Public Entity RMs Advised On Terror

"Some requirements and procedural issues are essentially passing down the chain of command to the local level. So be familiar with policies that are out there," Mr. Haynes said.

He said that multi-agency cooperation is also critical in the fight against terror. Though not required, he said risk managers are "certainly encouraged to join joint taskforces and cooperate with federal authorities and state-level planning authorities."

Mr. Haynes also advised public entity risk managers to recognize the importance of response plans, no matter how big or small their entities may be.

"You should absolutely have written response plans," he said. "There is no public entity that is too small to have a written response plan."

These plans, he noted, should address areas of communication, and especially focus on establishing alternate communication methods in case of actual terror attacks.

"I can't emphasize enough the importance of having a well though-out, written terrorism threat response plan in place," he said, warning that every intelligence estimate he has read predicts there will be more terrorist attacks in the United States.

"Is it tomorrow, or is it next week? I don't know. No one knows. But there will be terrorist attacks in the United States, and it is incumbent on us after 9/11 [2001] to be as prepared as we possibly can. We essentially got caught sleeping once and we certainly don't want that to ever happen again," Mr. Haynes said.

Another important step risk managers can take is to conduct training exercises and vulnerability analyses to learn areas of exposure.

In performing such analyses, some of the factors risk managers should consider include symbolic and practical values of their facilities to terrorists and the probability of a possible attack. "Ask how vulnerable they are to an attack, and what would be the effect if such an event happened. And then you would prioritize your response plans and actions from there," Mr. Haynes advised.

Risk managers should also keep in mind that the cost of upgrading physical security measures is not that significant, especially when their public entities are redesigning or remodeling buildings. Even a little improvement could give potential terrorists an impression that these facilities are well protected and prompt them to look elsewhere, he said.

Redesigns can include implementing key-access controls and identification badge systems, improving fencing and lighting, limiting public entrances, and installing camera systems, he explained.

Cooperation from staff members is another potent weapon against potential terrorists. "Ask employees and staff to have a heightened sense of awareness for suspicious events or suspicious people," he said. "If some staff members think something is suspicious, then they are probably right."

Anything odd or out of place, such as suspicious packages or boxes sitting in places where they shouldn't be, should be brought to someone's attention by employees immediately, he added.

For most public entities, however, implementing comprehensive anti-terrorism measures will cost money, which could be especially difficult in the current climate of budgetary shortfalls affecting many state governments and municipalities.

But Mr. Haynes mentioned one valuable resource for risk managersa $600 million fund available to government organizations for training and technical assistants. Those planning to apply should hurry, since the deadline for the fund is April 22.

Risk managers can go to the Department of Homeland Security Web site, www.dhs.gov, and navigate to its "press room" section for more information. Additionally, the Web site for the Office of Justice Programs at the U.S. Department of Justice, www.ojp.usdoj.gov, offers downloadable applications as well as an online application process.

Mr. Haynes argued that in many ways, public entities have already suffered losses from the war and terrorism threats that they cannot be compensated for. For one, the reserve call-up certainly has had a community-wide impact, he observed.

So far, some 240,000 reservists have been called to active duty, and many of them are police officers and firefighters, which hurts local governments and municipalities.

Also, public entities have to deal with declining tax revenues, with insurance costs rising at the same time. "With the prospect that the war is going to last a long time, people are less likely to spend money, and that decreases sales tax revenues," which causes difficulties and budgetary problems, he said.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, April 7, 2003. Copyright 2003 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.