Thurs. May 16, 2013
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The DowntownDC Business Improvement District (DowntownDC BID) today released its latest leadership paper, Creating the Strategy: From Public Safety to Homeland Security, officially launching its DowntownDC BID Security Initiative (DBSI) and introducing a two-pronged goal to enhance situational awareness through CCTV surveillance and increase emergency preparedness planning.
The recent attack in Boston, which served as a chilling reminder of 9/11, as well as natural incidents such as the 2011 earthquake, emphasize that strategic planning is essential to provide for the safety of people in downtown as well as protect city and federal investments.
DBSI is designed to enhance property owners, managers and businesses’ ability to respond efficiently and effectively to natural and man-made security incidents through electronic surveillance and increased preparedness.
“As the Boston incident reminded us, terrorism can strike with horrific speed and with significant and devastating economic and financial repercussions that can hamper recovery efforts for days, weeks, even months,” said Richard H. Bradley, the BID’s executive director. “Although a daily intelligence exchange between local and federal law enforcement agencies exists, we should expand and integrate security initiatives within the BID area to minimize opportunities for terrorist acts.”
Since its formation in 1997, the BID has devoted considerable resources to public safety. Its Downtown Safety/Hospitality and Maintenance (SAM) employees have helped to transform Downtown D.C. from “dull, dirty and dangerous” by attending to the many details—including patrolling streets, serving as the “eyes and ears” of local and federal law enforcement agencies, collecting trash and litter and sweeping sidewalks—that make guests feel safe, invited and welcome.
The growing terrorism threats to major metropolitan areas, however, have motivated the BID to expand beyond its original role. Working with the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA), the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other public agencies and private property owners, the BID has now positioned itself to improve video surveillance and increase workforce preparedness for emergencies through the DBSI.
A July 2012 study by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism highlights the risks, noting that the District of Columbia ranks No. 5 nationally as a terrorist “hot spot.” In fact, the city has been a target of terrorism reportedly 79 times over the past 40 years.
Among the other highlights noted in the leadership paper:
• A major homeland security incident or national disaster could cripple many industries and markets, including hotels, tourism, culture and entertainment and retail and restaurants, leading to nearly $1 billion in lost revenues.
• The BID is acting as a facilitator between private properties and local and federal government agencies to develop a state-of-the-art homeland security surveillance network for the Downtown area.
• The BID is developing a series of projects and programs to ensure better preparedness for Downtown property managers, security managers and tenants, including training SAMs to assist emergency responders; training property managers in techniques such as producing continuity of operations plans; identifying and improving automated external defibrillators (AEDs); and participating in HSEMA’s Business Emergency Management Operations Center (BEMOC).
• The DBSI will serve as a catalyst to bring the BID area to the advanced security levels being implemented in London and New York City.
“Focusing on a comprehensive security initiative that effectively integrates surveillance systems, ensures safeguards for individual privacy rights and arranges for preparedness training along with proactive preventative measures is certainly the way to go,” said David Kamperin, the BID’s director of Public Space Management. “It’s paramount to secure the Downtown area, the city’s economic and financial center.”
The leadership paper is the ninth in the DowntownDC BID’s occasional series of working papers to foster dialogue about critical issues relating to Downtown Washington’s economic, social and physical environment. The first was released in November 2007 and focused on Downtown as the economic and fiscal engine of the city. Other papers have covered homelessness, the DowntownDC EcoDistrict, transportation, the global financial and economic crisis, the greening of Downtown D.C., and D.C.’s competitive position in the regional office market.
A copy of Creating the Strategy: From Public Safety to Homeland Security is available on the BID website at www.downtowndc.org/reports/leadership-papers.