Chapter 10

Countering Terrorism
& Ensuring Domestic Preparedness

Overview

Over the past decade, incidents of international and domestic terrorism, together with intelligence reports projecting the potential for escalating incidents of terrorism in the United States, have led to increased efforts at the federal level to counter terrorist threats and prepare law enforcement and other government officials to better respond in the event of future incidents. With the availability of easily produced chemical and biological agents, nuclear and radiological instruments, and conventional explosives, the potential for incidents involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD) has mushroomed. Although federal law enforcement, intelligence, and emergency response agencies have been working together for many years to counter terrorism in the United States, state and local agency personnel--the law enforcement officers, fire fighters, emergency medical services personnel, and others who are usually first on the scene after a terrorist incident--often lack the training, equipment, and other resources they need to effectively respond to terrorist incidents involving WMD.

Although assessments of state and local needs related to domestic preparedness are limited, available information points to the following:

• a need to better understand the full breadth and variety of first responders who must be prepared;
  
  
• a need to more fully comprehend the range of types of incidents, as well as different phases of incidents, that require different training and preparation;
  
  
• a need to better understand the recovery phase demands of services for victims;
  
  
• a need for improved technology for chem-bio agent identification and explosive detection;
  
  
• a need for WMD equipment at the state and local level;
  
  
• a need for improved and increased availability of WMD planning and training for state and local emergency response agencies;
  
  
• a need for better and more available threat information and dissemination;
  
  
• a need for improved preparedness by medical practitioners;
  
  
• a need to address the issue of communications interoperability in responding to WMD incidents;
  
  
• a need for improved quarantine operations and mass decontamination facilities; and

• the need to better assess the nation's ability to completely and accurately document its level of preparedness.

In 1998, at the request of the Congress, the Attorney General prepared a 5-year plan outlining the Justice Department's strategy for improving the federal, state, and local response to terrorism. As part of this overall framework, in June 1998, the Office for State and Local Domestic Preparedness Support (OSLDPS) and its national training center, the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP), were created within OJP. The Center for Domestic Preparedness at Fort McClellan is currently the only facility in the free world where training using live chemical agents is available. CDP provides the kinds of hands-on training state and local first responders need to plan for and respond to incidents involving WMD. OJP has also provided support to a National Domestic Preparedness Consortium for training, which includes Texas A&M, Louisiana State University, the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, and the Nevada Test Site, as well as Fort McClellan. In addition, OSLDPS provides funding to help state and local agencies purchase equipment needed to respond to terrorist or catastrophic incidents.

A critical part of OJP's mission in the area of counter terrorism and domestic preparedness is to closely coordinate these efforts with the National Security Council (NSC), the Department of Justice's new National Domestic Preparedness Office (NDPO) in the FBI, the FBI's Weapons of Mass Destruction Counter-Terrorism Center, and other federal agencies, including the Department of Defense (DOD), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of Energy (DOE). OJP will continue to work together with these agencies, and its partners at the state and local levels, to counter terrorism and ensure domestic preparedness.

Other OJP components contribute to the effort to enhance the capabilities of state and local jurisdictions to build, sustain, and institutionalize a comprehensive, coordinated strategy to prevent, deter, effectively respond to, and manage incidents of domestic terrorism. For example, BJA sponsors training for state and local law enforcement officers and prosecutors to increase their understanding of domestic terrorism and the organizations and individuals who commit terrorist acts. NIJ supports the development of counter terrorism technology and equipment, and OVC provides resources for U.S. citizens who are victims of domestic or international terrorism.

In Fiscal Year 1999, OJP will build on these efforts to implement a comprehensive program that provides a continuum of assessment, equipment, training, practical exercises, evaluation, and technical assistance to help prepare state and local jurisdictions to more effectively respond to terrorist incidents. OSLDPS and BJA programs to train state and local first responders will continue to address domestic preparedness training shortfalls documented in preliminary assessments. NIJ's ongoing research, development and demonstration efforts to create law enforcement application of counter terrorism technologies that can eliminate inadequacies in screening, detection, and other terrorism defense phases will be continued, together with a special emphasis on standards for developing and testing new counter-terrorism technology.

New Programs

Funding for the following programs will be available as noted. For information about individual program solicitations or application kits, check OJP's Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov or call the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) at 1-800/851-3420.

State and Local Domestic Preparedness Equipment Support Program
Grantee: To Be Determined
FY99 Funding: $69.5 million
OJP Sponsor: Office of State and Local Domestic Preparedness Support (OSLDPS)

Eligibility: The nation's 157 largest cities and counties, as well as states and territories

Project Description: Through the State and Local Domestic Preparedness Equipment Support Program, funds will be provided to states and selected metropolitan jurisdictions to procure personal protective, chemical/biological detection, decontamination, and communications equipment. This equipment will enable fire departments, law enforcement agencies, emergency medical services, and hazardous materials response units to enhance their response capabilities in state and local jurisdictions to incidents of domestic terrorism.

Fire and Emergency Services Equipment Support Grant Program
Grantee: Competitive
FY99 Funding: $16 million
OJP Sponsor: OSLDPS

Eligibility: Local fire and emergency services agencies

Project Description: Funds are provided to local fire departments, hazardous materials response teams, and emergency medical services agencies to purchase personal protective, decontamination, detection, and communications equipment to enhance their capabilities to response to terrorist attacks involving weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, biological, and chemical agents. For further information, contact [OSLDPS - provide].

Fire and Emergency Response Communications Equipment Support Program
Grantee: To Be Determined
FY99 Funding: $4 million
OJP Sponsor: OSLDPS

Eligibility: Local emergency response agencies

Project Description: Assistance will be provided to local jurisdictions to address the issue of interoperable radio communications equipment for local emergency response agencies. OSLDPS and NIJ will assist local jurisdictions in improving inter-agency and inter-jurisdictional radio communications.

Training, Technical Assistance, and Capacity-Building Programs

The following describes both current and new initiatives.

State and Local Domestic Preparedness Technical Assistance Program
Grantee: To Be Determined
FY99 Funding: $2 million
OJP Sponsor: OSLDPS

Project Description: Grant funds will provide technical assistance support for state and local, jurisdictions, including first responder agencies, to enable these jurisdictions and emergency response agencies to better respond to WMD incidents.

Municipal Fire/Emergency Medical Services Training and Technical Assistance Program
Grantee: To Be Determined.
FY99 Funding: $5 million
OJP Sponsor: OSLDPS

Project Description: The Municipal Fire and Emergency Medical Services Training and Technical Assistance Program provides no-cost assistance and training to municipal fire and emergency services personnel in state and local jurisdictions. This program will continue to provide state and local fire and emergency medical service personnel with basic training in WMD awareness and incident response and command procedures.

Training for State and Local Emergency Response Agencies
Grantees: The National Domestic Preparedness Consortium Members: The National Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center; New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology; the National Center for Bio-Medical Research and Training, Louisiana State University; the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center, Texas A & M University; and the National Exercise, Test and Training Center, Nevada Test Site; and the Center for Domestic Preparedness, Fort McClellan, Alabama
FY99 Funding: $20 million
OJP Sponsor: OSLDPS

Eligibility: The Center for Domestic Preparedness at Ft. McClellan, Alabama will receive $8 million for training and operations. Each of the remaining 4 consortium members will receive $2 million each for training and $1 million each for equipment.

Project Description: Funding for the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium will support the cost-effective delivery of training, including situational exercises, to the nation's state and local emergency response community. Training will enhance the capabilities of these jurisdictions and individual agencies to better respond to incidents of domestic terrorism involving chemical and biological agents and radiological and explosive devices. Consistent with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards, training will be conducted at four levels: awareness, operational, technician, and incident commander.

State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training Program
Grantee: Institute for Intergovernmental Research
FY99 Funding: $2 million
OJP Sponsor: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)

Project Description: This project will continue to expand delivery of specialized, multi-agency, anti-terrorism preparedness training. The training--along with related research, law enforcement intelligence operational issues development, and technical assistance support activities--will be delivered to state and local law enforcement and prosecution authorities. The project's training initiatives will include executive workshops for law enforcement agency executives and commanders, investigative workshops for state and local law enforcement investigators and intelligence officers, executive briefings for law enforcement executives and command personnel in rural areas, and train-the-trainers seminars. For information about the availability of training, contact Emory Williams, Institute for Intergovernmental Relations, 850/385-0600.

Addressing the Needs of Victims of Terrorism
Grantee: Interagency Agreement
FY99 Funding: To Be Determined
OJP Sponsor: Office for Victims of Crime (OVC)

Project Description: Working with OSLDPS, FEMA, and HHS, OVC will develop capacity at the state and local levels to respond to the needs of victims after a terrorist attack or act of mass violence. This initiative will involve focus groups and regional training on a variety of victim issues, including death notification and crisis response.

Research and Statistical Programs

The following describes both current and new initiatives.

Counter Terrorism Technologies
Grantee: To Be Determined
FY99 Funding: $10 million
OJP Sponsor: National Institute of Justice (NIJ)

Project Description: As part of OJP's response to the terrorist threat, NIJ has undertaken an effort to enhance the safety of the public and of law enforcement officials by developing better tools to anticipate, prevent, and recover from terrorist acts. These funds will allow NIJ to capitalize on the investment it has already made in this area by supporting the operational testing and assessment of technologies currently under development by NIJ and other agencies. NIJ will also support new efforts to develop lower cost, most effective tools. Proposed efforts include technology to detect weapons of mass destruction, as well as concealed conventional weapons. This initiative will involve collaboration with OSLDPS, NDPO, the FBI, the Technical Support Working Group, and other federal, state, and local agencies and laboratories.

State and Local Domestic Preparedness Needs Assessment Program
Grantee: Battelle Memorial Institute
FY99 Funding: $1 million
OJP Sponsor: OSLDPS

Project Description: Funds are supporting an assessment of the needs and capabilities of state and local jurisdictions to fully determine the status of and corresponding need for domestic preparedness assistance throughout the United States.

The American Terrorism Study: Patterns of Behavior, Investigation, and Prosecution of American Terrorists
Grantee: University of Alabama at Birmingham
FY99 Funding: To Be Determined
OJP Sponsor: NIJ

Project Description: The project is examining three issues: changes in the behavior and tactics of American terrorist groups, federal investigation and prosecution strategies in light of these changes, and predictors of case outcomes and sentences, using a variety of demographic, ideological/group affiliation, and legal variables. The project also is reviewing federal criminal cases arising from the indictment of persons whom the FBI has investigated for terrorism-related activities from 1990-1999.

For More Information

For up-to-date information on OSLDPS training, equipment, and other programs, see its Webpage at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/osldps/. Funds from BJA's Byrne Formula Grant Program also can be used to support counter terrorism initiatives. In addition, funds from BJA's Local Law Enforcement Block Grants Program can be used to procure law enforcement equipment and to support multijurisdictional task forces. See Chapter 1 for a description of these programs or BJA's Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/.

For information about other Department of Justice counter terrorism initiatives, see the Website for the FBI's National Domestic Preparedness Office at www.ndpo.com or call 202/324-8186.

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