See Something, Say Something

In Colorado, emergency management and homeland security officials share a common purpose and objective to mitigate, respond to and recover from either man-made or natural disasters and threats to life and property. At the State's Division of Emergency Management, our focus is on natural disasters and managing the State's all-hazards Multi-Agency Coordination Center (MACC)/Emergency Operations Center (EOC). For homeland security and terrorism issues, the lead agency in Colorado is the Department of Public Safety and, specifically, DPS's Colorado Information and Analysis Center, or CIAC.

You are probably aware of the CIAC's outstanding work with The Cell - The Center for Empowered Living and Learning, to produce the "8 Signs of Terrorism" video above. As the video and the CIAC's site notes, "prevention is everyone's responsibility". In that effort, the Department of Homeland Security's recently introduced program to "see something, say something" is a great reminder of how we all must remain alert and aware, but also to act.

"See Something, Say Something" is key to early identification of potential threats. In Colorado, you are encouraged to report suspicious devices, activities or people by Calling 911. You can learn more about suspicious activity on the CIAC's site.

One call can make a difference.

In addition, you can also report suspicious activity online directly to the CIAC online.  Thankfully, most reports turn out to be non-events, but whether you are crossing a street, noticing that the water level on the local creek is higher after recent storms, supporting your neighborhood watch program, see a downed power line or are simply out and about town, keeping your eyes open and being aware of your surroundings is just good practice.  It is only part of the practice, though.  In order for your observations to yield results, you have to act.  You have to notify local authorities that something doesn't seem right.