New York State Homeland Security Strategy: 2022-2025

New York State has identified ten homeland security goals which recognize the risk profile, lessons learned, and best practices from major incidents such as COVID-19, the NYC subway station bombing, Lake Ontario flooding, and multiple tropical storms and hurricanes. Each Strategy goal contains supporting objectives that further define the programs, initiatives, and  steps  required  to  meet  the goal. These goals and objectives will guide the State's focus over the next four years.

To measure progress related to the implementation of this Strategy, New York State has developed accompanying targets and metrics for each objective. These measures define success for each objective and the metrics provide mechanisms to measure progress against each target.

New York State's homeland security goals for 2022-2025 are:

• Goal 1: Strengthen Intelligence and Information Sharing Capabilities through collaborative partnerships with federal, state, local, and private sector stakeholders to better protect against and respond to natural and human-made disasters, cyber threats, foreign and domestic terrorism, and other acts of targeted violence, such as active attacker situations.
• Goal 2: Strengthen Counter Terrorism and Law Enforcement Capabilities by continuing to improve counterterrorism operations, training, and partnerships across New York State and by building specialized capabilities to address evolving terrorism threats.
• Goal 3: Protect Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources across New York State based on a systematic process of identifying and cataloging infrastructure, conducting site visits and risk assessments, investing in target hardening projects, and providing additional protective and mitigation measures based on the current threat environment.
• Goal 4: Enhance Statewide Cybersecurity through outreach and education, and by working with federal, state, and local partners to develop and implement programs and policies to prevent, protect against, detect, respond to, and recover from cyber-attacks.
• Goal 5: Enhance Citizen and Community Preparedness by better preparing New York State’s citizens and communities for disasters and other emergencies, including the ability to recover and sustain themselves after an event and to assist their communities in the aftermath of a disaster.
• Goal 6: Enhance Emergency Management and Response Capabilities through the implementation of a proactive posture to prepare for and respond to emergencies quickly and effectively in support of local partners.
• Goal 7: Strengthen Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives (CBRNE) Preparedness and Response Capabilities by acquiring the necessary equipment, training, and resources needed by first responders to effectively detect, interdict, and respond to acts of terrorism or accidents involving CBRNE materials. These efforts further enhance CBRNE preparedness and response capabilities statewide.
• Goal 8: Advance Interoperable and Emergency Communications through the efficient development and utilization of communication resources, training, and procedures. This helps to ensure first responders can effectively communicate with each other during major incidents and planned events to protect lives and property.
• Goal 9: Support Health Emergency Preparedness and Response by readying the State and local communities to distribute medical assistance on a large scale to include the ability of the healthcare community to surge personnel, bed capacity, and other resources in the event of a significant mass casualty incident.
• Goal 10: Become More Resilient Against Future Events through resiliency planning and by developing long-term recovery capabilities, mitigation initiatives, and other efforts to ensure the continuity of critical systems and services during a crisis.

New York State and key partners must measure progress against mission areas and critical capabilities to chart our collective progress. These capabilities align to the National Core Capabilities identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and advance state and local programs and initiatives. The capabilities provide a mechanism to measure collective preparedness efforts, as part of the County Emergency Preparedness Assessment (CEPA) Program – a statewide risk and capability assessment framework developed by DHSES in collaboration with the local first responder community in New York State. CEPA allows counties to evaluate the risks facing their communities and provides a standardized and repeatable process to assess capabilities. The assessment culminates in a better understanding of collective statewide preparedness and provides decision makers with a snapshot of strengths and gaps within the five mission areas and of critical capabilities.

Additional information on the critical capabilities and the linkages to the relevant national doctrine can be found in Appendix B.

The Strategy requires coordinated planning, investment, and support from state, local, and federal agencies and stakeholders involved in homeland security. Ultimately, strong collaboration and a networked approach are key to the successful implementation of this Strategy. To coordinate these activities, DHSES works with the State's Disaster Preparedness Commission (DPC) and other partners statewide to ensure an integrated approach to homeland security. The DHSES Commissioner works closely with the Governor’s Office to ensure consistent leadership, as well as seamless communication and coordination between the Executive Chamber, DHSES, and our state and local stakeholders.

Equity remains a guiding principle in how New York State supports individuals and communities before, during, and after a disaster. To achieve the vision of a safe, prepared, and resilient New York State, a whole community approach is taken where residents, first responder agencies, community and faith-based leaders, and elected officials work together. Engagement and dialogue should be an ongoing activity to build strong relationships and foster trust and confidence in these partnerships. Local government and its leaders are critical as most response resources exist at the county and municipal level. To compliment these efforts, regional coordination structures in a variety of disciplines including emergency management, law  enforcement, fire service, emergency communications, specialty response teams (e.g., HazMat), transportation, and public health guide the optimization of funding, staffing, and resource availability.

It is critically important to continually provide New York State residents the information and resources needed to prepare for any type of disaster facing their family or community including individuals with disabilities and access and functional needs. However, there is a need to increase the availability of government services to all members of the public. It is of the utmost importance to conduct outreach to every community in New York, given the diversity of language and ethnicity of our State. Personal and family preparedness is key to achieving the vision outlined in this Strategy, and this is only possible if all New Yorkers are engaged through the collective efforts of government.

To successfully implement the New York State Homeland Security Strategy, we must evaluate progress. Each iteration of the Strategy builds from the previous version and aims to:

• Advance equity before, during, and after disasters.
• Incorporate best practices.
• Address areas for enhancement.
• Analyze progress in key areas.

The effective and efficient use of public funds is a critical part of this Strategy and requires measurable progress towards the preparedness capability goals. New York State identified targets, objectives, and metrics for each of the goals outlined in this Strategy. These targets and metrics allow for a standardized approach to assess progress. A comprehensive evaluation and review of the Strategy will take place at least once during the planning cycle. The assessment will include the annual evaluations of certain specialty areas of the State's homeland security programs.

New York State will maintain an updated Strategy to serve as a roadmap to guide implementation of homeland security related policies, priorities, and programs across the State. Stakeholders may share feedback on the Strategy by emailing DHSES ([email protected]) at any time.

New York has been at the epicenter of homeland security and emergency management for the first two decades of the 21st century. Starting with the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks which ushered in the new era of terrorism and most recently, in March 2020, with the explosion of COVID-19 in the Western Hemisphere. New Yorkers understand the risks associated with natural disasters and human-caused incidents like terrorism. All levels of government continually prepare for increasingly complex challenges that test traditional approaches to homeland security, emergency preparedness, and response. The threats and hazards facing our State are evolving and demand purposeful action and a forward-thinking approach to preparedness and response efforts. Since New York faces a wide variety of natural, human caused, and accidental-type threats and hazards, the State maintains an “all hazards” approach to addressing these threats and hazards by developing and maintaining the capabilities necessary to prevent or mitigate all types of disasters.

This risk profile serves to inform decision-makers. It ties directly into other efforts to understand our risk, including FEMA's annual Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) requirements. Risk is most commonly expressed as a function of threats and hazards, vulnerabilities, and consequences. By minimizing threats, reducing vulnerabilities, and mitigating consequences, New York is taking meaningful steps to ensure that it is the safest and most prosperous state in the nation.

Primary threats in New York State include:

• Terrorism (Domestic Violent Extremists, Homegrown Violent Extremists, Foreign Terrorist Organizations, Active Attacker and Other Mass Killings)
• Cyber Threat Actors
• Natural Disasters (Extreme Weather, Fire)
• Public Health Emergencies 
• Animal and Plant Diseases
• Accidental and Technological Failure

The varied natural and human-caused hazards faced by New York State, shifting demographics, and increasing reliance on infrastructure and systems in the daily lives of residents pose a variety of challenges for disaster response and recovery. Data shows that lower-income communities and those with disabilities and access and functional needs are disproportionately affected by emergencies. Individuals most directly impacted by these types of incidents may experience adverse psychological impacts including emotional and mental health challenges. These factors highlight the importance of identifying the key vulnerabilities, or the inherent characteristics, of the State potentially inhibiting our collective resiliency.

Primary vulnerabilities in New York State include:

• Physical vulnerabilities include the tangible resources the State has to offer, whether natural or built, such as geography, population density, and critical infrastructure and key resources.
• Social vulnerabilities include any shared community-level experiences such as the capacity of an individual, household, or community to be resilient in the face of the disaster. 
• Economic vulnerabilities are defined as the resilience of an individual or larger community to external shocks in the economy.
• Environmental vulnerabilities are the direct result of any positive or negative interventions in climatic conditions.

By understanding the physical, social, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities faced, the State is better able to examine the resulting consequences, or the impacts and worst- case scenarios created from a disaster. Programs are established to mitigate the impact of hazards and, in the process, protect our residents, communities, and infrastructure moving forward. While New York State’s economic vitality and large population are a source of great strength, it also means the impacts of any type of disaster can lead to cascading, long-term consequences.

New York City’s central position in the global economy makes it a target for a variety of bad actors, and any disruption to daily activity would be felt at both the national and international levels. The national economic consequences of events impacting New York City have been observed following incidents such as the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and Hurricane Ida in 2021.