The Center for Public Integrity

Since the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, the federal government has mounted an unprecedented domestic effort to protect America from terrorist threats. Part of that effort involved a massive reorganization of government; in March 2003, some 22 federal agencies were combined into a new Cabinet-level entity called the Department of Homeland Security. But the initiative also involved new money — stacks of it.

Some of that cash was spent by DHS itself or its new component agencies. Another $30 billion or so has also been awarded in special anti-terrorism and emergency preparedness grants to states and local communities for fighting extremists and bracing for catastrophes.

But just what has all that bought for the American public? Systematic federal efforts to measure the effectiveness of various homeland security programs and grants have been less than a complete success. Other evaluations have been buried in agate type and obscure audits – many of them sitting in dusty file drawers in Washington, D.C. or state capitals nationwide.

Before the 9/11 attacks, interoperability was not high on Washington’s agenda. A little-noticed federal program had studied the issue, recommending a handful of “best practices,” and the few bureaucrats who took an interest in the problem worked without much encouragement.

“My boss said, ‘If that’s what you want to work on — interoper … whatever it is — go ahead,’” recalls David Boyd, who now heads a Department of Homeland Security division focused on improving communications. “It was at a meeting three years later that he finally said, ‘I get it. This is kind of important.’”

The 2001 terrorist attacks changed the rhetoric dramatically. Since 9/11, DHS officials and members of Congress who focus on homeland security have repeatedly assured first responders that interoperability ranks high on their list of priorities. But the budgets and staffing of the programs designed to focus on the issue tell an entirely different story. For most of the past eight years, the federal government’s interoperability initiatives have been under-funded, sparsely staffed, and buried in layers of bureaucracy.