“To be prepared is half the victory.” — Miguel de Cervantes
Sept. 11, 2001, and Hurricane Katrina put a whole new spin on how heightened our awareness has to be regarding what really needs to be done to prepare for the unexpected.
These events forced us to refocus on a methodology for developing an effective continuity-of-operations plan to meet any eventuality. The very thought of any kind of “planning” related to
disasters, terrorist attacks or a possible flu pandemic may seem the work of pessimists.
However, in the aftermath of these events, it has become very clear that every organization, government or private business must have plans in place to guide its activities in the wake of
even the most unforeseen of events. Under any circumstance, government, especially law enforcement, need to be able to ensure the safety of their employees and the ability to continue to provide the necessary services to its citizens. After Katrina hit New Orleans, it is
estimated that the city lost more than half its police force with no plans in place to provide security for its citizens.
Recently, the National Sheriffs’ Association chose the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office as one of three agencies out of 3,000 nationwide to develop a Continuity of Operation Plan. The association picked a small, medium and large Sheriff’s Office to develop such a plan. Once completed, these plans will be used in training and as models for other sheriff’s
offices to follow in developing theirs.
However, a cooperative plan is nothing new to government.
A Continuity of Operations Plan has been a part of government operations since at least the Cold War, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower provided by executive order various measures which were supposed to ensure that the government of the United States would be
able to continue in case of nuclear war. For many years these plans were kept tightly under wraps, partly out of the consideration that detailed knowledge of these plans would enable the Soviet Union to more effectively launch a nuclear attack and partly out of concern for the
public panic which could follow a revelation that their government was busily planning for a nuclear attack by the Russians. These plans were considered less important after the end of the Cold War but regained some prominence after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when speculation arose that terrorists could destroy significant parts of the government
in a short space of time.
The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office fulfills its responsibility to act as first responders to the unincorporated areas of Pinal County.
Also, to maintain and run at 1,500-bed adult detention facility that houses those arrested and charged with various crimes. Pinal County’s plan is being developed to ensure continuity of essential operational and administrative functions for a wide range of emergencies and
circumstances. The primary objective of the plan, in keeping with the mission of PCSO, is to provide for seamless operation of the agency and ensure public safety. Those individuals with a stake in this plan are you, the public at large, staff, and other stakeholders, such as the
various court systems we serve.
Once completed, the plan will be available any time that a natural disaster, flu pandemic or terrorist attack occurs or any other state of emergency is declared by the governor or his/her designee. Specific circumstances under which the PCSO plan could be used include, but
are not limited to, natural disasters, acts of terrorism, large scale medical emergencies and sustained loss of power and/or utilities.
Our cooperative plan will define a need to clearly define orders of succession in all of the department’s “essential function” areas. The PCSO is fortunate and unique in that we have identified several locations around the county we can use should our main operations center become disabled.
The key elements of COOP planning for PCSO are continuity of command, maintaining organizational structure and continuation of essential ervices which include the areas of security of the inmates in the etention center, critical public safety functions, and physical plant
operation.
The cooperative plan, in combination with the National Incident Management System, the emergency management policies and strategies of PCSO will provide for a clearly defined chain of command for departmental and facility operations, guidelines and potential resources to prevent interruption of essential services, and procedural guidelines for all aspects of emergency management from initial activation of emergency response through the return to normal operations.
Rest assured that in the event of a natural disaster, act of terrorism, or a large scale medical emergency, the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office will be ready to respond in a fast, professional manner.
Thank you and until next month, God Bless.
Chris Vásquez is sheriff of Pinal County.
Submitted photo
