Critical Releases in Homeland Security: January 23, 2013

"Ten years after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the U.S. government does not have a single definition for 'homeland security.' Currently, different strategic documents and mission statements offer varying missions that are derived from different homeland security definitions. Historically, the strategic documents framing national homeland security policy have included national strategies produced by the White House and documents developed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Prior to the 2010 'National Security Strategy', the 2002 and 2007 'National Strategies for Homeland Security' were the guiding documents produced by the White House. In 2011, the White House issued the 'National Strategy for Counterterrorism'. In conjunction with these White House strategies, DHS has developed a series of evolving strategic documents based on the two national homeland security strategies and include the 2008 'Strategic Plan--One Team, One Mission, Securing the Homeland'; the 2010 'Quadrennial Homeland Security Review and Bottom-Up Review'; and the 2012 'Department of Homeland Security Strategic Plan'. The 2012 DHS strategic plan is the latest evolution in DHS's process of defining its mission, goals, and responsibilities. This plan, however, only addresses the department's homeland security purview and is not a document that addresses homeland security missions and responsibilities that are shared across the federal government. Currently, the Department of Homeland Security is developing the 2014 'Quadrennial Homeland Security Review', which is due late 2013 or early 2014."

"In June 2012, portions of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States experienced a fast-moving, destructive windstorm called a derecho, resulting in twenty-two deaths and leaving millions without electrical power. Unlike hurricanes and superstorms, which are generally well-forecast, derechos are more like earthquakes, tornados, and man-made events for which there is little-to-no advance notice and opportunity to prepare. The 2012 derecho severely disrupted 9-1-1-related communications. Seventy-seven 9-1-1 call centers (also known as 'Public Safety Answering Points' or 'PSAPs') serving more than 3.6 million people in six states lost some degree of connectivity, including vital information on the location of 9-1-1 calls, mostly due to service provider network problems. From isolated breakdowns in Ohio, New Jersey, Maryland, and Indiana, to systemic failures in northern Virginia and West Virginia, 9-1-1 systems and services were partially or completely down for up to several days. Seventeen PSAPs in three states lost service completely, affecting the ability of more than 2 million people to reach 9-1-1 at all. Even in the context of a storm like the derecho, a large-scale failure of communications -- particularly 9-1-1-related communications -- is unacceptable, and action must be taken to prevent similar outages in the future."