A Program to Mitigate and Prepare for Terrorism in Las Vegas
Las Vegas is one of America’s busiest tourism destinations. With millions of people visiting the city annually, many risks face the city. Terrorism stands out as one of the biggest threats that the city faces. This paper proposes a program that would help Las Vegas to be more prepared for any terror activity and therefore mitigate the risk that comes with the phenomenon.
Terrorism and Las Vegas
International terrorism has become the concern of many countries with attacks spreading from New York to Paris and even England. A majority of these attacks are perpetrated by individuals who seek to instill a state of constant fear in the world through their activities. The suspects of most of these attacks look into religion in justifying their actions, and this has resulted to the stereotype that the Muslim culture perpetuates international terror activity.
Apart from the terror activity done by people internationally, there are occurrences of terror activities unique to some areas. The Islamic state group has led terror activities in Syria while groups such as the Boko Haram and the al-Shabaab have been involved in terror activity in Africa. These groups are found in specified localities, but their activity spreads out internationally. Another perspective on terrorism on this form of terror is the kind perpetrated by individuals with personal, political or environmental concerns .
America has historically been the recipient of terror activity, especially from radicalized groups in the Arab world. Al-Qaeda, for example, has for long held on to the belief that through terrorizing America and its allies, it will eventually liberate the Islamic Peninsula from the oppression of the “infidels” . With the modern day rise of terror splinter cells across the world, the threat of terrorism has become even bigger. Las Vegas, due to the kind of activity that the city supports appears to be a real target for terrorists. A primary goal of terrorists is to make a statement using their terror activities. Nothing makes a bolder statement than hitting a country’s biggest cities. This explains the past terror attacks in America, having targeted New York and Washington. These are two cities with extreme importance to America. Las Vegas falls under this category of cities. It can be regarded as an icon in America, and hitting it would constitute in the making of a very bold statement on the side of the terrorists .
Analysts have often pointed out that the city does not hold the same economic importance that cities such as Washington and New York hold. The argument here is that terror mitigation efforts should not be directed to Las Vegas since terrorists are not likely to target the city. However, when the aspect of tourism is considered, the city suddenly tops the list for terrorism targets. With a potential of hosting up to 300,000 visitors on a weekend, the city is among the biggest tourists destinations in the United States. The implication is that if terrorists have the desire to cause damage at a higher scale, Las Vegas can be a suitable target . This, therefore, underlines the importance of this area having a terrorism mitigation program to mitigate the risk that the city faces.
The effort to improve the preparedness of the city to terror activity will start with the formation of a disaster management team. This team will consist of individuals from both the public and the private sector . The team will first consist of 20 members, with the number set to increase as the program is rolled out.
Funding
This terrorism mitigation program can have a variety of sources of financing. The first source is the funding that comes from the federal government. Through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the government has been devoted to the financing of security programs that ensure the safety of Americans. Currently, the city receives close to $ 3 million to consolidate its efforts in counterterrorism . This is an amount that will need to be revised upwards as the threat of terrorism becomes bigger.
This program proposes for a multi-disciplinary approach in trying to mitigate the risk of terror activity. This will require private bodies to work in close cooperation with the state machinery . To this end, therefore, the corporate world is another possible source of funding. The program will seek the support of corporations in financially beefing up the efforts placed by the disaster mitigation team. Another possible avenue through which funds can be sourced is the help from charitable organizations and grants. The program can enlist the support of groups with the same interests when it comes to public safety and disaster preparedness.
Outreach and education
Like most hazards, terrorism is a highly unpredictable phenomenon, with the public largely unaware of when and where the terrorists want to hit. The best approach to combat this sense of unpreparedness is though the putting in place of a wide outreach program, where different stakeholders will be educated on the part they can play in the program .
There are three major stakeholders in the proposed program: public, private and governmental agencies. The program will conduct an extensive outreach program whereby each of these stakeholders is briefed on the details of the program. They will be informed of what is expected of them. Besides, it is through the coming together of the stakeholders that another team that will oversee the collaborative effort to mitigate the hazard is formed.
Implementation
The proposal to improve the preparedness of Las Vegas to terrorism will be rolled out in phases. The first phase will involve an extensive analysis of the major installations within the city to identify the possible areas of threat. The different stakeholders will be allowed to propose and prioritize the areas that are most likely to be hit. Terrorists often choose to target areas frequented by most people. Given the set up in Las Vegas, these areas can be either governmental institutions or private and public spots. The disaster management team will identify the most potent areas for an attack, and conduct a conclusive site assessment. The disaster management team will work with the management in the identified hotspots to determine the security weaknesses in these facilities. The site assessment will conclude with a security assessment where the security apparatus will be analyzed to determine their ability to deter any form of terror activity .
The next phase of rolling out the program will entail the conducting of a comprehensive risk assessment of the sites identified from phase one. The disaster management team, in collaboration with the administration of the identified locations, will direct resources towards an analysis of the impact that any terror activity could have on the facilities. Most of the terror activities seem to target buildings and installations. It will, therefore, be key to focus on the risk that that various buildings face. Parts of the risk assessment will look into the possible impact of a blast or explosion. Also, another form of assessment will highlight the risk posed by the collapse of structures, while the last perspective on risk assessment will touch on the risk posed by the use of biochemical weapons. This form of risk assessment will require the input of professionals such as architects to study the stability of buildings . On the other hand, scientists will be needed to assess the risk posed by chemical and biological weapons. The risk assessment will provide a clear picture of the risk facing both structural and nonstructural aspects of the city, without forgetting the people within these facilities.
Preparedness
After conducting the site and risk assessment, the next part of the program will be to make the city more prepared for potential terror attacks. This will entail the carrying out of a risk management exercise, informed by the results of the risk assessment exercise. Many stakeholders in disaster management have focused on applying risk management procedures for hazards such as earthquakes and flooding. Terrorism as a hazard is often overlooked. Given the financial input required to set up risk management installations, this program will propose for the restructuring of the current risk management machinery for other hazards to have the capability of mitigating the effects of terror activity. The emergency and disaster preparation amenities in the city will, therefore, be improved to a level where they have the capability to deal with the occurrence of a terror attack .
The major components of the proposed terrorism risk management plan will include different aspects. First will be an effort to reduce the financial liability the city faces, protection of various facilities and their occupants, established emergency plans and lastly having a disaster recovery plan. The financial aspect can be dealt with through the use of insurance. Protecting the facilities and the people will involve the combination of increasing the awareness people have about terror activity while also putting in place the appropriate security measures.
In conclusion, this program leads to the understanding that Las Vegas is a potential target for terror attacks. Through the establishment of a disaster management team that carries out the activities outlined in this paper, the city can be better prepared in case of a terror attack.
References
Busch, N., & Givens, A. D. (2013). "Achieving resilience in disaster management: the role of public-private partnerships." . Journal of strategic security 6.2, 1-19.
Christiansen, R. (2015). Tourism And Terrorism: Could It Draw An Attack To Las Vegas? Retrieved April 9, 2016, from knpr.org: http://knpr.org/knpr/2015-04/tourism-and-terrorism-could-it-draw-attack-las-vegas
Gould, N. C. (2004). Managing Terrorism Risk. Retrieved April 9, 2016, from irmi.com: https://www.irmi.com/articles/expert-commentary/managing-terrorism-risk
Gregg, H. (2014). Defining and Distinguishing Secular and Religious Terrorism. Perspectives on Terrorism, 8(2).
terrorismfiles.org. (1996). Declaration of Jihad by Osama Bin Laden against the US. Retrieved April 9, 2016, from terrorismfiles.org: http://www.terrorismfiles.org/individuals/declaration_of_jihad1.html
Velotta, R. N. (2016). Giuliani says Las Vegas a likely terrorist target. Retrieved April 9, 2016, from reviewjournal.com: http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/giuliani-says-las-vegas-likely-terrorist-target
