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On March 11, 2002, the new Office of the Homeland Security introduced the Homeland Security Advisory System to inform the public about the risk of terrorist attacks.
What is the Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS)?
The HSAS is a new national alert system introduced by Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge. It is designed to warn all levels of government, law enforcement and the general public about the risk of terrorist attacks in the United States. The system is a multi-colored five-level indicator of the current level of risk. Each level (called the Threat Condition) designates a set of suggested Protective Measures that organizations are advised to take.
What is the current level?
Since the HSAS was introduced, the entire country has been on the yellow "elevated" alert, indicating "significant risk of terrorist attacks." Ridge remarked that that level will remain in place for the foreseeable future.
How were alerts issued prior to the HSAS implementation?
The creation of the HSAS is in part a response to rampant criticism the Homeland Security Office received each time the FBI and the Office announced public warnings of terror attacks after Sept. 11.
The first such advisory was issued on Oct. 11, 2001,when the FBI warned of possible attacks in the week ahead. A second warning issued in December 2001 covered the holiday season, and the third in January 2002 spanned the duration of the Olympic Games and expired in mid-March. The fourth and final warning before the HSAS came in February 2002, when the FBI identified a man from Yemen or Saudi Arabia as planning an attack on U.S. interests in the homeland or abroad. Obviously, no terrorist attacks followed the warnings; less obvious is whether the warnings helped prevent attacks or simply eroded the very credibility of the warnings. In any case, government officials and the public complained that the warnings urged citizens to be prepared for an attack without providing any specifications of time, location or type of attack. Many questioned their utility, believing they merely propagated public fear.
Who assigns risk level changes, and how are they determined?
Decisions to announce any changes in Threat Conditions are made by the attorney general in consultation with the assistant to the president for homeland security.
Assessment will be based on information gathered by the FBI, CIA and other agencies. In evaluating the quality of the threat information itself, four questions will be asked: 1) Is the information credible? 2) Is it corroborated? 3) Is it specific and/or imminent? 4) How grave are the consequences of the threat?
The attorney general will devise a system for public announcements, providing advance notice of risk level changes so long as doing so "is consistent with the safety of the nation."
Are alerts always applied nationally?
While the advisory system is a national framework for terrorist threat assessment, it can apply nationally or by region, industry or potential target. Federal departments and agencies remain responsible for implementing their own protective measures as appropriate.
Will this system reduce vulnerability or increase preparedness of citizens to terrorist attacks?
According to Ridge, the set of Protective Measures that correspond to each threat level "will help the government and citizens decide what action they take to help counter and respond to terrorist activity." While the protective measures provide guidelines for law enforcement officials to follow (for example, the current yellow "elevated condition" calls for heightened surveillance of key locations), they do not provide instructions for the general public. In this vein, the new system does not differ from the previous warnings. According to a poll by the Anser Institute for Homeland Security, 31 percent of the respondents say the HSAS will be somewhat or very effective in informing the public of potential terrorist attacks, while 43 percent say it will be somewhat or very ineffective.
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