NCJ Number
223573
Date Published
July 2008
Length
83 pages
Annotation
The National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) was developed as a strategic plan that establishes a national vision for the future state of emergency communications offering emergency responders the ability to communicate as needed, on demand and as authorized, at all levels of government and across all disciplines.
Abstract
The National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) mandated under the Homeland Security Act of 2002, focuses on the emergency communications needs of response personnel in every discipline, at every level of government, and for the private sector and nongovernmental organizations (NGO). The NECP established several objectives for improving emergency communications for the Nation’s Federal, State, local, and tribal emergency responders. Highlights of these objectives include: (1) formal decisionmaking structures and clearly defined leadership roles to coordinate emergency communications capabilities; (2) Federal emergency communications programs and initiatives that are collaborative across agencies and aligned to achieve national goals; (3) emergency responders employing common planning and operational protocols to effectively use their resources and personnel; (4) emergency responders having shared approaches to training and exercises, improved technical expertise, and enhanced response capabilities; (5) emerging technologies that are integrated with current emergency communications capabilities through standards implementation, research and development, and testing and evaluation; (6) all levels of government driving long-term advancements in emergency communications through integrated strategic planning procedures, appropriate resource allocations, and public-private partnerships; and (7) that the Nation has integrated preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery capabilities to communicate during significant events. In addition, the NECP provides recommended initiatives and milestones to guide emergency response providers and relevant government officials in making measurable improvements in emergency communications capabilities. Appendixes 1-9