The resilient society
One of the issues facing a new president is the security of the US homeland from both terrorist attack and devastating natural catastrophes. All the major candidates have had something to say about "homeland security," but it's been in the form of statements about individual pieces, such as border security or the federal role in natural disaster relief.
In the current issue of City Journal, the publication of the conservative Manhattan Institute, Rudy Giuliani offers a comprehensive vision of homeland security that encompasses all aspects by concentrating on three principles: prevention, preparedness, and resilience. An illustrative quote:
Getting and keeping federal agencies communicating with one another isn’t enough. An effective homeland security plan also has to establish links to, and make use of, the valuable information collected by the country’s 800,000 state and local law enforcement officers. We should view these officers as counterterrorism resources—“first preventers,” as the Manhattan Institute’s R. P. Eddy calls them. Even beyond uniformed services, people such as DMV clerks, and even everyday citizens, may notice clues that would help law enforcement identify would-be terrorists. It was a clerk at Circuit City, after all, who provided the key tip that enabled federal authorities to stop the Fort Dix plot. (We should also reform liability laws so that individuals who act in good faith, such as those who report suspicious behavior on airplanes, will not get sued for trying to help their fellow citizens. Fortunately, a law authored by Representative Peter King was recently passed to protect Americans who do just that.)
To gather and analyze such useful information, first preventers can be assisted by the widespread implementation of a “Terrorstat” program, an idea proposed by former NYPD police commissioner William Bratton and criminologist George Kelling. Terrorstat would build on the proven principles of Compstat, the computerized crimemapping system developed by the New York Police Department in the 1990s and now used by police departments nationwide. By bringing all crime and arrest data together by category and by neighborhood, Compstat revolutionized policing, enabling officers to focus their efforts in problem areas, armed with up-to-the-minute, accurate intelligence, rapid deployment of resources, individual accountability, and relentless follow-up. Terrorstat would do the same for counterterrorism.
Hizzoner makes the gathering and dissemination of useful information through sophisticated statistical software a key part of his strategy in all areas of his homeland security strategy: counterterrorism, border security, and natural disasters. There's no doubt Compstat was amazingly successful in New York City, though I have some questions about how it could be made effective nationwide. Rudy's emphasis on training and empowering state and local first-responders (or, as he calls them, "first preventers") tells me he has the right idea: not a central command system directed from Washington (something one could expect from the Democrats), but a structure that takes advantage of our federal, decentralized system to give state and local authorities --who know their own situations best-- the tools and skills they need to take effective action right away and not wait for a lumbering Federal response. The Federal role would be as it should be: leadership and support, while taking charge only when truly warranted.
Of course, such a system depends on having the right people in charge at all levels: all the information and training in the world will do no good if the people making critical decisions are incompetent. (While the Federal response to Katrina was bungled in many respects, the pathetic performances by then-Louisiana Governor Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Nagin should give one plenty to think about.) How a President Giuliani could hold people in state and local positions accountable is a key question.
Still, this comprehensive approach is one of the reasons I back Giuliani, and I feel fairly confident that he's thought these issues through. I recommend reading his article, and I hope to see similar pieces from the other candidates.
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