https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcast
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Events
    • How to Contribute
    • Municipal Cost Index – Archive
    • Equipment Watch Page
    • American City & County Awards
  • Magazine
    • Back
    • Digital Editions
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • Advertise
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
American City and County
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcasts
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Events
    • How to Contribute
    • American City & County Awards
    • Municipal Cost Index
    • Equipment Watch Page
  • Magazine
    • Back
    • Digital Editions
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • Subscribe to GovPro
    • Manage GovPro Subscription
    • Advertise
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Stament
    • Terms of Service
  • newsletter
  • Administration
  • Economy & Finance
  • Procurement
  • Public Safety
  • Public Works & Utilities
  • Smart Cities & Technology
acc.com

Commentaries


Commentary

A case study in community engagement: Ensuring safety at the 2017 Presidential Inauguration

A case study in community engagement: Ensuring safety at the 2017 Presidential Inauguration

Everbridge Senior Solutions Consultant Thomas Crane explains the strategies D.C. government agencies used in working with federal government agencies to ensure safety at President Trump's inauguration and the Women's March.
  • Written by contributor
  • 8th March 2017

By Thomas Crane

Hundreds of thousands of Americans traveled to Washington, D.C. on the weekend of January 20th to either show support for the 45th Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump or to participate in the Women’s March and other demonstrations. With so many people expected to visit the capital during what the U.S. Department of Homeland Security deemed a “National Special Security Event,” agencies such as Washington D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management and United States Park Police prepared for several months to ensure the safety for both event-goers and area residents.

With the politics surrounding the event, local and federal law enforcement also needed to prepare for – and effectively manage – potential protestors and all different types of participants that may make their way to the crowd. Events of this magnitude require agencies to be prepared for the worst, such as severe weather, civil disturbances, or even worse, physical attacks and violence. However, this presents a challenge, as large-scale events require collaboration between a host of agencies, volunteers and multiple state departments who don’t typically work together. For the inauguration, the D.C. Government needed to seamlessly work in union with not only the U.S. Park Police, Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA), Secret Service, National Guard and D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services (FEMS), but also dozens of neighboring police and fire departments in the National Capital Region and hundreds of event volunteers.

While it is common for local, state and federal agencies to have interoperability and compatibility communications challenges when responding with other jurisdictions, one thing that was extremely helpful during the Presidential Inauguration weekend was utilizing a critical communication platform that provided effective means to communicate, coordinate, and gather situational awareness to manage the weekend’s events.

Below are three important lessons learned from the Inauguration that can help other government agencies prepare for similar large-scale events.
 

Follow the Preparedness Cycle

One key factor that helped D.C. and federal agencies prepare for the historic weekend was using the preparedness cycle as a guideline: plan, organize, equip, train and exercise.  To start, agencies should look at the upcoming event and highlight the biggest challenges. In the case of the Inauguration, D.C. agencies knew that it would be difficult to communicate with a huge, diverse crowd consisting of both tourists and residents. The agencies also knew that it would have to standardize communications in order to ensure all of the key organizations involved in maintaining public safety were on the same page at all times. With these realizations in mind, D.C. and federal agencies could begin drafting a plan that tackled those changes head-on, including implementing a critical communication platform that offered the right tools to reach the right people on the right device, at the right time.
 

Test Emergency Message Systems in Advance

D.C. agencies needed to be prepared in case an event or situation occurred that put residents or visitors at risk of being harmed. That’s where the train and drill phases of the preparedness cycle come into play.

On the Sunday before the Inauguration, HSEMA hosted a full-day dress rehearsal in D.C.’s emergency operations center, including testing the wireless emergency alerts system. This gave the agencies confidence that the system would perform correctly prior to a real-world emergency. Testing the system gives HSEMA time to manage any potential issues so everything runs smoothly if a real emergency occurs.
 

Choose and Promote an Opt-In Keyword

One of the biggest challenges that government agencies face in their mass communications strategies is getting residents and visitors to opt-in to event alerts. To promote the Inauguration keyword, the United States Park Police and HSEMA created a robust marketing plan, focusing mainly on old-fashioned marketing techniques and social media. Washington D.C. emergency managers created large signage that was clear and simple, and placed the messages on telephone poles surrounding the event. In addition, the United States Park Police, HSEMA and D.C. Metropolitan Police Department used their Facebook and Twitter accounts to encourage more residents, visitors and attendees to opt-in for the latest safety messages. Finally, public safety officials encouraged residents and visitors to text the keyword INAUG to 888-777 during the actual Inauguration to receive the latest information and updates leading up to and throughout the event.

Creating a keyword simplifies the registration process as people don’t have to create a profile on a website or sign up for alerts in an area they don’t live. Instead, they can simply text the designated keyword straight from their mobile device and know they will get the most up-to-date information, even if cell towers become unreliable.

Presidential Inaugurations come every four years, but major events regularly occur all across the nation. If government agencies focus on putting a plan in place early, organizing and equipping their team, testing their communication system before the event and selecting and promoting a keyword, they will be better prepared to manage any situation that comes their way.

 

Thomas Crane is the Senior Solutions Consultant at Everbridge, a communication technology provider that powered messages and provided technical support during and leading up to President Trump’s Inauguration and the Women’s March. 

Tags: Public Safety Commentaries Commentary

Related


  • Lessons from the pandemic: Emergency sourcing of lifesaving equipment
    Being able to conceive and implement new procurement models in times of crisis requires resourcefulness, tenacity and teamwork.
  • Public safety needs a better way to triage emergency calls
    The overarching goal of the public-safety community is to ensure that 911 callers receive the most appropriate emergency response as quickly as possible. Lives often are on the line in an emergency, and every second matters. Achieving a balance between sending the optimal response to an emergency and having it arrive as fast as possible […]
  • Florida county announces successful test of Motorola Solutions’ cloud-based P25 core technology
    A Florida county recently announced the completion of a successful test of Motorola Solutions’ CirrusCentral Core, the cloud-based secondary core for ASTRO 25 P25 systems that is designed to provide redundant reliability to the land-mobile-radio (LMR) network without the costs associated with a physical secondary core site. In Sumter County, Fla., the absence of a […]
  • D.C. police begin identifying Capitol rioters
    Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to identify the supporters of President Donald Trump who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. “MPD seeks assistance in identifying persons of interest responsible for Unlawful Entry offenses that occurred yesterday on US Capitol Grounds, 100 block of 1st […]

Related Content

  • Colorado county’s value-based health care strategy produces savings
  • Probabilistic genotyping in forensic DNA analysis
  • Colorado county refuses to enforce state orders as COVID-19 level increases
  • Public safety transitioning to LTE-based solutions, but PTT timetable still unclear, speakers say

Twitter


AmerCityCounty

The latest episode The Young Leaders Podcast focuses on Cyril Jefferson. Cyril is the youngest African American to… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

27th October 2020
AmerCityCounty

Hillsboro, Oregon is pioneering a new #renewableenergy generation technology through a partnership with… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

27th October 2020
AmerCityCounty

The impact of the #COVID19 pandemic on #telework was swift and profound. Now, the big question is whether – and to… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

26th October 2020
AmerCityCounty

Get ready for the can't-miss webinar on how to kickstart your efficiency improvement plan with Luke Anderson of… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

26th October 2020
AmerCityCounty

Among all states headed into the 2020 general election, which ones have voting populations that are the most demogr… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

26th October 2020
AmerCityCounty

We want to hear from you! Share your thoughts in our readership survey to help us shape future content so that we c… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

23rd October 2020
AmerCityCounty

See how cities different approaches to distribute masks in their communities >> spr.ly/6010GAPLa

23rd October 2020
AmerCityCounty

While #facialrecognition is a powerful tool that can improve law enforcement efficiency, that doesn’t necessarily t… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

23rd October 2020

Newsletters

Sign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.

Resale Insights Dashboard

The Resale Insights Dashboard provides model-level data for the entire used equipment market to help you save time and money.

Municipal Cost Index

Updated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital audience? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IWCE’s Urgent Communications
  • IWCE Expo

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FOLLOW American City and County ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2021 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X