Sunday, March 1, 2009

Writeup of the week

AIRPORT staff, including front - counter ticketing officers, baggage handlers and cleaners, have not been given basic terrorism awareness training, despite it being a requirement under federal laws brought in after the September 11 attacks.
A report based on study conducted at Australian airports...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It is not just about the airport staff, but many places, the awareness is lacking.
For example, railway stations, etc are a very soft targets, and it is the responsibility of police to make sure it happens.

As I analyze, the root cause for the problem is lack of awareness and motivation within the police force. An average constable or for that matter a junior officer lacks the big picture, and perspective of the efforts which they are putting.
Leadership should provide them motivation and guidance in executing their tasks. An average constable may just execute their job routinely, and do not know why a "simple case" like a motor vehicle theft is important, since it might be used in a major crime like bomb blast. They need to be sensitized about the need to be more aware and thinking what could be implications of their actions.

Also, many times, some incidents are never reported to their higher ups since they fear they might be treated as bad remark against them. But the pattern might be missing in that.
Senior officers should be responsible of collecting such information, collaborating them, finding patterns, guiding field staff about the patterns, suggest improvements etc. I am sure there would be such processes in place, but I am not sure if the field staff are aware of such importance in their day to day job.

Proper leadership alone can change this.
Think about the impact which can be made if some one like home minister visits a police station, and gives a pat on back for the good work they have done(It should really be done for some real achievements)