Combating Terrorism: Threat and Risk Assessments Can Help Prioritize and Target Program Investments
NSIAD-98-74
Published: Apr 09, 1998. Publicly Released: Apr 14, 1998.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the implementation of the Nunn-Lugar-Domenici (NLD) domestic preparedness program, focusing on: (1) threat and risk assessment approaches used by several public- and private-sector organizations to deal with terrorist and other security risks; (2) whether 11 of the first 27 cities selected for NLD training and assistance used threat and risk assessments to establish requirements for dealing with weapons of mass destruction (WMD) terrorist incidents; and (3) the challenges of using formal threat and risk assessments to help define requirements and prioritize and target NLD program resources.
Recommendations
Matter for Congressional Consideration
| Matter | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Congress may wish to consider amending the Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act to require that threat and risk assessments be included and funded as part of the assistance provided under the act. The legislation should specify that the assessments be a federal-city collaborative effort, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) taking the lead in facilitating such assessments, with inputs and assistance from the intelligence community and appropriate federal agencies, including the Department of Defense. The legislation should further provide that the assessments be used to guide decisionmaking to determine cities' training and equipment requirements and their priorities in alignment with the most likely threat scenarios with the severest consequences. | The Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999, section 1404, requires that the Attorney General, in consultation with the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and others, shall develop and test methodologies for assessing the threat and risk of terrorist employment of weapons of mass destruction against cities and other local areas. The results of the tests may be used to determine the training and equipment requirements under the Nunn-Lugar-Domenici Domestic Preparedness Program. The FBI has begun exploring at least one methodology discussed in the report and recently testified that it intends to perform a pilot risk assessment based on an adapted methodology. |
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Topics
Biological weaponsCombating terrorismDomestic intelligenceEmergency preparednessExplosivesFacility securityHomeland securityMilitary facilitiesPrioritizingPrivate sectorRisk assessmentTechnical assistanceTerroristsWeapons of mass destruction