The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to review the effects of Global Positioning System (GPS) disruptions on the nation's critical infrastructure. GAO examined: (a) the extent to which the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has assessed the risks and potential effects of GPS disruptions on critical infrastructure; (b) the extent to which the U.S. Department of Transportation and DHS have developed backup strategies to mitigate GPS disruptions; and (c) the best strategies that selected critical infrastructure sectors should employ to mitigate GPS disruptions and any related challenges.
The National Mitigation Framework establishes a common platform and forum for coordinating and addressing how the nation as a whole manages risk through various types of mitigation capabilities. Mitigation reduces the impact of disasters by, among other things: (a) supporting protection and prevention activities; (b) facilitating response operations; and (c) speeding recovery to create better prepared and more resilient communities. This new Framework describes mitigation roles across the whole community.
Despite the increase in the policing of high-crime "hotspots" in a number of major U.S. cities, and the evidence of its effectiveness, there has been surprisingly little research on what police officers should actually do when patrolling those areas. The Philadelphia Police Department in Pennsylvania and its research partners in the Department of Criminal Justice at Temple University sought to address this limitation in the knowledge base through a randomized controlled study examining the impacts of three different police strategies in violent crime hotspots.
The National Prevention Framework describes what the whole community - from community members to senior leaders in government - should do upon the discovery of intelligence or information regarding an imminent threat to the homeland. To help thwart an initial or follow-on terrorist attack, the Framework seeks to meet the National Preparedness Goal of a secure and resilient Nation that is optimally prepared to prevent an imminent terrorist attack within the United States.
In 2012, CNA received a project award from the Naval Postgraduate School's Project on Advanced Systems and Concepts for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (PASCC) to investigate alleged rumors, which have circulated for decades, of an Israeli nuclear alert in the early days of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. To answer questions about the status of Israel's nuclear forces, CNA is using newly available and otherwise untapped sources in the first in-depth study of its kind. This study reflects on policy implications to guide future decision-making during crises involving nuclear-armed states. The continuing dangers posed by nuclear weapons and a potential conflict between nuclear-armed states ensure the study's enduring relevance.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office was tasked to examine the performance and staffing strategy of the TSA Adjudication Center. This report addresses the extent to which: (a) TSA has measured performance for the Center and what the data show; (b) TSA offices have coordinated to meet the overall security threat assessment workload; and (c) TSA has addressed the potential risks posed by using a mix of government employees and contractors to adjudicate security threat assessments.
The National Response Framework is a guide to how the nation responds to all types of disasters and emergencies. It is built on scalable, flexible, and adaptable concepts identified in the National Incident Management System to align key roles and responsibilities across the nation. This framework describes specific authorities and best practices for managing incidents that range from the serious local incidents to large-scale terrorist attacks or catastrophic natural disasters.
President Obama recently announced new guidance that aligns U.S. nuclear policies to the 21st century security environment. This is the latest in a series of concrete steps the administration has taken to advance the President's Prague agenda and the long-term goal of achieving the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.
This report provides an overview on how social medias role in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from Hurricane Sandy in late October 2012. It also discusses processes identified by the first responder community as best practices; presents examples, themes in applications, and lessons learned; identifies gaps in technology, process, and/or policy; and offers other points requiring further discussion.
The CNA, in partnership with the National Emergency Management Association, funded the development and nationwide distribution of a survey to state, county, and local emergency management and response agencies in late 2012 to answer questions about social media use in emergency management. By taking a survey approach, the survey partners were able to provide a broader, complementary perspective to existing anecdotes and case studies. This report provides the key results of that survey.
