Jim Harper noted yesterday that the Department of Homeland Security (after lengthy review) has decided to scrap its color‐coded alert system. The change is long overdue–the alerts implied, absurdly, that danger was equally distributed across the nation. The fact that the Department never used the blue and green threat levels (general and low risk), which most accurately describe the true danger most Americans face from terrorism, showed the systems’ inherent threat inflation. Eventually, everyone started ignoring the threat level, officials stopped changing it, and system became a charade.
Jim argues that, in place of the colors, the Department should inform “the public fully about threats and risks known to the U.S. government,” treating us like adults with a shared responsibility for protecting ourselves. According to a report from the National Journal’s Chris Storm, DHS agrees, sort of. Storm links to a DHS document on the new warning policy, which states:
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- DHS will implement a new system that is built on a clear and simple premise: When a threat develops that could impact the public, we will tell you. We will provide whatever information we can so you know how to protect yourselves, your families, and your communities.
- The new system reflects the reality that we must always be on alert and be ready. When we have information about a specific, credible threat, we will issue a formal alert providing as much information as we can.
- Depending on the nature of the threat, the alert may be limited to a particular audience, like law enforcement, or a segment of the private sector, like shopping malls or hotels.
- Or, the alert may be issued more broadly to the American people, distributed — through a statement from DHS — by the news media and social media channels.
- The alerts will be specific to the threat. They may ask you to take certain actions, or to look for specific suspicious behavior. And they will have an end date.
- This new system is built on the common‐sense belief that we are all in this together — that we all have a role to play — and it was developed in that same collaborative spirit.