Homeland Security

The Homeland Security Section works with regional partners and national agencies to keep our community safe from international and domestic terrorism. The Section works diligently to exchange and access critical classified information with other agencies without delay, and conduct specialized operations concerning national security, if necessary. This efficiency enables our department to respond to threat information in an expeditious manner while enhancing its investigations and vulnerability assessments.

Critical Infrastructure Protection Program

The September 11, 2001 attacks demonstrated the extent of the nation's vulnerability to the terrorist threat. In the aftermath of these tragic events, we as a community have demonstrated firm resolve in protecting our critical infrastructures and key assets from further terrorist exploitation. In this effort, the City of North Miami Beach Police Department, the private sector, and concerned citizens have begun an important partnership and commitment to action.

Mission

To address the threat posed by those who wish to harm us, as owners and operators of critical infrastructures, we intend to effectively and efficiently strengthen our prevention and preparedness efforts for terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies by developing appropriate levels of our capabilities to respond to these types of incidents.

The North Miami Beach Police Department is continually assessing vulnerabilities of our critical infrastructures and increasing our investment in their security by continuing to take important steps to identify and assure the protection of key assets and services within our jurisdiction.

The success of our protective efforts will require close cooperation between government, the community and the private sector at all levels. Each of us have an extremely important role to play in protecting the infrastructures and assets that are the basis of our daily lives.

Command Staff members of the North Miami Beach Police Department participate in the Joint Terrorism Task Force, Southeast Regional Domestic Security Task Force and the Miami-Dade County Terrorism Advisory Committee.

Strategic Objectives

The strategic objectives that highlight our local critical infrastructure and key asset protection efforts include:

• Identifying and assuring the protection of those infrastructures and assets that we deem most critical in terms of local-level public health and safety, governance, economic and local security, and public confidence consequences.
• Providing timely warning and assuring the protection of those infrastructures and assets that face a specific imminent threat; and
• Assuring the protection of other infrastructures and assets that may become terrorist targets over time by pursuing specific initiatives and enabling a collaborative environment in which federal, state, and local governments and the private sector can better protect the infrastructures and assets they control.

Guiding Principles

5 guiding principles that emphasize this Strategy.

1. Assure public safety, public confidence and services;
2. Develop technologies and expertise to combat terrorist threats and incidents;
3. Encourage and facilitate partnering among all levels of government, the community and the private sector;
4. Facilitate meaningful information sharing;
5. Safeguard privacy and constitutional freedoms.

Understanding the Threat

Terrorists are inventive and resourceful in terms of target selection, as well as in the selection and use of specific instruments of violence and intimidation. They exploit our vulnerabilities wherever they exist, and with any means at their disposal, at times and locations of their choosing. Terrorists are attempting to acquire a broad range of weapons from high-yield conventional explosives and firearms to weapons of mass destruction. Oftentimes the nature of the target will dictate the weapon of choice. The matching of means to ends is limited only by the creativity and resources of the terrorists; the only constant is their desirability to inflict maximum destruction, injury and shock in pursuit of their goals.

What is a Critical Infrastructure

Those systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the community that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on local security, economic security, public health or safety, or any combination of those matters.

Our critical infrastructures are particularly important because of the functions or services they provide to our community. These critical infrastructures are also particularly important because they are complex systems; the effects of a terrorist attack can spread far beyond the direct target, and reverberate long after the immediate damage.

Critical infrastructures encompass a large number of areas locally in the form of:

• Banking and Finance
• Chemical Industry
• Emergency Services
• Energy
• Entertainment
• Food
• Government
• Information and Telecommunications
• Postal and Shipping
• Public Health
• Transportation
• Water