Homeland Security & Emergency Management, Detroit

September is National/Michigan Preparedness Month!

Detroit Homeland Security & Emergency Management (DHSEM) coordinates with local, regional, state, federal, and private-sector agencies to protect the community from natural and human-made emergencies and disasters.

DHSEM focuses on the five mission areas – prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery.
One important way DHSEM has addressed these areas is by preparing numerous comprehensive emergency response plans.  These include the Citywide Evacuation and Mass Sheltering Plan, Emergency Operations Plan, Hazard Mitigation Plan, and Adverse Weather Response Team Plan.
DHSEM is also responsible for a wide range of critical emergency management activities, including:

• Coordinating with federal, state, county, local, private, and nongovernmental safety and emergency response agencies 
• Managing the Emergency Operations Center 
• Facilitating emergency responder and community preparedness training
• Conducting frequent drills, discussion-based tabletop exercises, and full-scale, multi-agency exercises 
• Developing a mass notification system to alert the public of emergencies, including: 56 citywide outdoor warning sirens, Wireless Emergency Alerts, Nixle emergency alerts, and Emergency Alert System broadcast alerts
• Preparing Continuity of Operations and Redundancy Plans to ensure City Departments continue to conduct essential functions if an emergency impacts facility operations

DHSEM also provides another essential function: Homeland Security.  DHSEM has worked closely with public, private-sector, state and federal intelligence agencies in developing a sophisticated intelligence network.  It also spearheaded the development of a daily calendar of key events taking place in Detroit and works with intelligence agencies to vet the events for possible threats.