Homeland Security Watch

By most definitions terrorism is the use of violence to achieve political objectives.

Given what we currently understand, the murder of the Emanuel Nine was a terrorist act.

Since June 17, which was also the first night of Ramadan, have we encountered the most effective anti-terrorism strategy? (Something different than counter-terrorism.)

There was prompt and effective police action.  But even more substantive — in terms of extended impact — we have experienced fearless expressions of grace that have honored the victims, while simultaneously wholly discrediting the political intentions of the murderer.

How many future terrorist actions have been prevented by the courageous integrity of the survivors?

Surely we have also seen the sort of relationships, mind-sets, individual initiative and community engagement that are essential to true resilience.

I have been in Charleston since Tuesday.  I wish you could have been here too.

These are a little bit old, but interesting enough to share nonetheless.

Juliette Kayyem’s podcast “Security Mom” in the not-so-distant-past (a few weeks ago), focused on crisis communication with former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff and radicalization/ISIS recruitment with terrorism expert Jessica Stern.

The Chertoff conversation I found especially interesting.  It took what seems like an old issue, the color coded homeland security threat level system, and turns it into a serious discussion of risk communication.  You can find it here:

http://wgbhnews.org/post/slow-death-color-coded-terror-alert-system

From the show’s website, here is a bit of the transcript with Chertoff explaining his issues with the color scheme:

Green was a theoretical baseline of world in which there’s no terrorism. That’s not gonna happen. So then you had yellow and orange. Yellow being kind of some level of threat, orange being a heightened threat. And then you had red. And the problem is it was very difficult to define to define what red was. Did red mean an attack is literally gonna happen like tomorrow? Did it mean an attack already happened? Once you’re at red, how do you come down from red? So, we realized pretty quickly that essentially you’re really dealing with two states. Yellow is your base. And orange is your elevated. And then we tried to be focused on, again, particular regions or particular types of threats.

In an other episode, Juliette talks with Jessica Stern about radicalization, in general, and ISIS in particular. It is a wide ranging conversation, but I’ll share one of her conclusions regarding the threat that ISIS poses to Americans here at home that gets back to risk communication from the Chertoff discussion:

For a police officer, for the FBI, for the president, for people working in government — this should be keeping them up at night. But for a person sitting at home in Brighton or Cambridge —  for any given individual, you’re more likely to die from a beesting than you are in a terror strike. You’re probably more likely to die in your bathtub.

You can listen to it here: http://wgbhnews.org/post/inside-minds-isis-members

Or by clicking on this link:

Stern ISIS MIX 1

Matt Mayer, who worked at the the Department of Homeland Security nine years ago, wrote an essay for Reason  (Free Minds and Free Markets) called “Why We Should Eliminate the Department of Homeland Security. Let’s dismantle the Frankenstein monster and divide its responsibilities more effectively.”

After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack, President George W. Bush rightly resisted Congress’ urge to create a new federal department charged with the homeland security mission. Bush believed the federal government could protect America with a strong homeland security council managed by the White House, similar to the National Security Council. Following relentless pressure, he acquiesced and the federal government gave birth to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on March 1, 2003.

The new department largely consists of agencies and offices pulled from other existing cabinet departments. After twelve years of mediocre-to-poor operations and countless scandals, it is clear President Bush’s initial instinct was right. The core functions overseen by DHS can be managed more effectively elsewhere, especially where territorial battles undermine operational efficacy.

It is time to eliminate DHS and put the various components where they are a better fit. Eliminating DHS would result in annual fiscal savings of more than $2.5 billion, with 4,000 fewer employees. Those reductions, however, only represent part of the rationale for eliminating DHS. The other reasons to do so are that DHS is riddled with performance inefficiencies and that its existence creates inefficiencies in other federal entities due to the need to coordinate across organizational boundaries. America can’t afford more of the same as terrorist threats reemerge….

The essay is worth reading.

I’m guessing that somewhere in the editing process the original title of Mayer’s essay may have been changed.  The url link to the article is http:… president-bush-was-right-before-he-was-w

Free minds at work.

(h/t doc)

Volume 12, Issue number 2 of the Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management was released today.  The articles are behind a paywall, but you can see the abstracts by going to the Journal’s site. You also may be able to find the Journal in an academic library.

Here are the contents of the latest issue, with links to the abstracts:

Quadrennial Homeland Security Reviews: What Value for Whom?
Kahan, Jerome

Fixing a Failure to Identify Intelligence in the Domestic Setting: Aligning Collection and Analysis to Address an All-Hazards Mission
Tromblay, Darren E.

State Intervention During Public Health Emergencies: Is the United States Prepared for an Ebola Outbreak?
Maras, Marie-Helen / Miranda, Michelle D.

Coerced Confusion? Local Emergency Policy Implementation After September 11
Hildebrand, Sean

A Medical System for Supporting Civilian Crisis Response
Ren, Chiang H. / Smith, William K. / Christensen, James

The Response Phase of the Disaster Management Life Cycle Revisited Within the Context of “Disasters Out of the Box”
De Smet, Hans / Schreurs, Bert / Leysen, Jan

Understanding Risk Communication Gaps through E-Government Website and Twitter Hashtag Content Analyses: The Case of Indonesia’s Mt. Sinabung Eruption
Chatfield, Akemi Takeoka / Reddick, Christopher G.

A Spatial and Longitudinal Analysis of Unmet Transportation Needs During Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
Joh, Kenneth / Norman, Alexandria / Bame, Sherry I.

A Two-level Agent-Based Model for Hurricane Evacuation in New Orleans
Liang, Wei / Lam, Nina S.-N. / Qin, Xiaojun / Ju, Wenxue

Late last evening Chris Bellavita wrote encouraging a delay in my hiatus in order to comment on the shootings in Charleston.  I wrote back,  but did not intend to post anything here.  This morning, after listening to some of the news coverage and comments by others, I have — for better or worse — copied below how I responded to Chris.

While I have never intended to obscure my own spiritual predispositions, I am of the opinion that in a secular, pluralistic, potentially post-modern culture, it is more helpful to use language that is less loaded  and, perhaps, simpler than religious lexicons.  But this may be an instance where to do so is to dishonor the victims.   At least that is my self-justification for bending that principle here.

After writing Chris and Arnold I visited the Emanuel AME website.  I wanted to know what parts of scripture the Wednesday evening Bible Study was considering.  I did not find that, but I did find this quote:

Jesus died a passionate death for us,  so our love for Him should be as passionate.

Sister Jean German Ortiz

–+–

Chris:

I will be in Charleston most of next week.  I have visited Mother Emanuel.  Given the prominence of church spires on it’s skyline, Charleston is sometimes called the “Holy City”.

Especially since the killing of Walter Scott in North Charleston the city has been very proactive in its engagement with the black community. Paradoxically, this event will, almost certainly, further advance that sometimes difficult-to-sustain process.

As you know, there is an ancient tradition of Christian martyrdom. In this tradition the martyr is a person of faith whose unjust death serves to inform and empower the potential for justice.  Martyrdom challenges the living to recognize and respond to the call for justice with justice and compassion and courage and love.

At least in the Christian tradition — and especially in the churches founded by slaves and former slaves — the core of our faith is to be vulnerable… to each other, to the whole of reality. Recently I heard Sister Simone Campbell say, “We would be better off if we made peace with insecurity. We’re all vulnerable. Security is all illusion.”  I would not be surprised that many of those killed during their Wednesday evening worship were in those pews precisely because of this awareness.

If Jesus is God and the crucifixion is fact then the central act of any authentic Christianity is to be vulnerable: To know that even God is vulnerable. If the Easter narrative has any meaning, we will be surprised by how being vulnerable to love — as well as all the rest — can overcome injustice and is the foundation of profound community.

Especially within the orthodoxies of Homeland Security, these are counter-cultural claims.  Even among most who call themselves Christians to be this vulnerable is often beyond our ability. But in this inability is an invitation to another paradox: Emanuel is derived from the Hebrew meaning “God is with us”… especially in our weakness, especially in our vulnerability, especially in failure, pain, and death.  In these arid places, especially God is there.

I would never have written anything like this for HLSWatch, but I will write it to you and Arnold… and myself.

Phil

The June 2015 issue of Homeland Security Affairs published an article “examining the threat posed by unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and current policy responses to that threat…, an essay examining the need for [an] integrated response paradigm for fire services and law enforcement, [and an essay examining] the use of lean technology in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.”

In “UAS on Main Street” Alison Yakabe analyzes the threat to strategic infrastructure and public safety posed by the proliferation of unmanned aircraft systems in the U.S. The article provides a thorough assessment of existing federal and state legal and policy responses to the problem, and recommends a number of more effective legal and policy approaches.

Michael Marino et al. assess the emerging threat of active shooter attacks and fire as a weapon in “To Save Lives and Property: High Threat Response”, and argue that the fire service and law enforcement have been slow to adapt to the threat. They recommend a set of reforms that would result in the development of an integrated response paradigm which would position the fire service and law enforcement to respond more effectively to these kinds of attacks.

In “The Continued Relevance of the November 2008, Mumbai Terrorist Attack: Countering New Attacks with Old Lessons,” Shahrzad Rizvi and Joshua Kelly analyze the use of lean technology by the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack. They offer a series of recommendations that will help public safety and counterterrorism managers to counter these kinds of attacks more effectively in the future.

To editorial cartoonists, opinion writers, bloggers, news and sports casters, and the rest of the commentariat: Merry Christmas.

From today’s New York Times:

St. Louis Cardinals Investigated by F.B.I. for Hacking Astros

The F.B.I. and Justice Department prosecutors are investigating front-office officials for the St. Louis Cardinals, one of the most successful teams in baseball over the past two decades, for hacking into the internal networks of a rival team to steal closely guarded information about player personnel.

Investigators have uncovered evidence that Cardinals officials broke into a network of the Houston Astros that housed special databases the team had built, according to law enforcement officials. Internal discussions about trades, proprietary statistics and scouting reports were compromised, the officials said.

The officials did not say which employees were the focus of the investigation or whether the team’s highest-ranking officials were aware of the hacking or authorized it. The investigation is being led by the F.B.I.’s Houston field office and has progressed to the point that subpoenas have been served on the Cardinals and Major League Baseball for electronic correspondence.

The attack represents the first known case of corporate espionage in which a professional sports team has hacked the network of another team. Illegal intrusions into companies’ networks have become commonplace, but it is generally conducted by hackers operating in foreign countries, like Russia and China, who steal large tranches of data or trade secrets for military equipment and electronics.
Major League Baseball “has been aware of and has fully cooperated with the federal investigation into the illegal breach of the Astros’ baseball operations database,” a spokesman for baseball’s commissioner, Rob Manfred, said in a written statement.

 

The following is a copy of the Tweets sent by Dallas police Major Max Geron during the attack on the Dallas police headquarters.  The attack started this morning, around 1230 AM.

The tweets illustrate how public officials can use social media (in this case Twitter and Periscope) during an incident to keep people informed, correct errors, quash rumors, explain actions, keep people safe, and help make sense out of what’s going on. 

Max writes for Homeland Security Watch sometimes.

---

– Maj. Max Geron retweeted

#BREAKING More video of shooting outside DPD headquarters

– Maj. Max Geron retweeted

Madhu ?@madwho12  19h19 hours ago

Armored van lured police, fired upon, and rammed police

– Maj. Max Geron retweeted

18h18 hours ago

Ryan Wood retweeted JG

New video from earlier of shooting outside #Dallas police headquarters. @wfaachannel8

– Maj. Max Geron retweeted

18h18 hours ago

Suspect who shot at DPD headquarters is in a van near Hutchins. SWAT on the way. Here is the scene.

---

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  18h18 hours ago

I’m not aware of any injuries at this point

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  17h17 hours ago

As a precautionary measure, we’ve taken additional steps to ensure security at all police facilities.

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  17h17 hours ago

We’ve activated the Emergency Operations Center to facilitate coordination of emergency response

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  16h16 hours ago

Witnesses advised that suspects in an armored vehicle open fire on @DallasPD HQ shortly after 12am #dallaspdshooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  16h16 hours ago

If you have video or info of the incident you can send it to us via the iWatch Dallas app available in the App Store #dallaspdshooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  16h16 hours ago

You can also send us info or video to pio@dpd.dallascityhall.com

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  16h16 hours ago

We’ve received assistance from Hutchins PD, Wilmer PD, @TxDPS among others. Situation is ongoing #dallaspdshooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  16h16 hours ago

Still no reports of any injuries to @DallasPD personnel. #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  16h16 hours ago

We are prepping for a press conference with @dpdchief at city hall #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  16h16 hours ago

We are working to LiveStream and Periscope the press conference.

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  16h16 hours ago

Headed up to the presser now

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  16h16 hours ago

We’re expanding the perimeter @DallasPD HQ because of the presence of possible explosives

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  16h16 hours ago

Presser live on periscope now

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  16h16 hours ago

On Periscope @maxdpd

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  16h16 hours ago

Multiple bags with possible explosives found around @DallasPD HQ

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  16h16 hours ago

If you hear explosions in the area of @dallaspd HQ, the Explosive Ord. Unit is considering a controlled demolition #dallaspdshooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  15h15 hours ago

We will be uploading video of the press conference to http://dpdbeat.com  as soon as we can

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  15h15 hours ago

#breaking As the Explosive Ordinance Robot attempted to move one of the bags @DallasPD HQ, the bag exploded on its own #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  15h15 hours ago

We are advising all of our surrounding LEO Depts to search their facilities for devices and not to touch them. #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  15h15 hours ago

We are working with @FBI and @ATFHQ

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  15h15 hours ago

#breaking Here’s the link to the talking points from the earlier press conference #DallasPDShooting http://dpdbeat.com/2015/06/13/shooting-at-dallas-police-headquarters/ …

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  14h14 hours ago

#Breaking We have found an additional package under a police truck in the parking lot @DallasPD HQ EOD is checking it #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  14h14 hours ago

#BREAKING We are also investigating a suspicious package in a dumpster at the Northeast Substation #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  14h14 hours ago

#Breaking Standoff with the suspect. Suspect vehicle has been disabled. #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  14h14 hours ago

We are working on dispatching our Priority 1 911 calls. We will work to release ad ofcrs to ans calls as soon as possible #DallasPDShooting

#Breaking Device found under police vehicle @DallasPD HQ was detonated by EOD. #DallasPDShooting

– 14h14 hours ago

Device found under police vehicle at HQ has detonated – no injuries #DallasPDShooting

– 14h14 hours ago

Dallas SWAT disabled the suspect vehicle with a .50 cal rifle. Standoff is ongoing #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  14h14 hours ago

We currently aren’t granting phone interviews but are working on an update presser w/in the next couple of hours #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  14h14 hours ago

We are currently working on processing at least 2 crime scenes inclusive of the ongoing standoff near I-20 & I-45 #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  14h14 hours ago

Maj. Max Geron retweeted Bad Guy Zero

Not “evacuating” but getting officers to clear in service from the station

Maj. Max Geron added,

Bad Guy Zero @BadGuyZero

Someone on the DPD Southeast radio frequency just said they’re in the process of clearing the station. #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  14h14 hours ago

Maj. Max Geron retweeted Nick Wing

No, follow us on social media and check our blog at http://dpdbeat.com  #DallasPDShooting

Maj. Max Geron added,

Nick Wing @nickpwing

Is this police scanner the only source of info on what’s happening in Dallas? #DallasPD #DallasPDShooting http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/5318/web …

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  14h14 hours ago

ICYMI [“in case you missed it”] If you have video or info on the #DallasPDShooting you may submit it via iWatch Dallas app or emailed to pio@dpd.dallascityhall.com

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  13h13 hours ago

We held officers from deep nights shift to work on getting caught up on 911 calls.

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  13h13 hours ago

#Breaking 2 explosive devices were found @DallasPD HQ – all suspected packages have now been cleared there. #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  13h13 hours ago

#breaking Other suspected devices@DallasPD HQ turned out to be trash.

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  13h13 hours ago

.@JeremyWard33 “Clearing in service” means checking in service and leaving the station to answer calls

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  13h13 hours ago

Are working as quickly as we can to get people back into their residences near @DallasPD HQ could still be several hours #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  13h13 hours ago

The delay is because we must resume the search for additional explosive devices. Please be patient #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  13h13 hours ago

We are reaching out to the @RedCrossDFW to get refreshments for evacuated residents in the area of @DallasPD HQ #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  13h13 hours ago

#Breaking Our EOD robot took a hit from the initial explosion but is still functional and in use #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  12h12 hours ago

Thank you for all the well wishes. Thankful no officers were injured. #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  12h12 hours ago

Maj. Max Geron retweeted Mike North

When possible we negotiate to secure a peaceful resolution to all situations. Not always possible

Maj. Max Geron added,

Mike North @North2North

.@DallasPD .@cpdzone7 so they fire on a police head q. and now negotiate ?blow the van up..bye bye.. #DallasPDShooting #donetalking #kapow

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  12h12 hours ago

Both directions of I-45 shutdown in the area of I-45 and I-20 due to on-going standoff #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  12h12 hours ago

#Breaking Suspicious package at Northeast has been cleared and was not an explosive #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  12h12 hours ago

#Breaking We will give a follow up briefing at 8:30am for media in the lobby of City Hall. #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  12h12 hours ago

#BREAKING Dallas SWAT utilizing robot to examine the suspect vehicle. Still concerned about explosives #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  12h12 hours ago

.@CourtlandOlson #falsenarrative Officers @DallasPD HQ returned fire at the suspect

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  11h11 hours ago

Whether or not susp is inj or deceased, concern continues to be threat of explosives. 2 devices were found @DallasPD HQ #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  11h11 hours ago

Evacuees have been allowed back into their homes across from @DallasPD HQ following a search for additional explosives #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  11h11 hours ago

Earlier this morning Dallas SWAT sniper shot the suspect through the front windshield.

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  11h11 hours ago

We recently held a tabletop exercise on a similar styles attack on downtown area #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  11h11 hours ago

Original reports to officers were of multiple suspects. Now indications are 1 suspect fired from multiple locs #DallasPDShooting

–Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  11h11 hours ago

We don’t know motive and will not send officers to van until we can work to make sure there are no explosives #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  11h11 hours ago

Press conference live on Periscope @maxdpd

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  11h11 hours ago

Susp shot at officers at @DallasPD HQ and at scene of standoff with officers returning fire both times. #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  11h11 hours ago

Re: PT this prompted shooting of suspect by Dallas SWAT sniper #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  11h11 hours ago

Officer searching HQ for explosives almost tripped over package that later exploded the instant it was moved #DallasPDShooting

–Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  11h11 hours ago

#Breaking @DallasPD attempted to take out the windshield of the susp veh with an explosive breach. It had no effect #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  11h11 hours ago

#Breaking @DallasPD will use the .50 rifle to strategically take out the windshield of the susp veh w/ 4 or more shots #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  11h11 hours ago

RE: PT – Goal is to enable access inside that susp vehicle. #DallasPDShooting We’re advising to alert the public so no alarm at gunfire

–Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  11h11 hours ago

#Breaking Action to take out susp vehicle windshield to happen momentarily #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  11h11 hours ago

.@jdmiles11 JD incorrect – 2 shots to engine block – 1 shot into suspect

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  10h10 hours ago

.@jdmiles11 Yes 2 into engine block 3rd shot hit suspect through windshield. All w/.50 cal #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  10h10 hours ago

.@ry_miller23 Suspect was in an armored vehicle.

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  10h10 hours ago

.@delgeo1 5 suspicious packages – 3 cleared, 2 explosives, 1 exploded on contact, other controlled detonation by EOD. #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  10h10 hours ago

One shot into susp veh windshield just went in with .50 cal. #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  10h10 hours ago

Are in process of trying to gain access into the armored susp vehicle by taking out the windshield with our .50cal rifle #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  10h10 hours ago

#Breaking We’ve opened the windshield and will utilize an explosive “water charge” to render any explosives inside inert #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  10h10 hours ago

#Breaking EOD techs believe black powder used in pipe bombs @DallasPD HQ – no C4 detected there #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  9h9 hours ago

We are about to go with the “water charge” in the susp vehicle. Have been prepping for a safe detonation #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  9h9 hours ago

.@IRRGoddess @Fried_Kimchi #FalseNarrative Ofcrs engaged the suspect and returned fire @DallasPD HQ and at standoff loc #DallasPDShooting

9h9 hours ago

.@CBS11Arezow Water charge uses container of water against explosive charge to disperse water and render black pwdr inert #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  10h10 hours ago

There has been no contact with the suspect in over 4 hours – believe it likely that he is deceased #DallasPDShooting

–Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  9h9 hours ago

Maj. Max Geron retweeted Dell Cameron

Believe it likely – unable to confirm until van is cleared and officers can move in. Confirmation is premature

Maj. Max Geron added,

Dell Cameron @dellcam

@MaxDPD The @AP just tweeted “authorities confirm death of suspect.” Can you confirm that?

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  9h9 hours ago

Maj. Max Geron retweeted Mark Puente

Thank you Mark. #Transparency and #engagement are critical. #DallasPDShooting

Maj. Max Geron added,

Mark Puente @MarkPuente

@justin_fenton @MaxDPD It appears everything isn’t a secret in police operations in the Big D. Kudos to the transparency.

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  8h8 hours ago

#BREAKING at least two additional pipe bombs found inside susp veh. #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  8h8 hours ago

#Breaking How officer survived truly a miracle! Bullet through door-seatblt-frontseat-backseat #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron retweeted

Shawn Williams ?@ShawnPDPD  7h7 hours ago

. @DPDChief just received a call from @GovAbbott who offered any assistance necessary to @DallasPD. #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  7h7 hours ago

Maj. Max Geron retweeted Maggie Mazzetti

All media may use photos with appropriate attribution.

Maj. Max Geron added,

Maggie Mazzetti @maggiemazzetti

@MaxDPD – The Associated Press would love to use your photos/video with attribution, would that be ok?

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  7h7 hours ago

#Breaking We can now confirm that the susp in the van is deceased but unable to confirm ID pending Med Ex. identification #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  7h7 hours ago

#BREAKING Lots of shrapnel was included in the pipe bombs that exploded – screws, nails @DallasPD HQ #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  6h6 hours ago

#Breaking During intentional detonation of susp ordnance, susp van caught fire and rounds are going off inside #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  6h6 hours ago

Officers had discovered at least 2 additional pipe bombs in the susp veh that required disposal #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  6h6 hours ago

#BREAKING At 3PM will provide Media w/ crime scene access at Lamar St. & Belleview St. Coming south on Lamar frm DwnTwn. #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  6h6 hours ago

TV Media may send 1 reporter & 1 photog per station, Print media 1 rep & 1 photog/ Radio – 1 reporter. Will have sound from @MajorCotnerDPD

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  6h6 hours ago

Sound will be available from @MajorCotnerDPD and @DPDChiefGarza from Capers at that time #DallasPDShooting

– Maj. Max Geron ?@MaxDPD  6h6 hours ago

I’m signing off. @DallasPD and @ShawnPDPD will continue w/ updates going to try and get some rest. #DallasPDShooting

 

 

A couple of weeks ago I was the only non-federalista at a DHS event where one official introduced me to another as “the HLSWatch blogger”, to which my new acquaintance replied, “Oh yes! You’re the philosopher, aren’t you?”

I’m not sure how he pegs Chris or Arnold or Christian, but I responded “Yes, I guess so.” Closing on the upbeat.

At a recent FEMA function as we offered self-introductions, the facilitator interrupted and asked me, “Would you share with the group your other persona?” I had no idea where she was going.  “Which one?” I laughed.  “There are so many.”

“Tell us about your poetry.”  Which is an infrequent invitation anywhere and especially inside the Beltway.

Just this Monday I was in Los Angeles working on supply chains but found myself in a conversation involving Heidegger, Nietzsche, Aristotle, and Plato that actually wound around to important insights on the differences between supply chains and critical infrastructure and protection versus resilience.

It really was a conversation, initiated by the other party.  So I am reasonably certain I did not slip into a solipsistic hallucination.

Clearly I have never shied away from my own set of mostly traditional humanistic frameworks. Still my principal professional persona, presumably, is that of an experienced private sector actor.  I don’t have any special claim on philosophy and my poetry is, unfortunately, mostly mildly mediocre.  Whereas I have the emotional scars and experiential receipts to prove a forty-plus year tenure in start-ups and beyond.

But as the vignettes above suggest, perhaps I have recently been a bit obsessive-compulsive — to you it may simply seem self-indulgent — regarding several abstract themes including complex adaptive theory, epistemology, and ethics (when I was not preoccupied with Nepal).

This week every issue I have considered for comment — police use of force, the Turkish election, private-public-civic collaboration in resilience, counter-terrorism in Nigeria, US immigration enforcement, and more — has seemed to me yet another example of how when fear mates with a predisposition to control their progeny are problems multiplied.

Several poets occur to me as potential sources of pithy quotes.  Here’s one:

We have no reason to harbor any mistrust against our world, for it is not against us. If it has terrors, they are our terrors; if it has abysses, these abysses belong to us; if there are dangers, we must try to love them. And if only we arrange our life in accordance with the principle which tells us that we must always trust in the difficult, then what now appears to us as the most alien will become our most intimate and trusted experience.

Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

But I have already made this claim, more than once. Redundancy is where nagging starts.  You deserve better.  I should do better.

So… acknowledging my recent tendency to eccentric philosophical/poetic preoccupations — and, I will admit, an increasingly crowded professional life — I will take a hiatus from HLSWatch to try to find something new to say.

But if you happen to see fear approaching control at some bar, picnic, or beach, please keep them apart.

Best wishes for the summer.

At its meeting on May 21, 2015, the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) issued a report by its DHS Employee Task Force, established in October 2014 following the Department’s poor rankings in the latest federal employee survey results, and formerly known as the “DHS Employee Morale Task Force” but renamed a few weeks prior to the issuance of the report. The report has been publicly released but is not yet available on the DHS website; I have posted a copy at this link.

The report includes a brief assessment of the relevant issues that affect DHS workforce morale, makes four primary recommendations, and includes twenty-seven specific action items that derive from these recommendations. The four primary recommendations are as follows:

1. Greatly increase the emphasis on leadership qualities when filling managerial positions and when assessing the performance of incumbents.
2. Significantly improve management training, particularly leadership training.
3. Adopt proven industrial standards for personnel development.
4. Significantly strengthen communications (upward, downward and outward), making greater use of modern communication technology.

Overall, the report provides a solid initial assessment of the challenges facing DHS leadership as it attempts to address morale issues, and suggests a number of common-sense management initiatives. But its analysis should be viewed as only a starting point. This is an issue that is difficult to generalize across the Department; the issues that affect the morale and satisfaction of the frontline officer at TSA or CBP are very different than the issues that affect an intelligence analyst or policy advisor at one of the headquarters offices. Moreover, it is necessary as part of such an assessment to make a distinction between issues that are within the span of control of the leadership of the Department (such as day-to-day operational policies and norms) and those that are outside of their control (such as civil service laws, or Congressional constraints on the Department’s organizational structure).

Two issues in particular are deserving of further analysis. The first is the set of procedures (formal and informal) related to decision-making and action-taking within DHS, and the incentive structure that underlies these procedures. My observation over a number of years and spanning multiple DHS leadership teams is that it is far too difficult for motivated and forward-looking individuals to take initiative and drive change within the Department. Instead, it is much easier for offices to stifle new initiatives that they do not like, a reality exacerbated by the fragmented Congressional oversight of the Department and by the existence of numerous internal oversight and compliance offices within DHS. This observation is supported by the results of Question #32 on the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey: “Creativity and innovation are rewarded.” DHS employees express on average a much more negative response to this question than employees of other federal agencies. I would contend that the frustration and hopelessness captured in these responses is a major factor in low morale at DHS.

The second issue deserving of additional attention is reflected in the results to Question #22 of the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey: “Promotions in my work unit are based on merit.” 55.6% of DHS employees disagreed with this statement in the 2014 survey – the most negative result of any agency surveyed by far, and much higher than the government-wide average of 39.3%. The apparent lack of meritocracy reflected in this result is a long-standing issue at DHS (as far back as the 2006 employee survey, DHS also had the most negative result) and needs to be rigorously assessed at the component level to determine the root causes of this, which likely includes issues related to organizational culture, personnel policies, and the lack of clear standards for promotions. Notably, the HSAC task force calls for a follow-on review of these issues, including an assessment of the Department’s promotion and compensation systems.

As noted earlier, the full HSAC report can be viewed at this link.

(Note: This piece is cross-posted from the GW Center for Cyber and Homeland Security’s Security Insights blog.)

Monday the Supreme Court remanded for further consideration Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc.   In 2008 the Company decided not to hire an otherwise well-suited prospective employee because it is her religious practice to wear a hijab (below).

The EEOC sued on behalf of Samantha Elauf under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  The Act “prohibits a prospective employer from refusing to hire an applicant in order to avoid accommodating a religious practice that it could accommodate without undue hardship.”

A Federal District Court jury originally found on behalf of the EEOC and awarded damages to Ms. Elauf, but the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision finding that Ms. Elauf had not explicitly informed the Company that her head-covering is an act of religious devotion.  Without this “actual knowledge” of a need for religious accommodation the Tenth Circuit found that the Company was within its rights to stand-by a dress-code that does not allow employees to wear “caps”.

The Supreme Court disagrees.

The 8-to-1 decision written by Justice Scalia strikes me as narrowly framed to discern the law’s intent.  The decision is, nonetheless, being hailed as a victory for inclusion, tolerance, and respect for religious practice.  The Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations commented, “We welcome this historic ruling in defense of religious freedom at a time when the American Muslim community is facing increased levels of Islamophobia.”

Samantha Elauf with her mother

Title VII establishes what Justice Scalia characterizes as “favored treatment” for ” all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, unless an employer demonstrates that he is unable to reasonably accommodate to” a “religious observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer’s business.”  On remand the lower courts will take up whether or not accommodation in this case would cause undue hardship.

Meanwhile, Congress struggles to determine what constitutes an undue hardship on personal privacy, especially in collection of meta-data and other often prosaic but powerful tools of digital tracking.  Can the National Security Agency reasonably accommodate citizens varied expectations of privacy?  Or has any such expectation become an unreasonable delusion?

Meanwhile, a DHS red team encountered barely any hardship at all penetrating TSA security protocols.  ABC News reports, “According to officials briefed on the results of a recent Homeland Security Inspector General’s report, TSA agents failed 67 out of 70 tests, with Red Team members repeatedly able to get potential weapons through checkpoints.”  Overly accommodating?

Meanwhile, how well can the US economy reasonably accommodate continued drought in California, recurring floods in Texas and Oklahoma, and the accelerating financial and human costs of natural hazards around the globe?  As the escalating controversy regarding federal flood insurance demonstrates (and Bill Cumming has explained), even measures meant to help accommodate individuals to risk can actually end up causing undue hardship.

In their consideration of EEOC v A&F, I hear the Supremes offering some wisdom that can extend well-beyond the religious significance of our fashion choices.

This wisdom, at least for me, is amplified by the paradoxies — some would say, absurdities — of Samantha Elauf’s situation.   As devout, even pious, as many of her fellow citizens of Oklahoma, Ms. Elauf regularly covers her head to symbolize her obedience to God and as an expression of personal modesty.  As an all-American girl — evidenced by her Instagram account — Ms. Elauf is at ease blending this religious sensibility with the merchandising strategy of Abercrombie and Fitch.  One sample immediately below.

For its 2012 calendar A&F kept the Christ in Christmas

This is a profoundly American — some adversaries would insist, satanic — tendency to accommodate what many, perhaps most, of the world could perceive as irreconcilably dueling realities.  We are being challenged again and again to appear on a supposed field of honor to kill or be killed defending this convergence of contradictions.

The brief Supreme Court opinions — Scalia for the majority: 7 pages, Alito concurring: 6 pages, Thomas dissenting: 10 pages — are examinations of applied epistemology.  What do we know and how do we know it?  And applied ethics: what is our obligation to act in accordance with what we know?

According to our magistrates, knowledge is often implicit, typically contingent on context, and, when involving humans, requires a careful assessment of intention. Knowledge is applied rightly and wisely when it recognizes contending values, honors diversity, and is especially solicitous regarding the role of individuals as moral agents.

This is a radical view of the world and our place in it that is considered naive and/or heretical and/or threatening by many millions.  It is also the great attraction of the American experience for millions more.

When we look to our most contentious homeland security issues — for example, privacy v. intelligence-operations, liberty v. security, individual v. community  — are the epistemological principles articulated in EEOC v A&F the rule or the exception?  Are we predisposed to accommodate or insist?  Are we exclusive or inclusive? How much are we tempted to the dogmatism of our critics?

When challenged to a duel do we have sufficient knowledge of self and other to select the most appropriate weapon: sword, plowshare, or pie shell (whipped cream or lemon custard)?

Is this heresy, comedy, or serious commentary? (Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller)