Pennsylvania Terrorism and Protection site: great model
1/16/07; 9:26:00 AM
Pennsylvania Terrorism Awareness & Protection site: great model!
After finding it by chance, I put the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s 
Terrorism
Awareness and Protection site aside quite a while ago because it deserved more attention than I had to give it then. Now’s the time for an exhaustive look at this superb use of the web, because no matter where you live, you should know about this site — ’cause no one else provides you with this level of information — and critical insight.
IMHO, this is — hands down — the best governmental site I’ve seen on any level threading the needle between, on one hand, helping educate the public about what terrorism is, how to prepare for terrorism, and how to assist authorities, and, equally important, educating the public about what terrorism isn’t (e.g., expressing one’s constitutional rights to dissent, peaceful practices of one’s religious practices).
Five or six thumbs up, Keystone State!
The site is designed as an “…online training course to help you understand the threat to our society, your part in protecting your community, and some commonsense measures you can take.
It was created by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD).
Consider the extensive, and sensitively executed, contents. I’m going to go in detail, because the components of this program should be a handbook for others in the future:
- What is Terrorism? from the get-go, the site places as much stress on what terrorism isn’t (i.e., “It is NOT a crime to: Say something radical or inflammatory against our country; have a strong set of beliefs that are outside
mainstream ideology. Americans are guaranteed the right of free speech ….. one must commit a crime to be terrorist” as it does on what at terrorism is.This section also emphasizes that terrorists usually begin out of a sincere effort to improve society: “The goals of terrorism are usually political, social, or religious in nature. Terrorists truly believe they are working toward a better world.” It also stresses that they often tried to improve things within the legal system, “But they become frustrated over the slowness of the legal system and the lack of change. They often feel their cause has been ignored or
treated unjustly. Terrorists believe their cause is so important that any action is justified. These people are willing to commit crimes, go to jail, and sometimes to die or take another’s life for this cause.” Then it explains what the terrorists hope to achieve, from fear to media attention, and that they feel anyone is a fair target.On a page with a photo of neo-Nazi/White Power graffiti (reminding us that terrorists can be home-grown, such as Rudolph & McVeigh), it emphasizes that their acts may be very low-key ones such as vandalism, graffiti or harassment, that “… who or what was targeted may be the best indicator,” rather than the act itself, and that, within the US, high-impact acts such as skyjackings or murder are less likely than these minor crimes.After a piece on Weapons of Mass Destruction, this section concludes with an Interactive Quiz where the questions again go to pains to distinguish between real terrorism acts and exercise of free speech and include a couple of questions dealing with subtleties — even if you’re well-informed on this subject you may not (suffice it to say, I’m staying after school today …) score 100. Again, the Pennsylvania site stands out because they remember that them there “Internet tubes” are interactive, rather than the authorities lecturing us. Hello, other agencies dealing with terrorism: if the potential for interactivity is there, why not use it??? - The Who are Terrorists? section begins by reiterating that thinking something doesn’t make you a terrorist: “… it is important to remember that it is not illegal for an individual to belong to any group … even if other members of that group have committed terroristic acts … so long as the individual is not committing, conspiring to commit, or aiding others in committing criminal acts. It is not what you say or think … It is what you DO that defines one as a
terrorist.” IMHO, given the level of hysteria about terrorism and ignorance about the Bill of Rights, government agencies can’t over-emphasize that enough. Sadly, unless it’s well hidden, you ain’t gonna find that on the US DOJ site (including the FBI), nor the DHS one, a sad reflection on the Bush Administration’s attitude toward the Bill of Rights when it comes to terrorism… This section describes both International and Domestic terrorists (with extensive material on white supremacist, separatist, anti-abortion and other groups), and includes links to three extensive .pdfs about Islam. One is about Radical Islamic Issues, but two deal with misconceptions about Islam and hate crimes against Muslims: Common Misunderstandings about Muslims and Arabs in America and We are not the Enemy. Again, the state takes pains to emphasize the difference between legitimate practices and beliefs of a growing number of US residents, many of them law-abiding citizens, and those of the terrorists. Again, there’s an Interactive Quiz. - The Protecting Your Community section introduction says “This section is intended to provide you with some commonsense measures you can take to protect your community from people who would use terrorism against you….Why? Security, police, and the military can’t be everywhere. Terrorism personally affects every individual. Heightened awareness communicates confidence that we are not easy targets. It works!” It then details Terrorist Vulnerabilities,, Staying Alert, Overcoming Stereotypes, and Recognizing Suspicious Activity (with loads of specific things to look out for that are guaranteed to bring out the inner Crime Scene Investigator in everyone..) . The “Overcoming Stereotypes” again drives home the point that it ain’t just those who look different who we need to fear. The page includes pix of 6 people: Osama and Shoko Asahara of Aum Shinrikyo, but also Tim McVeigh, Eric Rudolph, sweet-looking Lucas Helder (the Midwest mailbox bomber), and your sleep-deprived next-door neighbor, AKA Kathleen Ann Soliah/Sara
Jane Olsen of the Symbionese Liberation Army — to once again remind us
that terrorists really may look like us and live in our neighborhoods. This portion reconfirms my constant harping on the “James Woods” component of fighting terrorism: i.e., you may need to go with your gut: “Identifying suspicious activity is not a hard science. You have to rely on your judgment. Your suspicion of a threat could be confirmed with one incident. It could take a series of incidents.” It includes a number of questions that are guaranteed to heighten your sensitivity to what might otherwise seem perfectly innocent inquiries, such as a telephone request at work asking about the security system, questions about the habits of your chief executive officer, or mail
survey asking for comments on the response time and habits of emergency
personnel. When taking the Interactive Quiz for this section, I was shocked and dismayed to find out that the answer to “What does it mean to ’stay alert?’” was not “drinking a lot of caffeine.” You learn something new every day…. - The last section of the tutorial is Reporting Suspected Activity, which included one particularly cool element.After a comprehensive list of physical characteristics of a person or of a car that might be helpful, a new page tells you to “Take a look at this individual,” referring to the photo of this dude. It’s an animated gif: after a few seconds, he’s gone, and instead there’s copy: “what did you see? Take a minute to write down a description of this person.” Then the next page has a detailed description of the characteristics of his appearance and behavior that would be helpful to police. then repeated with a van parked under a bridge whose driver is holding binoculars. Is that kewl, Gil Grissom, or what???
By contrast, as I am wont (ah, you can take the boy out of the Episcopal Church, but you can’t take that majestic language of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer out of the boy. But I digress… ) to do several times a year, I present, ladies and gentlemen of the
jury, Exhibit B, the Federal Bureau of Ineptitude’s so-called terrorism tip sheet.This one, in order to assist agents, asks for details such as…. well, actually, it doesn’t ask for any damn details at all, does it? Nor does it provide a shred of guidance to you. Maybe they should just admit they’re clueless, and refer all inquiries to the Pennsylvania site! - There’s even a copious “resources” section of web sites and ..pdfs for those really interested in the subject.
Well, partisanship aside, I have to admit that I haven’t done a rigorous examination of every other state and federal educational site on public education about terrorism, but this definitely beats what the feds have done — hats
off to Pennsylvania, and shame on the FBI, DHS, et al. It’s clear they are
clueless about the potential for the public to play an active, constructive role in terrorism prevention as I outline in my networked homeland security strategy. Let
me know if you’ve seen other noteworthy ones.
Technorati tags: homeland security DHS Department of Homeland Security Bush FBI War on Terror antiterrorism public safety networked homeland security terrorism government IT Al Qaeda Al-Qaeda civil liberties web 2.0 eGovernment E-Government egov
