(14.) See The National Strategy for Homeland Security for an explanation of the
Homeland Security Advisory System.
DHS officials maintain that the
Homeland Security Advisory System is evolving and that they are continually adjusting it to provide additional information regarding specific threats.
First, Title II authorizes the Under Secretary of Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection to administer the Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS) that provides warnings and information to the public and to state and local governments.
(36) Background on the HSAS and issues associated with the system are discussed in CRS Report RL32023, Homeland Security Advisory System: Possible Issues for Congressional Oversight, by Shawn Reese.
For example, the government's color-coded
Homeland Security Advisory System can be viewed as reactive, some security experts say, given that they call for organizations to put new measures in place after a specific warning.
The survey also found that only one in five cities (20 percent) had integrated the color-coded
Homeland Security Advisory System into local planning efforts.
In an effort to create a comprehensive framework for all levels of government, businesses and the public, Ridge stated that the new Homeland Security Advisory System is designed to measure and evaluate terrorist threats and communicate them to the public in a timely manner.
The Homeland Security Advisory System was created under a Presidential Decision Directive, and will provide warnings of terrorist threats through a set of five graduated "threat conditions" that would increase as the risk of the threat increases.
* authorization of operational overtime costs associated with
Homeland Security Advisory System threat levels;
The first is through the implementation of the government's
homeland security advisory system and tying specific measures to each gradation in threat conditions.
Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge came to the Congressional City Conference promising to work with local governments to get First Responder homeland security funds to the local level and seeking feedback on the new
Homeland Security Advisory System.
The exercises are designed to determine the level of coordination and communication readiness of several organizations in response to a variety of manmade and natural emergency situations, such as an escalation in the
Homeland Security Advisory System.