Question: Assignment Objectives

Develop negotiative and leadership skills and understand the significance of power and influence in inter-agency relationships.

Leadership Versus Responsibility

Write 300-400 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas:

The U.S. Constitution clearly limits the authority of the federal government. The Stafford Act assigns primacy for disaster management to state and local governments, providing the federal government a supportive role. Is this appropriate for 21st-century risks? Does a terrorist attack require a different relationship and assignment of responsibility?

The incident command system (ICS) was born from the needs of the wild-land firefighting community. Do you think that it is applicable and useable as it exists for terrorist attacks and hurricanes as well?

The National Incident Management System (NIMS) established ICS as the incident management model that all jurisdictions in the United States should use. Though the federal government lacks the authority to mandate its use, Congress has repeatedly required that the adoption of NIMS and the use of ICS is a prerequisite for eligibility for all federal homeland security monies. Is this a fair practice?

The city of New York is the sole jurisdiction in the United States to design its own incident management system (city incident management system or CIMS). The federal government recognizes CIMS as an allowable incident management system under NIMS. Should other jurisdictions be allowed to create their own system or modify ICS to meet their needs as well? What are the benefits, and what might be the negative aspects of a patchwork of various versions of ICS being used across the nation?