Home Information Sharing & Analysis Prevention & Protection Preparedness & Response Research Commerce & Trade Travel Security Immigration
About the Department Open for Business Press Room

This is Archived Material

This information is not current, is not being updated, and may contain broken links.

Fact Sheet: Office of National Capital Region Coordination

Release Date: 08/05/03 00:00:00

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
August 5, 2003

The Office of National Capitol Region Coordination (ONCRC) within the Department of Homeland Security was established in the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The Office is charged with overseeing and coordinating Federal programs and domestic preparedness initiatives for state, local and regional authorities in the National Capital Region (NCR) which includes the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.  

In creating the ONCRC, the President and Congress recognized the unique and complex challenges that exist in the National Capital Region that is home to 12 local jurisdictions, two states, the District of Columbia, three branches of federal government, 2,100 non-profit organizations, private sector interests and over 4 million Americans.  The ONCRC was able to leverage the cooperation expanded over a year ago within the region by the Office of Homeland Security within the White House (now the Homeland Security Council).

Significant progress has been made within the region in the areas of terrorism preparedness, emergency training and planning.  Today there is improved regional coordination and an unparalleled commitment from government officials at every level. The following are some of the many accomplishments in the region over the last year:

  • Created a regional emergency preparedness guide that will ensure citizen emergency preparedness is uniform across the region.

  • A Joint Federal Committee drawn from federal law enforcement, protective services and NCR state and local agencies developed a protocol addressing Federal workforce emergency release processes.  The group is currently working with NCR, Federal, State and local law enforcement, emergency management, and transportation agencies to develop protocols for security related access control and to solidify a regional street closure process during emergencies.

  • Adopted the NCR Plan for receipt and distribution of the Strategic National Stockpile.  

  • A Critical Infrastructure Protection Steering Group with representation from the Homeland Security Council, the Department of Homeland Security, the NCR jurisdictions, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG), and the Greater Washington Board of Trade, is working to identify public and private sector policy and legal impediments to better and more efficiently protect the infrastructures and assets of the NCR.

  • Currently working with FBI officials to promote further enhancement of law enforcement information coordination in the NCR.  

  • Established a Law Enforcement Information System Work Group to identify new information management systems under development and capabilities to enable effective information collection, analysis, and dissemination/sharing, and assess interoperability requirements/capabilities of emerging systems with existing information networks and tools.

  • NCR Citizen Corps offices are developing plans for coordination of volunteer initiatives and citizen preparedness activities including CERTs, Neighborhood Watch Programs, Volunteers in Police Service, and Medical Reserve Corps.

  • The Regional Incident Communication and Coordination System (RICCS) Memorandum of Understanding has been adopted by NCR Chief Administrative Officers.  

  • An NCR Geographic Information Systems Work Group has been established to identify measures for enhanced geographic information data base collection, maintenance, and access.

  • A unified glossary of emergency protective measures with an all-hazards perspective for government policy makers, emergency responders, and media representatives, using terms from existing Federal guidance has been created.

  • An agreement between both Governors and the Mayor was reached that would enable the three to coordinate their release of public information during emergencies and disasters minimizing the potential for conflicting messages to the public.

  • A Joint Information Center (JIC) protocol was written for use in a single regional JIC that would be supported by the established Joint Information System.  In addition, the viability of current information management and communication systems as the technological basis for a NCR Virtual Joint Information Center is being assessed.

  • A legal Counsel Work Group (composed of Legal Counsel from the local jurisdictions and the states and Federal partners) is addressing the interstate mutual aid problem by developing a model mutual aid agreement that updates and consolidates the 31 existing agreements to strengthen communication, coordination, and execution of response efforts based on successes and lessons learned from recent events such as the sniper attacks in October 2002 and the anthrax attacks in October 2001.

  • Over the last year, the jurisdictions in the NCR have participated in twelve exercises including participation at the Command Center level in TOPOFF 2.  Additionally, the jurisdictions in the NCR have offered over 150 opportunities to participate in a wide variety of training that includes courses covering Emergency Management Terrorism Response, WMD Radiological/Nuclear Responder Operations and Developing Volunteer Resources.

  • It is recognized in the NCR that interoperable communications is not only about the technology and devices used to communicate.  Much of the challenge to interoperable communication lies in the protocols for communication - who needs to talk to who; what needs to be communicated. Over the past year through the progress and efforts of the Capital Wireless Integrated Network (CAPWIN) and the Agile system, the NCR has taken great strides toward implementing the technology that will support interoperable communication both voice and data.  Now with the resources provided through the Urban Area Security Initiative the planning and protocol development that must be put in place to achieve true interoperability will be completed.

This page was last reviewed/modified on 08/05/03 00:00:00.