InfoGram 22-12: May 30, 2012

This InfoGram will be distributed weekly to provide members of the Emergency Services Sector with information concerning the protection of their critical infrastructures. For further information, contact the Emergency Management and Response - Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) at (301) 447-1325 or by email at emr-isac@fema.dhs.gov.

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Online Scrap Theft Alert Database

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. (ISRI) is working to deter the scrap metal theft trend by offering the Scrap Theft Alert website.  The database went online in mid-December of 2008; since then, it has registered over 8,000 alerts of metal theft from approximately 14,000 registered users, and, based on reported success stories, has recovered over $485,000 of materials.

Scrap Theft Alert is a free service for use by law enforcement, recyclers, and other stakeholders to include railroads, telecommunications companies, power companies, utility companies, construction companies, and others.  Scrap Theft Alert is in use in both the United States and Canada.

Items that have recently been posted as stolen include aerial communication lines, freeway drain grates, and backflow check valves.  Recently recovered objects include fire hose connections and military ammunition parts.

Upon approval, registrants will be able to make reports which will be broadcast by email to other users within a 100-mile radius of their location.  Registrants will also receive emailed alert broadcasts.  Alerts remain active for 14 days, are searchable, and can be rebroadcast.  Local agencies are encouraged to contact scrap dealers within their jurisdictional bounds so they can register to receive and post alerts, since the site will be more effective if more users are posting and receiving information.

 (Source: ScrapTheftAlert.com)

Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Nameplates

Pressure vessels for liquefied petroleum gases (LPGs) such as propane and butane are required to have an attached nameplate showing the tank is a qualified storage container.  Fire marshals and codes inspectors should know how to read the nameplates to determine if tanks are up to standards.

A Coffee Break Training published by the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) discusses the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) standards and shows one example of a newer “continuously welded” nameplate.  The informational website Propane 101 shows other pictures of older raised nameplates and a list of information that is required to be listed on nameplates.

Consumers can purchase old used propane tanks that do not have nameplates, only to find later that they are not legal to use.  If a nameplate is missing or unreadable the tank cannot be used for storage.  Also, any tank that has been in a fire or is obviously damaged should never be reused.

DHS and the FBI encourage recipients of this document to report information concerning suspicious or criminal activity to the local FBI office and also the State or Major Urban Area Fusion Center.

For information specifically affecting the private sector critical infrastructure contact the National Infrastructure Coordinating Center by phone at 202-282-9201, or by email at nicc@dhs.gov.

(Sources: USFA and Propane101.com)

Use of Cloned Vehicles at Border Crossings  

Earlier this month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents arrested a U.S. citizen attempting to smuggle illegal aliens over the border into southern California using a cloned UPS truck.  The same week a cloned FedEx truck carrying money, drugs, and weapons was stopped by county law enforcement in Texas.

The use of cloned vehicles is not a new practice.  Reports include the companies mentioned above and others such as AT&T, Wal-Mart, DirecTV, and cloned vehicles from federal agencies such as USPS, U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Border Patrol.

Local law enforcement should become familiar with and train for identification of cloned vehicles.  Some things to look for while on patrol include:

• Improperly displayed vehicle registrations or no registration
• Multiple business names on one vehicle
• Suspicious detouring and driver behavior
• Phone numbers that don’t test out or no company phone number displayed
• Low vehicle service numbers (i.e., 005, 0032)
• Chrome license plate frames or vanity license plates

(Source: Homeland Security Today)

Resilience at Home Affects Job Performance

The relationship between family/personal and workplace resilience has been tested by several natural disasters and terrorist events in the past.  Continuity of Operations (COOP) at the State, county, local, and tribal levels is more dependent on individual resilience than at the Federal level.  The most obvious reason for this is that the regional first responders live in or close to the area affected by the disaster while Federal responders are often being deployed from unaffected areas.

An article on personal resilience from The CIP Report (PDF, 3.2 Mb) gives the example of law enforcement officers that left duty assignments to check on family during Hurricane Katrina.  The article gives other examples, but the focal point of the article is to highlight how a lack of readiness and resiliency on the personal or family level can lead to a lowered response capacity on the organizational level.

A conclusion given by the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina states “evacuating and sheltering families ahead of time, or having a preset plan when the disaster is of such a nature as to provide no advance warning” is vital to maintain COOP during a natural or manmade disaster.

The CIP Report article goes on to give examples of family and workplace resilience steps that should be taken and the legal implication if not enough action has been taken to ensure COOP during or after a disaster.

(Source: The CIP Report)