NCJ Number
205779
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 52 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2004 Pages: 100-103
Date Published
May 2004
Length
4 pages
Annotation
In assessing the terrorism risk to their communities, one tool available to law enforcement agencies is the Community Vulnerability Assessment Methodology (C-VAM), which identifies a community's weaknesses by using a detailed and systematic analysis of the facilities and their relationship to each other.
Abstract
The purpose of the C-VAM assessment is to enable community agencies to focus resources on the areas of greatest need. C-VAM is based on security-related expertise that encompasses more than 25 years of experience. It reflects proven methods used across the country to secure critical infrastructures such as water utilities, chemical facilities, prisons, and nuclear facilities. Every law enforcement agency should have a vulnerability assessment team able to conduct a qualified vulnerability assessment for infrastructures within its jurisdiction. This team will work with community officials to conduct the assessments. C-VAM uses four major components to collect information about a community and determine its relative risk for a terrorist attack. The major components are community characterization, consequence and target identification, threat definition, and physical protection system. Regarding community characterization and information, the C-VAM process obtains enough information to make the decisions that will directly impact the community. It is this initial planning phase that drives the process. The next step, consequence and target ID, considers the severity of consequences for the community if a particular community service or facility is disabled. After developing the consequences, officers will then identify the facilities most critical to the community. In developing threat definition, various threat scenarios are constructed, accompanied by an assessment of the likelihood of such an attack. With a realistic security assessment in hand, the next step is to evaluate current security and operations measures already in place. Any needed upgrades in security to defend against high-risk threats are then determined. These components of C-VAM should be applied to all community facilities and infrastructures. The cost of a C-VAM assessment is $5,000.