Critical Releases in Homeland Security: November 2, 2011

"Faced with these dramatic budget contractions, law enforcement leaders have begun identifying the most cost conscious ways to deliver police services, and developing a new model of policing that will ensure that communities continue to receive the quality police protection they are entitled to. In a 2011 survey of police chiefs conducted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), 94 percent of respondents agreed that they were seeing 'a new reality in American policing developing' (IACP 2011). Police agencies are some of the hardest hit by the current economic climate. Curtailing revenues nationwide have forced local governments to make cuts in spending across the board, which includes public safety operating budgets. While budget cuts threaten the jobs of law enforcement officers, the duties and responsibilities to ensure public safety remain. However, to date, there has been no systematic way of measuring the impact the economic downturn has had on police agencies across the country. This report intends to delve into the existing information, research the ways in which law enforcement agencies have been affected, and examine the ways they have responded."

"The United States remains vulnerable to terrorist and other threats posed by chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) agents. Medical countermeasures-drugs, vaccines, and diagnostic devices-can prevent or treat the effects of exposure, but few are currently available. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) leads federal efforts to develop and acquire countermeasures, primarily through the Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE), an interagency body. This report examines the extent to which HHS (1) based its priorities for developing and acquiring countermeasures on CBRN risk assessments; (2) addressed its own recommendations to improve acquisition and development; and (3) coordinated internally for these efforts. GAO [Government Accountability Office] reviewed relevant laws, agency documents, CBRN risk assessments, and reports from outside experts; interviewed HHS and industry officials; and analyzed HHS funding for CBRN countermeasures from fiscal years 2007 through 2010. GAO recommends that HHS update its development and acquisition plan; provide budget priorities for acquisitions; and develop a strategy to monitor implementation of its initiatives. HHS agreed with the first two recommendations. For the third one, HHS said that it had a strategy to track implementation, but in GAO's assessment, the strategy does not meet standards and practices to allow for adequate monitoring."