By Jocelyn Bogen
October 20, 2003

On October 10th, the leadership of the Conference of Mayors convened in Miami Beach for a session entitled "Fighting Terrorism" sponsored by the Mayors- Institute on Community Policing and the Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). Elizabeth (NJ) Mayor J. Christian Bollwage, Chair of the Criminal and Social Justice Standing Committee, open the mayors- and police chiefs- one-day session to discuss the relevance of community policing in Promoting Regional Cooperation, Interoperability and Community Engagement in the Development of Plans for Homeland Security. "Local police departments and citizens must be kept in the loop in the fight against terrorism, or we are wasting rare and crucial resources in providing for our homeland security," stated Bollwage.

In discussing the relevance of community policing in homeland security, COPS Office Chief of Staff Tim Quinn added, "Not only is community policing relevant, but it truly is at the forefront of the homeland security effort and is an enhancement to homeland security." COPS recently awarded $59.6 million in homeland security grants. The grants will support programs that increase community safety and security, and reduce public fear.

Encouraging Cooperative Problem-Solving Efforts

During the first panel on Encouraging Cooperative Problem-Solving Efforts, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman identified the number one issue for all jurisdictions as communication. When emergencies and disasters strike, many different organizations must work together to save lives and protect property. Goodman spoke about his experience and encouraged other mayors to attend the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) in Emmitsburg (MD). EMI offers emergency management training to enhance the capabilities of Federal, State, local, and tribal government personnel as well as volunteers and members of the private sector.

Sugar Land (TX) Mayor David Wallace, Co-chair of the Conference of Mayors- Task Force on Homeland Security, discussed the central role of community policing in the development of a homeland security preparedness plan. After September 11th, Sugar Land created an Emergency Operation Center (EOC), which provides regional coordination and cooperation.

Wallace called for increased funding for regional response capabilities, and added that the EOC was utilized the day before the meeting when a tornado caused damage in Sugar Land.

Miami Police Chief John Timoney spoke about how police departments reacted following September 11th; there were too many "knee jerk" reactions from police departments. "We couldn't figure out what to do. That caused huge amounts of money expenditures in overtime," stated Timoney. He felt most jurisdictions dealt with the issue of equipment in an almost child-like fashion. He stated, "We want to have this, we want that...everything, without conducting a needs assessment of what we need. Most cities thought they needed it [equipment] or liked to have it as if they were doing a Christmas list."

Timoney identified four areas which need to be addressed: equipment and technology, Training, financial resources, and responsibility. Timoney stated, "Training is so important. There will always be a window of confusion and that window can last as long as 48 hours, the feds aren-t coming right away, so it will be up to the local people. The training is hugely important. " He also added that having the response training together allows fire and police chiefs of different municipalities to meet before a crisis situation.

Another area Timoney discussed is financial resources. "This homeland defense is an additional responsibility that has been thrown onto the local jurisdictions. When those things happen we become part of the homeland defense, the national defense, and some monies should be allocated for that function coming out of the national defense budget."

Long Beach Mayor Beverly O'Neill spoke about the common Long Beach and Los Angeles ports, which are the third largest in the world and are extremely vulnerable. "When you talk about cooperation after September 11th, the Coast Guard took the lead. It was the Coast Guard, the US Customs, FBI, Immigration and Naturalization, port security, LA and Long Beach city securities all working together to immediately have a response for the ships that were coming in," O'Neill said.

O'Neill stressed that all of the agencies really need to work together because the different agencies are looking for different indicators. "Our police department found that we needed patrol boats. The boats that were out there were Coast Guard boats. They were looking for things that are on a different level than what we would be looking for on people coming closer in," added O'Neill.

Enhancing Effective Partnerships With Federal Agencies

Dearborn Mayor Michael Guido opened the panel on Enhancing Effective Partnerships with Federal Agencies with a discussion of Dearborn's efforts to maintain a trusting relationship between the community police officers and the Arab-American residents. He emphasized some of the steps that were taken to provide a sense of security when the Arab community feared retribution for the September 11th attacks.

"We sent out our community police officers along with the FBI when they conducted interviews. We did that because we felt that was important for the Arab-Americans in Dearborn to feel safe and comfortable when the federal government was coming to ask questions. They knew our police officers. They trusted our police officers," added Guido. He also spoke about interoperability and working with the Department of Homeland Security Project Safecom, which is working towards connecting a wireless first-response system across federal, state and local agencies.

Jackson (MS) Police Chief Robert Moore spoke on the importance of cultivating personal relationships and maintaining partnerships with Federal Agencies. Moore stressed, "If you intend to have a true partnership — trust must be a part of it. And you must be motivated." He encouraged officers to socialize together to develop lasting relationships. Moore added, "We have to go beyond meetings. We have to go beyond being motivated to build these relationships. The federal agents do not have the manpower; the local governments do not have the finances."

Improving Interoperability

Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, Co-chair of the Conference of Mayors- Task Force on Homeland Security, recently received a COPS Grant of $5.1 million. Some of the funds have been used to upgrade the radios for first responders. O'Malley stated, "It's from the federal government, it comes through the COPS Office directly to the metropolitan area. They choose our plan along with 14 other cities throughout the country. Its going to allow us to get up and running and do something in a real substantive way that will address this issue for years and years to come."

Long Beach Police Chief Anthony Batts identified some of the challenges involved in upgrading and improving interoperability as limited funding, spectrum issues, territorial, and a lack of uniform standards. Congress has mandated that all emergency responders use radio systems that are at least 700-800 MHz by 2010.

Engaging The Community

"Technology is not the short-range answer; the short range answer is that we have to have a high level of preparedness as a country," stated Batts. For the panel on Engaging the Community in Homeland Security Preparation Efforts Arlington Heights Mayor Arlene Mulder shared a video and booklet that provides practical information for citizens on how to prepare for disasters and crisis situations.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley closed the day's session referencing federal oversight of local response to heightened terror alert levels. "Every time the federal government established an orange alert, we spent local dollars on overtime, whatever happened to the orange alert system," he remarked.

The overall consensus was that there needs to be more direct local funding; community policing is necessary and even more relevant than ever before. Gary Mayor Scott King, Chair of the Mayors and Police Chiefs Task Force, stated, "We can-t talk about financing homeland security in Iraq, before we talk about homeland security at home." With respect to continuation of the COPS Program, Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer stressed, "I don't care what you call it, they can even rename it, but the COPS Program works."