Pennsylvania’s director of homeland security is on a mission

By Terry Didomenico

Ask Pennsylvania’s Director of Homeland Security, Jim Powers ’96m what scares him the most and you might expect his answer to be dirty bombs, contaminated water, hijacked airplanes, or a biological agent. His reply is surprising. What scares Jim the most is an uninformed citizenry and its complacency. That’s right—an uninformed citizenry and complacency.

I don’t know what I expected when I went to interview Jim at his office. I do know it was something a bit more exciting than what I found. The curse of reading too many techno-thrillers I guess.

Suffice it to say, the office is ordinary. The windows look over the parking lot. A laptop computer sits on a small desk in the corner. A small table, a couple chairs, and a flip chart take up much of the remaining space.

I expected the office to be a hub of activity. I expected to be awed by the evident power. I expected more of the office. While the office didn’t live up to expectations, the man residing there did.

Jim loves taking his message on the road. Recently he discussed the technology involved in homeland security with SU computer science majors. Afterward he met with the Women in Computer Science (WiCS) group.

Jim greets me at the door. His handshake is firm. His southern accent is charming. His smile reaches his eyes and his laugh is genuine. He’s relaxed and quickly puts me at ease.

In short order, it becomes clear, Jim Powers is passionate about his job. He cares and it shows.

We sit at the small table but it isn’t long before Jim has jumped up to make a point. He remains standing.

The next thing I know, Jim is at the flip chart. He grabs a marker and is off to the races—the race to educate another citizen on the complexities of homeland security.

It isn’t long before the page is full of boxes and arrows, and a second page is called into service.

After more than an hour, the lesson comes to an end.

He sees himself as a modern-day town crier. His mission is to spread the word.

“Each time I see the lights go on in people about what we are doing to protect the critical infrastructure, key resources, and significant special events of the Commonwealth, I get excited. Most folks have no idea of the governance structure used to look after the citizens of the Commonwealth— and just getting out to whatever venue emerges provides an opportunity to spread the concepts and programs underway.”

Most of his time is spent spreading that word to groups and organizations—both public and private—across the Commonwealth. As he said, he’ll go just about anywhere to speak to just about anyone on the subject of homeland security.

So what did I learn from my impromptu lesson?

First, nothing is as simple as it seems. Governance in Pennsylvania approaches a nightmarish level due to the three-tiered system of state, county, amd municipality. On the local level there are 2,567 municipalities—townships, cities, boroughs, and one town—each with their own elected government. The counties and state comprise the second and third layers, each with their respective roles and responsibilities.

Jim further illustrates this point by asking where I live. Since we live in the same township, he rattled off examples of how this does and doesn’t work. Cases where the township decided what services to provide and what that means to neighboring governments and how it affects services on the state level.

And he adds, many local governments enter into mutual aid agreements with their neighbors, all of which impact the services and their associated costs. Why does he care?

In allocating the scant resources associated with the federally-funded homeland security grants, 80 percent of the funds are for the first responder community—law enforcement, emergency medical services, and fire suppression. In order to ensure the proper groups receive funding, Jim and his colleagues on the Governor’s Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness Executive Cabinet, need to know about these agreements.

This he tells me is just the tip of the iceberg.

Jim gives me a quick example (accompanied with drawings) of what several cabinet-level departments and agencies are responsible for: Agriculture for food and animal health; environmental protection for energy; and transportation for vehicle licenses, pipelines, tunnels, roadways, etc. So why, he asks, are gas pumps calibrated by Agriculture and taxis regulated by the Public Utility Commission?

And according to Jim, he has no authority to order any of them to do anything. Not exactly reassuring when speaking of our safety. But he says, “Just because I have no authority and responsibility over a sector-specific function doesn’t mean it isn’t covered…We constantly evaluate whether our current structure works….”

Yet, after speaking with Jim for a while, it becomes clear the public has an advocate working tirelessly to fulfill the mandate set by homeland security. He admits much of what the state has accomplished since the creation of homeland security has been largely invisible to the public. What has been accomplished is laying the legal basis to allow the various components to do their jobs.

Among his current goals is getting the legal authority to classify certain documents. “There is no way I’m going to release threat assessment documents,” Jim stated rather emphatically. “Information like that needs to be protected and that’s what I’m working on now—to get legislation in place that will accomplish that.”

Wisely, according to Jim, Pennsylvania decided not to follow the federal model of pulling all affected departments/agencies under the umbrella of homeland security. Instead, the Commonwealth established homeland security points of contact (POC) within existing organizations and granted the Office of Homeland Security the role of overseer.

“We’re a conduit for the information we receive from the federal government,” Jim said. “From here, we disseminate it to the appropriate security contact at any number of state agencies, usually at the cabinet level.”

Government initiatives have led to four objectives since September 11. The Pennsylvania State Police is the lead agency for prevention; the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) is the lead for all response and recovery activities, leaving Homeland Security as the lead agency for all protection activities.

His office works to identify critical infrastructures and key resources; then determine the level of threat, vulnerability, and consequences for each.

The state is the largest employer in the Commonwealth, Jim says, who’s the second?

“WalMart,” he replies before I have a chance to guess. But because their employees are spread out over a large number of locations, the associated risk is minimal.

Once risk is determined, the next step is to work with those involved to develop strategies to limit the impact of a potential attack. The goals are to deter the threat, mitigate the vulnerabilities, and minimize the consequences. Evaluation is constant as the level of risk changes.

“You can imagine what it is like to go to the owners of a private concern and tell them their organization is a high-risk target. I outline possible mitigation strategies they can do to reduce their risk. Of course every idea has a price tag and eveeryone wants to know who’s paying.”

Herein lies one of the greatest frustrations of Jim’s position. There is not now and will not be enough federal or state funds to adequately protect what needs protecting from terrorist attacks, major disasters, and/or other emergencies.

The Homeland Security Offices are located in the PEMA (Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency) Building. Jim is pictured in the building’s command center—part of the reason why his office is located with PEMA.

Background an ideal preparation

So what prepared Jim for the role he now holds? Jim credits his military career, his interest in civil affairs, and says his SU master’s in public administration provided the missing piece in preparing him for his position.

“My military career provided the background, experience, and learned capabilities for planning, envisioning operations, developing strategy, and anticipating requirements. Add my interest and experience in civil affairs, that gave me the knowledge about public infrastructure systems—health, education, transportation, safety, and welfare.

“But the degree in public administration taught me how governments work. Classes were a mix of recent graduates and those of us with 20+ years of workforce experience. The recent grads helped us with the theory, we helped them with the practicality of things. It worked very well.

“My hardest class was Public Policy Trace. We were given a specific law by Professor Paul Ambrose and had to trace it back through the process to where the idea was first introduced on the floor of the House or Senate. All of this was to teach us what the original intent of the law was.I remember thinking, ‘I’ll never use this.’ And it turns out it is the information I use the most. Almost daily in fact.”

Jim remains optimistic despite the ever-present challenges inherent in the legislation, structures, and mandates regarding homeland security. “We’ll never be fully protected but we are getting safer everyday.”

Can individuals have an impact on our security? Jim responsds emphatically, “Yes. Everyone can be a scout. Report suspicious persons or behavior. Call 911 or the Terror Tip line and tell them you have something to report.”

Don’t be afraid to report something that strikes you as odd. Jim assured me the agencies involved would rather have a tip that didn’t pan out than no tip at all. Did you know the terrorists for the first attack on the World Trade Center trained in Perry County? Neither did I.

“Be informed,” he stresses. “Just be informed.” To that end, you might want to visit www.state.pa.us to learn more about the Commonwealth or www.homelandsecurity.state.pa.us for information pertaining to homeland security. Click on the Terrorism Awareness and Prevention block on the home page for an on-line training course for individuals.

---

Terror Tip Notes:

There are two key elements in giving a good report: accuracy and timeliness.Reporting what you saw, and nothing more. Report anything suspicious immediately after you observed it happening.

Provide details and create a word picture. When reporting a person include:hair color, facial hair, race, age, sex, size, scars, tattoos, disabilities. When reporting a vehicle include: make, model, color, body damage, bumper stickers, accessories, license plate number.

Who to call: If it is an emergency, use the local emergency number, usually 911. Non-emergency contact: PA State Police via e-mail: sp-intelligence@state.pa.us, or by phone: 1-888-292-1919.

Physical Security: Things To Consider

• View the security of your facility in a ‘community’ setting. Develop relationships with surrounding businesses so their ‘eyes and ears’ become yours and vice versa. The more eyes and ears in-volved the safer and more secure we can be by ‘extending our perimeters’ at no cost beyond establishing a basis for coordination, cooperation, and communication.
• Develop and maintain a good working relationship with local law enforcers.
• Support local First Responders with encouragement and, if possible, financial support. Fact: local police, fire and emergency medical personnel will always be the first to respond and help.
• Develop and test internal security and emergency response plans. Ensure employees are aware of and understand the plan.
• Have alternate evacuation and rally point plans and routes.
• Review your continuity of business plan for recordkeeping and communications in the event of any disaster.
• Video surveillance tapes should be reviewed for ‘patterns’.
• Encourage, recognize, and support employees who are members of the National Guard, Reserve or local volunteer units.
• Establish procedures for knowing your visitors and vendors.
• Vary security patterns; change barriers without forewarning; use different doors, gates.
• It is crucial you keep employees informed of what you are doing for their benefit and protection.