[Vision2020] Securing The Northwest

[Douglas Stambler]

Securing The Northwest
a surveillance by Douglas Stambler
1/29/03


quadrants: For surveillance purposes, the Northwest can be looked at as 7 quadrants. 1) a 300-mile radius from central Washington; 2) a 300-mile radius from central Oregon; 3) a 300-mile radius from North Central Idaho; 4) a 300-mile radius from central Montana; 5) the Idaho-Utah border; 6) the southwestern border of Oregon, adjacent to California; 7) the Canadian border with the United States from the Pacific Ocean to the Montana eastern border with North Dakota.

obvious security risks: The Northwest has several obvious security risks as of the beginning of 2003.  They are the following:
· easy access to bus service into the Northwest via Salt Lake City
· the dismantling of Montana militia groups by the ATF from 1987-2002
· relatively anonymous access to high-powered technology in the Seattle area
· high unemployment in Oregon, especially on the eastern side of the state
· high percentage of foreign graduate students in Washington and Oregon

a new approach: Currently, security efforts in the Northwest are centered mostly in Seattle, with some of Montana's territory considered part of the Midwest by the FBI and the National Guard.  A new approach should include the following reorganization of security efforts:
· the use of Spokane as a rapid deployment military command post, with routine patrols of the Canadian border - emphasis must be placed on alertness and accuracy in responding to any unexpected emergencies along the border
· Army recruitment stepped up in Montana
· more of a routine presence of the military and the INS in Salt Lake City
· coordination between the California Highway Patrol in northwestern California, and the FBI in Seattle - emphasis on buses and out-of-state license plates
· advertisements for the Army done locally on cable access bulletin boards - emphasis on reintegration of the Army into small towns and especially, high schools
· preventive instructions sent to Chambers of Commerce throughout the Northwest that explains basic survival skills and riot protection for local businesses

how to use the 7 quadrants: Take a pencil, and draw the quadrants on a map of the Northwest.  Then, mark all the Army recruitment offices within those quadrants.  Next, since Army recruiters tend to have time to themselves in the mornings and early afternoons, suggest that each recruiting office file an online report on a new website solely for basic surveillance purposes, 2 times a week that might include the following information:
· any noticeable rise in local crime and/or drug busts
· local solutions to problems like youth crime and meth labs
· perception of the military by the local public
· an upsurge in the local presence of Mexican immigrants
· Once a website is set up with the 7 quadrants, and bulletin boards are set up for each quadrant, the local police departments in these quadrants should be made aware of the bulletin boards, so that insights into surveillance can be shared accordingly.  Finally, a small staff of young Army recruits, 4 or 5 people, should be dispatched to the 7 quadrants for 2-week periods at a time, to learn more about homeland security in those areas.

budget: 1) website - free, 2) re-conceptualizing homeland security issues in the Northwest - free, 3) use of local Cable Access stations for Army informational postings - free, 4) routine patrols on the border of U.S./Canada, Oregon/California, and Idaho/Utah - estimated $10,000 month in added expenses

final note: At the end of the 20th century, the threat of terror in the United States forced American law enforcement and the U.S. military, to rethink their approach to monitoring, identifying, and eliminating security risks in the homeland.  What my advice includes that has not been considered before is the total reintegration and acceptance of the U.S. Army into American public life, everywhere.  What America lacks at the moment with regards to homeland security, is the courage to mainstream the military back into American society.  Without becoming intrusive to the American public, the U.S. Army can make small steps in this direction, by allying itself with the American public, and providing rudimentary surveillance information to communities without much added expense or an adjustment in the way the Army is organized and conducts protocol.  God Bless America.

 



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