Homeland Security Terror Alert System Under Review
July 13, 2009 by national
Filed under Homeland Security News
Homeland Security Advisory
A senior U.S. official says the Obama administration will announce Tuesday that it will review the nation’s multicolored terror alert system that was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is expected to appoint a panel to reevaluate the system and determine whether it should be changed, or possibly eliminated.
The five-tiered system that goes from green, which signals a low danger of attack, to red, which signals a severe threat of attack, has proven to be confusing at times. Critics say the different colors are too vague to deliver enough information to be useful.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement has not yet been made public.
Our color-coded National Terror Alert “live alert” button was the starting point for this website over seven years ago. It’s now featured on over 50,000 web pages world-wide and viewed by millions, each month.
Take Our Poll
The National Terror Alert Response Center will continue to maintain a “live terror alert” ; however we will wait upon the findings of this review prior to making our decision of how to best move forward.
Our position is that the color-coded system should remain. It’s highly recognizable with strong awareness across all age groups; however it needs to be overhauled. Each level of the alert should require specific criteria be met prior to elevation and correlate to actions needed to be taken by individuals, businesses and government agencies.
We hope to be considered for any “citizen advocate” positions available on the panel.
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Numbering systems are generally much easier to understand & faster to comprehend
keeping it basic is best
i.e
NTA 1 national terror alert stage 1 very low threat
Thru
NTA 5 national terror alert stage 5 under attack
Leave the Homeland Security Advisory System as is, no need to change or eliminate it. Who is it hurting to have it in place? Is this just another thing that they believe will jump start the economy, by giving the appearance that the threat is no longer valid?
As a former career First Responder, there’s an old saying that always holds true, “if it’s not broke…don’t fix it!” So far what we’ve done since 9/11/2001 has worked! There have been some tweaks made to policies and procedures but we ARE safer now than we were BEFORE 9/11/2001. I commend the DHS for the good job they have doing and just want them to continue doing what they’ve been doing…
Leave the alert. System alone they discontinue every civil prepardness
program since ww2 who alerts the civil sect
or ? remember 9/11 no ebs or eas was alerted
even though our country was under attack!!!!!!!!
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When choosing something for all to notice, you must think what would I notice if I was in their shoes. Not everyones comprehension is the same. Basic colors for the system is alright but for the highest level what would catch everyones eye? Bright or flourescent colors. If you saw something that bright flash in front of you or in the corner of your eye you would notice it.
Yes, keep the Homeland Security Alert System. In fact, it should be posted in the lobbies of selected federal, state and local government buildings, airports, bus terminals, mass transit stations and government web pages.
The systems intent is to keep communities safe through awareness. It should also encourage people to report suspicious activity. The first line of homeland security is in keeping the community, general populace, workforce and first responders informed.
Like a smoke detector, even though it might accidentally goes off often, it still alerts people and saves lives.
Get rid of it. Most people don’t pay attention to it, ask around you communities. They listen to the news and act or fail to act accordingly. If we are under attck I doubt most people will be looking at the alert system, scenes will be spashed all over the TV. We do not need a color-coded alert system.
Besides, everyone should act as if a terrorist attack is always imminent.
Concentrate on stopping terror & helping people if something should happen ! Leave the alert system alone its simple & it works !!
I don’t think it has been taken into consideration that many large corporations have integrated the existing terror alert system into their Business Continuity Plans. The existing system works, leave it in place.
It’s taken years for people to become aware of the current program and to remove and/or change it would result, I believe, in a false representation or a misleading one that our shores are safe which is not the case. If anything, the addition of another status reflecting current domestic/homegrown threats could be added.
If it’s broke fix it, if not leave it alone.
I say leave it as it is. I like it being there.
We would have to rely on TV or word of mouth, etc. if the terror alert level has risen. I like it just being there so I can see for my self if any change has been made.
I think we should keep it. My company has a tierd plan that is based on the color coding system. Basically what we do now in yellow is upkeep of plans, go to the meetings, training, etc. When we go to orange we plan and if we go to red then we execute our plan. This way should we go to red and an attack is being conducted instead of “imminent” we are as prepared as we can be to respond with extra resources and their support.
I think color coding will actually give the terrorist when not and when is the best time to do it. may be what is needed is that the NSA would have a direct alert system to the police, military and disaster response group to be on the look out. atleast the terrorist will not know the level of alert. it may be that the people might not like it. it is just like informing the public that the bank has a threat and so the robber will lay low and wait until it says it is okay now then the robber will start to move.
and also i think they should put more plain cloths officers or ctu people in the public.
Leave the colors but publish reaction criteria for what the public should do for each escalation.