NCJ Number
91787
Date Published
1982
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Federal agencies responsible for preparedness measures addressing terrorist acts, particularly the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), must examine their existing arrangements for decisionmaking, coordination, allocation of resources, and multilevel governmental action.
Abstract
While the probability that any terrorists could successfully perpetrate acts that seriously disrupt essential social, economic, and political functions in the United States is not high, events in other regions have demonstrated the ability of small terrorist groups to achieve disproportionately large effects. The Department of State is the lead agency for responding to foreign terrorist incidents, while the Department of Justice manages domestic incidents. An Executive Order has delegated responsibility to FEMA for planning and coordinating the Federal response to the consequences of terrorism. Consequently, it must monitor terrorist incidents in progress and report on relief actions. Another essential activity will be coordinating vulnerability analysis, identifying choke points upon which essential activities depend and scenarios that require consequence management. Efforts to enhance the Federal preparedness capacity to cope with disruptive terrorism should address the following objectives: complete preincident actions that will minimize the consequences of terrorism, such as operations response planning and stockpiling critical components; attain a state of readiness to perform essential relief operations; and develop a plan to restore disrupted national systems. Emergency planners should concentrate on eight critical target systems: electric power, petroleum and gas, transportation, telecommunications, finance, industrial production, water, and government. Planners must also consider that States will respond to their residents' immediate needs, but will need Federal assistance to cope with serious disruptions.