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Six Years On

2007 Sep 11 Posted by Joseph Pascarella

Greetings and I hope all is well.

The significance of today’s date is etched in the collective memory of just about everyone in the United States and conjures up just about every available emotion and feeling.

In Public Safety, after emotionally grappling with the sheer enormity of losses of life that day in but a few precious moments; public safety must confront operational questions about preparedness and moving forward.

Chief amongst these questions are “Will it happen again?” That is a tough question that is very hard to answer. More pragmatic is “Can it happen again?” Given that the macrosociological and global conditions that manufactured the 9/11 hijackers have not seemed to wane, the threat appears very real today.

More specific to public safety is “Are we more prepared?” In my view, the answer to that is a resounding yes. We in public safety now both recognize and realize the gravity of this threat and that is a major paradigm shift in public safety.

Prior to 9/11, the threat was either not realized and addressed properly or some public safety agencies thought that counter terrorism and homeland security was another agency’s responsibility. 9/11 has changed that line of thought.

Given that all of public safety has taken ownership of this contemporary threat, that is at least a starting point to build upon.

Take care and stay safe.

Joe Pascarella

September 11, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized
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2 Responses to “Six Years On”

Stephen Lettic Says:

I would agree that the public safety community has taken ownership of the threat, and most especially local law enforcement. Take a look at agencies such as LAPD and NYPD who have built elaborate intelligence units that not only gather criminal intelligence, but threats to national security. This is due to the ability of city and state governments to adapt to the new role faster and with more vigor than the federal government.

I would attribute this to the word you use earlier, “ownership”, the city and state public safety apparatus are the first responders that live, work, and interact more with those they serve creating that special relationship. Federal first responders do have the same drive and passion, but seem to deal with a larger bureaucracy that gives a sense of greater removal from the immediate situation.

Just some observations and comments

I look forward to more discussions

Steve Lettic
Capella Learner

September 13th, 2007 at 1:58 pm

Joe Pascarella Says:

Steven,

Thanks for the comment and post. Hopefully this ownwership can develop into full-fledged cooperation.

Joe Pascarella

September 15th, 2007 at 6:47 am

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