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 THE STAT 26Percentage of wireless customers who use their cell phones to take picturesMore Vitals
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MAY 13, 2003
The State of Homeland Security While observers are sharply divided over how much real progress is being made, the political will and technology now exists -- and that's a huge improvement On May 12, a simulated explosion in Seattle and the revelation of dangerous germ-warfare toxins in Chicago kicked off a $16 million exercise to test America's first responders and emergency personnel. Thousands of firefighters, police, hospital workers, and others from dozens of federal, state, and local agencies took part. Going under the code name TOPOFF2, the exercise was the largest of its kind to date. Officials hope lessons learned from the event will help all levels of government better understand how to deflect a terrorist attack using weapons of mass destruction. Announced a week before it took place, TOPOFF2 has become a magnet for both criticism and praise of the vast efforts to shore up homeland security. The glass-half-empty crowd wondered why first responders were told well in advance not only that an exercise would occur but also about the nature of the danger they would face and even the precise location of the different parts of the exercise. The glass-half-full crowd noted that these types of government drills, which have rarely occurred in the past, are becoming a routine part of running the country. The juxtaposition of those viewpoints reflects the state of homeland security some 18 months after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington: The U.S. is somewhat safer than it was in those innocent days, but the quest for true security has only just begun. LITTLE LEFT UNTOUCHED. The search for greater security certainly has had long tentacles. At some level it has reached into every nook and cranny of the U.S. Homeland security efforts have touched small-town water systems and big-time telecom companiess, chemical plants in New Jersey, and nuclear reactors in North Carolina. This reaction to the World Trade Center attacks has also engendered the largest modern-era federal reorganization, a massive consolidation of various functions previously conducted by 169,000 employees in 22 separate federal agencies representing $37 billion in government funding into the newly formed Homeland Security Dept. headed by former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge. The push to shore up homeland security has spurred a dizzying array of research efforts into bioterrorism, chemical weapons, and transportation security, among others. Across broad industries, companies have added guards with guns and have plotted survival strategies in case of physical attack. Many companies have chosen to more widely disperse their employees to prevent the type of catastrophic business interruption Wall Street suffered after the Twin Towers fell. And yet the questions remain: Is America safer now than before? And if so, has the improvement been commensurate with the level of effort and expenditures so far -- including the U.S. invasion of Iraq? To a large degree, the answers depend in part on whom you talk to. Witness the diverging views of two expert observers -- Kathleen Sarten and Steve Flynn. SAFER PORT. Sarten is the Seattle service port director for the Customs & Border Protection (CBP) bureau of the Homeland Security Dept. Her job prior to 9/11 was to chase narcotics traffickers, counterfitters, and software pirates who exploit the 100,000 or so tractor-trailer size shipping containers that pass through the Port of Seattle each month. Now, Sarten's job is all terrorism, all the time -- "anything connected with anti-terrorism," she says. She sees Seattle as a far safer port today. Within the past year, Sarten say she has gotten enough funding -- she won't say how much -- to double the number of staff dedicated to seaport cargo processing and maritime security over the last year. Seattle has also received its own VACIS (Vehicle & Cargo Inspection System), one of 20 such devices ordered by U.S. Customs since September 11. This truck-mounted machine uses gamma rays to peer inside containers to help customs inspectors spot anomalies that might indicate dangerous cargo. A complete scan of a 40-foot container using a VACIS machine takes less than a minute. As a result, Sarten's forces can scan suspect containers rather than having to fully unload and manually search them. And today, all of Sarten's inspectors have personal radioactivity-detection badges -- portable Geiger counters that until recently only a few U.S. Customs officials had. SOUNDS GOOD, UNTIL... New procedures have also helped Customs do its jobs more efficiently. As of March, 2003, ships arriving at the Port of Seattle must forward an electronic list of their cargo to customs inspectors no less than 24 hours before loading up their cargo at a foreign port. And a collaborative program with other governments allows U.S. Customs inspectors to examine loads coming in from foreign ports before the ships even set sail. Also in the works is a new program called Operation Safe Commerce, a cooperative effort between Customs inspectors and large shippers to computerize and automate the tracking of containers throughout a company's supply chain. The ports of Seattle and Tacoma have requested $36.5 million for the project from the Transportation Safety Administration and have lined up 18 private-sector participants. All of which sounds encouraging until you speak with Steve Flynn, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former U.S. Coast Guard officer. Flynn remains far less sanguine about the prospect of protecting U.S. ports. While he appreciates the type of progress that Sarten claims, "most of what you have to date are unfunded mandates on the transportation industry," says Flynn. As for the government enforcement agencies, "you have very serious constraints on manpower, [info-tech] backbone, and things you need to maintain a serious presence."
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