A.G. Gancarski
City leaders from the mayor’s office, the sheriff’s office, and the fire and rescue department rehearsed policy responses to a simulated terrorist incident Friday.
In the 21st century Western world, terror is an ever-present threat. From the attacks in Brussels and Paris, to those closer to home such as Boston and San Bernardino, local policy makers and leaders must be ever vigilant in a world fraught with uncertainty and restiveness.
With preparation on the policy side in mind, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, Sheriff Mike Williams, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue head Kurtis Wilson, and other city leaders simulated an emergency exercise, called an Active Assailant Tabletop Exercise, to refine operations planning and execution Friday.
The scenario worked through Friday: a string of deadly incendiary devices, located by a group of malefactors throughout the city. Reactions rehearsed included identifying decision-making protocols, validating a city process for an emergency curfew, identifying a protocol for elected officials, and coordinating efforts with one voice.
These simulations, which happen throughout the country with officials from state and local governments, involve testing response to and recovery from incidents such as active shooter scenarios.
This particular exercise, said Wilson before the simulation began, was to establish lines of authority among the executive branch and public safety officials on the executive level, regarding “policy and lines of authority.”
Curry, in brief remarks ahead of the exercise, said that this simulation was “important” in terms of avoiding “mistakes … in the middle of a crisis.”
Clear demarcations between branches of government and their authority in these situations are essential, said Williams, in light of catastrophes such as those that happened in Boston and San Bernardino in recent years.
Taking advantage of “lessons learned” and planning on the front end are “what we need to do more of,” Sheriff Williams added.
Planning for this particular discussion-based exercise for the mayor’s executive group began in December, as an exercise design team began to work, toward coordination with various goals in mind.
Among those goals: collaboration, preventing damage, and making the city whole again, by functioning under the so-called “one voice” concept.
To this end, the simulation was to take place in a low-stress environment, where debate and disagreement are welcome, so decision makers can formulate a thought process that is rooted in policy and laws, but one that is fluid enough to be reactive.
