Homeland Security and Emergency Management
Our Vision: A safe and secure District of Columbia prepared for all threats and hazards.
Our Mission: The Mission of the District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA) is to lead the planning and coordination of homeland security and emergency management efforts to ensure that the District of Columbia is prepared to prevent, protect against, respond to, mitigate, and recover from all threats and hazards.
The mission of the DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency is to support and coordinate homeland security and emergency management efforts, ensuring that emergency operations in the District of Columbia are prepared to protect against, plan for, respond to, and recover from natural and man-made hazards.
In 2013, the DCEPC created the DCERS, which meets monthly to discuss strategies, set priorities, and provide input and guidance to relevant city departments and agencies on issues of emergency preparedness. The DCERS is a key part of the District Preparedness System and channels initiatives to integrated working groups for planning, logistics and resource management, training and exercises, and law and policy to expand and operationalize committee recommendations. The DCERS coordinates and partners with the Northern Virginia Emergency Response System and ERS Maryland. All three systems work to promote regional preparedness in alignment with the goals and priorities of the District of Columbia and the National Capital Region.
The District Preparedness System is governed by the DC Emergency Preparedness Council (EPC), the DC Emergency Response System (ERS) Committee, and working groups and subcommittees aligned to mission and functional areas. These groups work together to leverage best practices, lessons learned, existing knowledge and expertise, and innovative resources to meet the known and emerging threats and hazards in order to build on our standing as a national leader in emergency management.
The District Preparedness System includes three levels of planning documents: strategic, operational and tactical. These high-level documents will provide a general roadmap for the creation and implementation of the larger plan, including outlining the District Government’s legal and organizational resources when responding to and preparing for disasters.Next
