Assignment:
With the current state of affairs in the World, I find it fairly difficult to narrow down my thoughts in to three challenges for public safety. With an ever-evolving climate in the public safety community, new challenges come about every single day. Because of this, it is important for public safety agencies to always conduct their due diligence to ensure that they are doing everything possible to keep the public safe. With that being said. the three most relevant challenges that I feel the public safety community is facing today are domestic terrorism, cyber security, and the threat of natural disasters.
"While the threat posed by terrorism has evolved significantly since 9/11, preventing terrorist attacks from foreign and domestic actors remains the FBI's top priority" (McGarrity, 2019). Despite the fact that terrorism is not something new to this nation as of 9/11, it is certainly a fear that has grown in recent years. Because the threat of terrorism not only lies with foreign threats, but also with homegrown terrorist, the public safety agencies in our country still making preventing these attacks a top priority. Due to the broad scope of how these attacks can be carried out (mass shootings, bombings, biological attacks), it is something that is truly hard to keep a handle on.
The second challenge that I feel public safety administration faces today is the threat of cyber security attacks. The challenge with cyber security is the fact that they can range from small identity theft cases to attacks on public safety networks. In addition, cyber attacks can take down communications networks as well as power grids. Conducting effective cyber attacks can disable entire portions of the community, ensuing widespread panic. For this reason, public safety administrators must not only do their best to protect from these attacks, but also to plan for the "what if" if they were to occur. "Public safety agencies face numerous threats to their communications systems, including swatting attacks, in which criminals manipulate 911 calls to show that a call is originating from a location where a very serious criminal act has occurred or is occurring" only for it to be a false call, generating a large response for nothing (Goldstein, 2018).
The final threat, that I feel gets the least attention, is that of natural disasters. During recent years, public safety has seen a rise in catastrophic natural disasters, not only in our country, but abroad. These disasters include fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, and more. "Since 1972, California's annual burned area has increased more than fivefold, a trend clearly attributable to the warming climate" (Meyer, 2019). With the rise in fires, as well as the increasing damage suffered along coastlines by hurricane, natural disasters present an ever increasing challenge to public safety administration.
References
Goldstein, P. (2018, December 11). How to Mitigate Cybersecurity Threats to Public Safety Communications Systems
McGarrity, M. (2019, May 8). Confronting the Rise of Domestic Terrorism in the Homeland.
Meyer, R. (2019, July 16). California's Wildfires Are 500 Percent Larger Due to Climate Change.