Management and Performance Review of County Government ...

Judicial and Public Safety Functions
and protecting life, property, and the environment. ICS uses principles
that have been proven to improve efficiency and effectiveness in a
business setting and applies the principles to emergency response.
The county’s Emergency Management Plan is well-prepared and well-written. The
EMP includes a “Hazard Mitigation and Action Plan for Jefferson County” prepared by
J.F. Thompson, Inc. of Houston, Texas and Lamar University. It is an excellent mitigation
plan for natural hazards and may be used as a suitable foundation for future planning.
Threat Assessment
The Jefferson County Emergency Management Coordinator conducted a
comprehensive threat assessment on the Jefferson County area in November/December
2001. The threat assessment was professional in that it applied FEMA approved
methods and created a substantive foundation for critical incident planning. The threat
assessment took into consideration the various factors necessary for first responders to
consider during a critical incident. These factors included structural formation of the
emergency response organization, the various functions included in the emergency
response, and processes used by responders to handle the crisis. The structurefunction-process
approach to analyzing emergency response is an effective method that
should prove successful for Jefferson County.
Jefferson County is a member of a Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), which
allows it to participate in its intelligence briefings and remain abreast of potential threats
to area institutions. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Federal
Bureau of Investigation began coordinating efforts of local law enforcement agencies
through the creation of groups, or task forces, consisting of local agencies’ intelligence
officers. These groups, located throughout the United States, are known as Joint
Terrorism Task Forces (JTTF). The existence of a JTTF indicates the cooperation and
collaboration of local agencies in response to a potential terrorist threat.
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