Critical Releases in Homeland Security: May 13, 2015

From the thesis abstract: "Police and fire departments today are challenged with an increasing frequency of complex emergencies and a continuing cultural divide. Devoted people from both agencies are actively working to improve their response capability. Rather than solving the problem solely in house, other disciplines may be able to help. This thesis investigated what the aviation industry could teach the emergency services field about how to approach complex life-sensitive problems. A structured focused comparison model was used to evaluate aviation's use of Crew Resource Management, the pre-flight briefing, and the concept of airmanship in relation to how they may benefit the response capability of police and fire commanders at a combined emergency response. The research concludes that police and fire departments in the United States would immediately benefit from instituting joint pre-shift briefings and discipline training. It is recommended that FEMA amend its ICS [Incident Command System] procedures to reflect the benefit of instituting a pre-shift briefing. By building relationships with a police or fire counterpart during briefings and showing discipline on an emergency scene, the public at large will immediately benefit."

From the thesis abstract: "U.S. officials have acknowledged that attackers of the lone-wolf and isolated-cell organizational type are on the rise and now pose a greater threat than major coordinated actions. Traditional intelligence methods, using a top-down approach with an emphasis on signals intelligence, are ill-equipped to identify and prevent terrorists using lone-wolf tactics. Crowdsourcing, as a problem-solving technique, is a relatively new idea but has shown great promise in tackling issues similar to the identification of lone-wolf terrorists. At its core, crowdsourcing is a method for thousands or even millions of people to contribute their knowledge, expertise, or skills towards a unified task. Done correctly, it has produced results unachievable by traditional tasking of humans or computers. This thesis identifies how the signals surrounding lone-wolf attacks are different and more subtle in nature from those mounted by organized terror groups. In turn, the thesis examines the potential benefits of crowdsourcing intelligence in order to strengthen the U.S. intelligence community's ability to approach this emerging problem of lone-wolf terrorism. In short, this thesis proposes that the U.S. intelligence community harness the power of U.S. citizens to help prevent identify the subtle indictors presented by lone-wolf terrorists in order to prevent lone-wolf terrorist attacks."

From the thesis abstract: "Despite the rise in the number of attacks by lone-wolf terrorists, the lone-wolf threat has largely been neglected by academic researchers and counterterrorism practitioners. The nature of the lone-wolf terrorist has introduced new challenges to law enforcement and counterterrorism unlike the more discussed problems of international group terrorism. This thesis suggests, however, that policies created to help deter group terrorism could be useful in detecting and deterring lone-wolf terrorists. The existing policy framework for group terrorism deterrence may have great utility in the fight against lone wolves, but policy use and effectiveness requires a careful examination of the characteristics unique to lone-wolf terrorism to ensure that the deterrence policies match. This thesis uses the comparative method and examines three case studies of lone-wolf terrorism from the United States and Europe: the Fort Hood shooter of 2009 (Major Nidal Hasan), the Boston Marathon bombers, and Anders Behring Breivik of Norway. By examining the unique circumstances of each case, this thesis determines what policies were and were not effective and in need of adaption to deter the threat of lone-wolf terrorism."

"The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Vision and Strategy 2020 firmly establishes CBP's role as the national leader in safeguarding our borders and promoting economic prosperity. The strategy provides the foundation for a transformative course that will enhance CBP's foresight and agility to meet the increasingly global and complex challenges we face. While we continue to combat the threats of terrorism and transnational crime, safeguarding our economy by enabling lawful trade and travel remains an integral facet of our leadership role in national security. This balance between law enforcement and enhancing economic competitiveness requires a comprehensive understanding of all border threats and potential consequences; the establishment of a network of intelligence and law enforcement capabilities; and complete appreciation of our commercial partners' needs and operating protocols. CBP's innovative approaches to intelligence and targeting must anticipate and counter criminal networks that engage in diverse conspiracies that include terrorism, the importation of counterfeit or unsafe goods, drug smuggling, human smuggling and trafficking, as well as the outbound transfer of prohibited weapons and illicit bulk currency. CBP must continue its leadership role in integrating risk-informed, intelligence-based, agile and adoptable operations to advance public safety, national security, and economic prosperity. The border is a nexus to a continuum of activities that threaten the national interests of both security and prosperity. In response, CBP will lead collaborative efforts that apply multi-directional pressure on those seeking to do us harm; outside the U.S. borders, at the border, and into interior regions of the country."