The September 2009 issue of Security Management has a cover story on Event Management about how Denver established a public-private partnership through which business, government and private-security entities could work together during the Democratic National Convention (DNC).
In a remarkably well-planned coalition effort, the Denver Police Department, businesses in the private sector and several security company worked together to support the city's emergency operations center (EOC). Communication links were set up using an emergency notification system developed by MissionMode.
With the help of the Department of Homeland Security, preparation began with training with various courses for the private-sector security managers. The training was thorough and included the fundamentals of security methods taking place both in the classroom and at the potential on-site targets for problems during the convention.
The Colorado Emergency Preparedness Partnership (CEPP) was established in the spring of 2008. The biggest issue recognized by CEPP was the gap between what businesses would do and what the public-safely sector would do during the DNC. It was during a DNC tabletop exercise that this lack of communication became painfully obvious. Fortunately, Robert Edson, MissionMode Solutions' vice president for the western US, was in the audience and was able to step in with the perfect solution using their customizable web-based information-sharing and crisis management tools.
The result was the Business Emergency Operations Center (BEOC), a secure, virtual, invitation-based online forum where all participants in the security activities would receive instant alerts from the EOC and be able to respond with appropriate feedback, keeping everyone fully informed.
Conclusions and challenges
The biggest challenge was the coordination of communication between the two sectors, the police department and the private sector security businesses. The major communications hurdle between the public-private partnership was overcome quickly through the arrangement between the CEPP and MissionMode. In addition, the partnership reached out to the DHS to provide the necessary training to the private-sector security officers at no cost to the participants.
The result of this well-planned crisis preparedness effort was a resounding success during the DNC. The BEOC is still activated from time to time for events such as wildfires, responding to the swine flu and during major civic events. The program has a large membership of business and security partners in the Denver metro area.
As successful as this operation was, the challenge facing Denver now is maintaining a level of preparedness once the convention was over. "The most challenging aspect is just getting people involved when there's not a major situation that's doing down," says Lt. Rob Rock of the Denver Police Department. People just "want these systems to run in the background" until they're needed, he notes. Read the full article.
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