture community, including animal health and cooperative extension services. Those serving in the group must be leaders who are capable of speaking for the disciplines and agencies which they represent. threat assessment Once the group has been formed, members need to review the jurisdictional handbook and instructions from the state administrative agency prior to completing the threat and vulnerability assessments.5 The threat assessment is largely driven by law enforcement agencies in a jurisdiction . However, other disciplines do have insights to offer to the process. Thethreatassessmentisconductedtodeterminetherelativelikelihoodof an attempted attack using a WMD. By conducting the threat assessment, communities will (1) promote interagency collaboration/coordination of criminal investigative intelligence information relating to WMD terrorist potential threat elements (PTEs); (2) assess the threat(s) to potential targets , enabling a jurisdiction to focus its prevention and preparedness effort...