IE 11 Not Supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

Detroit Creates Homeland Security Plan

Ten-point plan will build on existing assets.

DETROIT -- The city is home to the global headquarters of four of the world's top automakers and serves as one of the busiest points of entry for the nation's northern border.

Though Detroit faces many of the same security concerns as other major metro areas, the city is unique and faces its own, unique challenges in homeland-security related planning. Kwame Kilpatrick, Detroit's newly elected mayor, issued a new homeland security plan in early April.

He said the city's homeland-security efforts will be based on two important principles. Efforts to protect those who live and work in the city and visitors need not be done at the expense of effective day-to-day service delivery and shouldn't require the city to invest millions of dollars for technology and equipment that only is used in the event of a terrorist attack.

Kilpatrick said the technology, communication systems and business processes behind daily service delivery provide the foundation for effective efforts to detect, prevent and respond to terrorism and other critical incidents.

Second, he said, Detroit will not compromise its commitment to uphold civil liberties and to sustain and dramatically strengthen the city's relationships with the diverse communities throughout the city, the region and the state. The violation of civil rights -- whether through racial, ethnic or some other biased-based profiling -- will not be tolerated in the city in the name of anti-terrorism, homeland security or any other justification.

Kilpatrick issued a 10-point plan to safeguard the city from potential acts of terrorism.

Detroit's 10-point action plan

- Appoint a citywide Homeland Security Coordinator to manage implementation of this plan -- through a Homeland Security Council with representatives from each city agency.

- Develop a comprehensive, citywide emergency response strategy coordinating all government agencies and community resources.

- Spearhead development of a regional strategy to establish smart, safe and secure international borders and points of entry/exit by convening and hosting a "Border Summit."

- Connect the various radio systems among first responders to be interoperable and provide supplemental redundancy by expanding upon the existing mobile wireless-data systems' infrastructure.

- Assess and upgrade the city's existing E911 emergency and 311 non-emergency telephone number systems' infrastructure.

- Work with the Detroit and regional medical center to establish and deploy a citywide public health surveillance system to help identify and respond to any future naturally occurring or manmade threats to the public's health.

- Assess and improve information sharing methods and systems among interagency and intergovernmental entities to enhance trend detection, data analysis and the rapid flow of information during response to critical incidents.

- Build upon existing police neighborhood watch programs and the Mayor's Neighborhood City Halls program to provide community members with information and resources and enlist their active participation in the city's public safety and homeland defense efforts.

- Design and deploy a comprehensive training program to prepare first responders to address complex issues related to homeland security.

- Develop a priority list of projects, events and programs for pursuing additional state and federal resources and assistance to address specific homeland security related matters and issues unique to Detroit, including the upcoming G-8 Summit in May.

"Coordination of efforts is critical," Kilpatrick said. "This plan provides an important step in the continued focus on homeland security."