Help choose my next book's cover

I am writing a textbook on homeland security, due out next year and my publisher has a poll to help choose the book's cover.  Check out the sample covers and vote on ones you like best - be sure to leave feedback as well - my publisher, cover designer and I will be reviewing your feedback in helping make a decision.  Here's more from my publisher:

Homeland security expert Ehsan Zaffar will be releasing a textbook on homeland security policy tentatively entitled Understanding Homeland Security: Foundations of Security Policy. This is an opportunity for you to weigh in on the look and feel of your textbook and provide critical feedback to Elsevier and the author. We look forward to your insights.

Check out the website ehsan.com for more information about the author. His unparalleled access to insiders in the homeland security community has produced revealing interviews with many of the leading players. His textbook discusses hot topics from border security, cybercrime, and terrorist financing to homeland security law and policy.

Follow Mr. Zaffar on Twitter @ezaffar.

From Catching Counterfeiters to Critical Infrastructure Protection: An Interview with Mark Camillo

Draft Cover

Draft Cover

I am currently writing a textbook on homeland security (due out from Elsevier next spring 2015).  Unique to this text are interviews with renowned experts in the fields of homeland security and national security.  Mr. Mark Camillo is one such expert.  A former Deputy Assistant Director at the Secret Service, Mr. Camillo's work has seen him transition from teaching to securing the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics to now working to protect critical infrastructure throughout the country.  An excerpt of his interview appears below. Read the rest when it publishes spring 2015

cam.jpeg

Mark Camillo is internationally recognized as a law enforcement and security professional, with exceptional expertise in the area of emergency preparedness operations. He currently serves as the Senior Vice President for Strategic Planning at Contemporary Services Corporation, and was recently named chair of the Public Assembly Facility Subsector Council. Camillo began his career as a Special Agent in the U.S. Secret Service, completing a distinguished 21-year career that included assignments at the White House, and advancing to the position of Deputy Assistant Director. Most notably he was appointed the Olympic Coordinator for the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics, directing the Secret Service to plan and implement the Federal operational security plan for the Games. Currently, Camillo is a member of several organizations including the American Society of Industrial Security's Global Terrorism/International Crime Council, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Academy for Venue Safety & Security. He also serves as a senior fellow at the George Mason University Center for Infrastructure Protection.

What advice would you give students who would like to work in the homeland security field, particularly those who would like to work for the Secret Service?
MC: I would advise students to pay attention to their behavior before they even apply for any position. Prudent lifestyle choices are important when working in this field. If your lifestyle, and this includes run-ins with law enforcement, drug abuse or other outrageous behavior, serves as a distraction - then it will be difficult for you to obtain and maintain employment in homeland security-related positions. These kinds of behavior can make you vulnerable to blackmail and extortion or jeopardize an important case in the future. Identify role models who hold jobs you would one day like, watch how they behave and try to emulate their good habits. Both before and after your employment in the homeland security field - when in doubt about whether you should engage in a certain kind of behavior, err on the side of caution. In today's social-media driven world, your actions can easily be taken out of context.

Speaking of social media, what effects has the rise of social media had in the homeland security field?
MC: As internet usage has continued to grow, discretion in communication has declined. People don't realize that emails, often written in haste and thought of as impermanent, can backfire - especially for defendants in criminal cases where email correspondence is increasingly used as evidence. Likewise, the instantaneous availability of information led to an explosion of information, but you have to be careful that the information out there is accurate.

Is the rise of the information economy and the internet helpful or a hindrance to someone in your position?
MC: It is tremendously helpful as long as you remain vigilant about vetting the information. In the intelligence community, you never know if the information you are considering in a case, for instance, has been deliberately released to mislead you. Social media and the internet provide great tools for law enforcement work, but also considerable risk.

What led you to your career in the Secret Service and beyond?
MC: Actually, my background is in teaching. I taught school for six years at an institute where I worked with hearing-impaired children. Learning American Sign Language helped me see the importance of breaking down perceived barriers in communication. Law enforcement organizations today cannot do their job effectively without maintaining an internal collaborative environment. There is more cross-communication than ever in law enforcement agencies today due to electronic mail and interdepartmental working groups.

The Secret Service has a statutory responsibility to investigate and suppress US counterfeit currency. My technical background in graphic arts and photography caught the attention of the Secret Service and I began my career working in the Philadelphia Field Office. I started as a an entry-level Special Agent advancing to the Senior Executive Service position of Olympic Coordinator, where I was responsible for overseeing the federal security operations at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. Soon after, I was reassigned as the deputy special agent-in-charge of the Presidential Protective Division responsible for security operations at the White House complex where I remained until being reassigned to assist in the development and establishment of DHS. I finished my career as a Deputy Assistant Director, overseeing the Secret Service technology divisions. Though I am not an engineer, I understood the mission well enough to ensure that procuring technologies was done in and efficient and effective manner, and remained mission critical.

What are the challenges you faced securing different facilities and structures?
MC: Security and law enforcement are not synonymous. Law enforcement is responsive - when you have an incident or crisis, law enforcement personnel are first responders at the scene. On the other hand, security is mostly preventative. Good security operations are designed to detect, deny and disrupt threats before they occur. At particularly high profile events, such as the Olympics or important public buildings, such as the White House, the federal government often serves as the security lead. The Secret Service is responsible for designing, planning and implementing the security operation in these locations. But they aren't the only agency working on security. Other federal agencies, such as DHS' Federal Protective Service as well as state and local organizations work in concert to secure these locations, whether they are a building or an event. The process is collaborative. We have a name for these kinds of security operations when applied to an event of national significance: in 1998 the federal government began calling them National Special Security Events (NSSE). Usually, the Secretary of Homeland Security in conjunction with the Attorney General designates an event as an NSSE and when they do so, the Secret Service, FBI, and FEMA begin working immediately with the event hosts and local public safety organizations and other stakeholders on a plan to secure the event. There have been over forty NSSE's since 1998, the largest of these was the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. Since Salt Lake, all other NSSE's have essentially utilized the same security model.

How does DHS determine whether an event will be classified as an NSSE?
MC: The Department of Justice employs a special event readiness level (SERL) test when considering how many resources to bring towards securing an event. Historically, the Boston Marathon or the Super Bowl, with the exception of the 2002 game, had not met the criteria to be classified as an NSSE. However, as an event satisfies more of the determining risk factors, it can be elevated all the way up to a SERL 1, which is classified as a NSSE. There are multiple elements that are weighed against an event to determine the degree of support it should receive from the federal government. Iconic events with a history of threats coupled with worldwide media attention will always be carefully considered for a NSSE designation. Strong local resources and capabilities may reduce the designation to a lower SERL rating.

DOJ classifies all events on a scale from 1 to 4. The classification level determines how many resources are provided by the federal government in order to secure the event and how many Federal government entities will be involved. It is important that any security plan emphasize both the prevention and crisis response aspects of security. Of course, the risk level determines the intensity of both the prevention and crisis response plans. And “risk” itself is determined by identifying in advance the vulnerabilities and threats present at each event.

What organization comes up with best practices for securing an event?
MC: For a sporting event, it is often the sporting league, such as the National Hockey League (NHL) or the National Basketball Association (NBA). In other cases it may be trade groups such as the International Association of Venue Managers and the Stadium Managers Association. DHS' Office of Infrastructure Protection shares best practices on securing critical infrastructure with these groups.

How does one go about encouraging implementation of best practices?
MC: First, venues should have facility managers that are skilled, open-minded and willing to implement security practices. Second, security and facility professionals need to constantly look for ways to increase their understanding of current threats. They have to be willing to argue with decision-makers about the need for updates and upgrades in the security infrastructure. Having an emergency management plan is a best practice in an of itself and such a plan should be part of every facility's toolkit. (One, venues should have facility managers that are skilled, open-minded and willing to implement security practices. Second, security and facility professionals need to constantly look for ways to increase their understanding of current threats. They have to be willing to argue with decisionmakers when there should be upgrades and advancements made. Today's threat is not necessarily tomorrow's threat. It is not a matter of if, but when. An emergency management plan should be part of every facility's toolkit, however the plan doesn't have much value if it isn't exercised.)

How did you make the transition from the Secret Service to critical infrastructure protection?
MC: I went from the public sector (Secret Service) to the private sector (security industry). There are a lot of similarities and differences between the two and a lot of overlap. Remember that government agencies such as DHS aren't the only ones responsible for securing critical infrastructure. The venue, whether it be a stadium or a convention center, has the authority to decide how they would like threats to their facility to be addressed. Speaking broadly about my work on critical infrastructure: we try to use an all-hazards approach. Since I can't tell my clients when an attack might occur, I have to rely on informing my clients about how they can reduce the risk of an attack occurring. For instance, severe weather events cause a lot more damage to critical infrastructure than any other kind of threat - and prevention practices borne from an all-hazards approach are a lot more useful in preventing damage from severe weather events.

Can you speak further on weather and its impact on critical infrastructure?
MC: Studies have concluded that most fatalities at sporting events occurs as a result of weather related events or other non-terrorist acts, such as structural collapse or fires. Though we are seeing a recent rise in active shooters and targeted violence in the country, weather-related events still cause by far the most damage. Casualties from single assailants in public places are not new - but as humans we tend to focus on them rather than on natural hazards such as hurricanes.

Where do you think security is headed in the future? Where do you think it should be headed?
MC: Security is headed to a kind of convergence - a blend of proven technologies, trained personnel and proven best practices all coming together to secure a space - including cyberspace. Another upcoming trend is to protect associated venues that provide critical resources. For example, if someone can't enter your venue then maybe they can get to the venue's power source, water source or transportation infrastructure. With cyber-driven attacks, securing a venue is becoming increasingly complicated and planners have to think outside the box.
 

Speaking at: Bridging Global Religious Divides

I'll be speaking on a small panel about my work with diverse communities in the homeland security space, specifically from a dispute resolution perspective, on April 7th, 2014 at the Slomoff Symposium at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.  The Symposium is part of the Annual Sylvia and Benjamin Slomoff Lectureship in Conflict Resolution. The event is free and other fantastic speakers (especially the great keynote speakers) will also be in attendance, so if you are in the area and have an interest in the subject matter I encourage you to register and attend.

Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: An interview with Dr. Rebecca Katz

Draft cover.

Draft cover.

I am currently writing a textbook on homeland security (due out from Elsevier next spring 2015).  Unique to this text are interviews with renowned experts in the fields of homeland security and national security.  Dr. Rebecca Katz is one such expert.  Her work focuses on public health preparedness, particularly the intersection of public health preparedness and national security.  She is the author of the Essentials of Public Health Preparedness (a great book that I have used in my consulting work) and several other volumes.  A short excerpt of her interview - where she talks about her career, thoughts on her field and the gender disparity in her profession - appears below. Read the rest when it publishes spring '15

Dr. Rebecca Katz is an Associate Professor at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services in the Department of Health Policy. Currently her primary research concerns the domestic and global implementation of the International Health Regulations. Generally, Dr. Katz’s research focuses on public health preparedness, the intersection of infectious diseases and national security, and health diplomacy. Dr. Katz continues to be a consultant to the State Department on issues related to the Biological Weapons Convention, Avian and Pandemic Influenza, and disease surveillance. Previously, she worked on Biological Warfare counterproliferation at the Defense Intelligence Agency, was an Intelligence Research Fellow at the Center for Strategic Intelligence Research in the Joint Military Intelligence College, and spent several years as a public health consultant for The Lewin Group. She also authored a textbook on Public Health Preparedness. Dr. Katz obtained her undergraduate degree in Political Science and Economics, an MPH in International Health, and a PhD in Public Affairs.

Tell us a little about yourself and how you came to your current position.
RK: I’m an associate professor of Health Policy and Emergency Medicine. My background is in social science--demography, public policy, and epidemiology, all focused on public health policy. I think, there are many different avenues for working public health preparedness. Some have hard science backgrounds, but it is not a requirement.

Is a background in national security law or policy helpful for the work you do?
RK: Absolutely, some background in these subjects helps.

What would you advise a student, in terms of their academic career, if they chose to do the work you do on a regular basis?
RK: One thing that is consistent amongst all of us on our team, even those not formally trained in public health, is that we all take a public health perspective.

Is it a detriment to your success in the field if you don’t have that perspective?
RK: No. But then you won’t be the public health person in the room.

What do you believe is the most valuable experience you’ve had in shaping your career?
RK: My answer for when I was in my twenties is different for my answer for my thirties, which will be different for my answer for when I’m in my forties. I come from a public health background, many members of my family are public health professionals. I always knew I’d end up in that field. After I graduated from college I was volunteering in maternal and child health clinics in southern India and got very sick. The bug that I was sick with, Brucella melitensis, turned out to be a Class B biological weapons agent. It’s the first agent the United States ever weaponized, as part of the US offensive biological weapons program in the early 1950s.

So, I’m assuming you got better once they figured out what you had?
RK: It took four years. And I still have it. It’s endemic in some parts of the world. If you get it through lab exposure you know right away. Otherwise it becomes intracellular and really hard to treat. I spent much of my masters programs hooked up to I.V. medication. I would go in the morning to the medical center to get my I.V. drip then go to class. What was really interesting was, you come back to the States and you have this disease nobody knows about and you have to become, as any patient does, your own expert in your disease. And the best literature on my disease in the US was related to bioweapons. So the interest in my own condition helped me to develop an interest in public health and bioterrorism issues. I thought, "Hey I have this social science, political science, international relations, and economics background, and I’m studying epidemiology in international health – and here is this thing, bioterrorism, that brings all of these interests together. So I became really interested in bioterrorism issues and biodefense, and I started going to meetings on these issues after graduate work.

Talk a little bit more about the gender disparity in your profession.
RK: Since I’ve been interested in these issues, the world has changed a lot. Up until 9/11 the people who looked at biological weapons were part of a very small community. Mostly, they were members of the military or intelligence communities. It wasn’t a question about gender disparity- there just weren’t many people interested- male or female. I had completed my masters and I was working in the public health field and I decided I really wanted to become an expert in this area of disease and security, so I applied for my doctoral degree in 1999. I wanted to do my PH.D. in epidemiology and the schools of public health almost uniformly told me that they liked me as a candidate but we’re not sure about this "thing" (biological weapons, bioterrorism) you’re interested in. I had a hard time finding faculty who were willing to work with me. I ended up in a policy school for my doctoral work, which was more amenable to multidisciplinary approaches, and I found a mentor who was willing to take me on.

Still the case?
RK: I wrote a paper on biological weapons as a public health problem and handed it in on Sept. 10, 2001 to my faculty advisor. One day later, 9/11 happened, and there was suddenly a lot of interest in the things I had been studying. The 90s were a time that people were admitting emerging infectious diseases were a problem again. In the 1970s there had been a shift of focus from infectious diseases and onto non-communicable diseases. Cancer was the new thing in public health in the 1970's, and it wasn’t until the emergence of HIV, Ebola, and other emerging infectious diseases in the late 80s and early 90s that people in the public health community started talking about infectious diseases again as a problem and starting to focus on the connection between disease and security. For instance, the term “emerging infectious diseases" wasn’t even coined until the early 1990s. Really the shift in thinking to infectious diseases as weapons or weaponized agents - didn’t start until late in the Clinton Administration.

Where do you see the field headed?
RK: The Global Health Security Agenda was launched in February 2013. So hopefully that is the future: what actions the global community should take to protect population's health and make populations more secure against bio-threats. So the 2000s, was about making the intellectual jump that public health and security are connected and now we’re looking at what the public health community is going to do about it.

What challenges do you see coming up in the next 5-10 years in the field?
RK: One of the things that we are thinking about a lot is metrics: asking how do you measure success? Is your population safe? Yes or No? Do you have disease surveillance? Yes or no? Have you been able to detect outbreaks? It’s not as easy as some of the other questions in terrorism-related disciplines. To me, metrics is the next major intellectual challenge. Measuring success is what holds people accountable.

If you could ask Congress for one thing what would it be?
RK: Money spent wisely. I think investing in building good disease surveillance systems, which means systems and policies which can help detect outbreaks of infectious diseases quickly, is a valuable use of resources. Good disease surveillance means you can also respond quickly to disease outbreaks and save more lives. We don’t have these kinds of detection systems in many parts of the world. You can’t separate the domestic from the global, so spending the money across the world is in many ways just as useful as spending it at home.

Let’s say somebody graduates from college and is about to embark on a career like yours. They don’t really know what you do day to day, but they are passionate about the subject. So what career advice, in terms of courses that are important, internships to take etc., would you give to such a student?
RK: First, if you want to work overseas, you actually have to get some global experience. The easiest time to do that is right after you graduate college. Life gets much more complicated as you get older. If you have even some idea that you want to do global work, you should try to go abroad. If you want to work in emergency preparedness go spend some time in a local health department. All public health is local, so figure out what that "local" is, whether that is here or abroad, and then go work there.

So practical, on the ground experience is important?
RK: If you have practical experience it makes you somebody worth listening to. It’s important to have policy skills. Some of these skills can be taught. Some can’t be taught and they have to be learned from experience.