A number of municipalities operate or have within their borders, airports, municipal water supplies, water treatment facilities, etc. that should have security/disaster plans in place. For these facilities, the minimum security procedures should include:

ACCESS

Doors and gates to the facilities should be locked and only authorized personnel should be provided with keys or access codes. Keys must not be reproduced when an employee leaves or is transferred. In the case of access codes, the departing employee’s code must be deleted. This is especially important in the case of computer access codes. No one should be permitted access unless authorized or accompanied by an authorized employee.

SECURITY

Facilities should have regular police patrols. We recommend that the police patrol at least 2-4 times per shift.

DISASTER PLANNING

In the event of a problem, it is important that you have a detailed plan to address the event, whether it is adverse weather conditions or criminal acts. All affected departments, not just public safety, must be involved in the planning process and be assigned specific responses.

EMERGENCY RESPONSE

Emergency vehicles such as fire trucks, ambulances etc. should be locked when unattended and not left in areas subject to vandalism and theft.

Take any theft of emergency equipment or apparatus very seriously. Issue an "all-points-bulletin" if any theft occurs.

During times of extended crisis, issue color-coded identification tags that can be worn on the exterior of uniforms to identify actual emergency service personnel.

MUNICIPAL AIRPORTS

General aviation airports such as those typical to our area must control access to the flight line. At minimum, gates must be closed during operating hours and those requiring access must check with airport administration prior to entering operating areas. Gates must be kept locked during non business hours. Those who request access to the facility during non-operating hours must be provided with keys or codes. Keep a record of who has access to the keys/codes and monitor their access.

It is not necessary to turn your facility into an armed camp. To do so, would validate last week’s terrorist attacks. But increased vigilance and preparedness are necessary now more than ever.

RESOURCES

The National League of Cities has published "Local Officials Guide -- Domestic Terrorism: Resources for Local Government" available online at www.nlc.org.

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