Jurisdictional Comparison of Technology, Operational & Planning Capacity
Jurisdictional Comparison Assignment Requirements:
This assignment puts you in the position of exploring an Emergency Management or Public Safety career opportunity at two different agencies; The first is a large city or county with a population over 250,000 and the second is a smaller city or county with less than 75,000 population. This assignment asks you to compare the technological resources and the planning & operational capabilities between the two different sized agencies.
Select two competing counties of interest that you would like to work at, one in a larger jurisdiction (over 250K residents) and a smaller jurisdiction (less than 75K residents). Compare the available technological resources and staff expertise between the two. Research their county websites or social media on their Geographic Information Systems (GIS) capability, floodplain management, mapping tools, public emergency dashboards, and emergency messaging systems utilized to warn the public of an emergency requiring action such as mass notification, wireless emergency alerts, or the Emergency Alert System.
Next, compare both organizations’ operations and planning capability based on your research of their publicly available websites, social media, or other publicly available information. How does each county conduct their planning such as emergency operations plans, continuity of operations, hazard mitigation planning, and floodplain management? What are the training and exercise capabilities or offerings of each location? Is there an observable difference between the jurisdictions? What would be the difference in planning and operational capacity (responding to emergencies in the community) between the larger county and the smaller?
Finally, based on your research of the technological, planning, and operational capacities of each jurisdiction, which option would you hypothetically select and why? What issues would you experience at the choice you select that you may not encounter at the alternate location? How does your choice influence or affect your career and where you would like to be? Make sure to include references from course materials, lectures, readings, and other academic or professional references to strengthen your analysis.
These are possible books that may be used as reference
Eller, W.S., Gerber, B.J., & Robinson, S.E. (2018). Public Administration Research Methods: Tools for Evaluation and Evidence-Based Practice. (2nd ed.) Routledge. [ISBN-13: 978-1138059290 (paperback) or 978-1315163727 (e-book)]
Howlett, M. (2019). Designing Public Policies: Principles and Instruments, 2nd edition. Routledge. ISBN-13: 9781138293649 (paperback) or 9781315232003 (e-book)
Rossi, P. H., Freeman, H. E. & Lipsey, M. W. (1999). Evaluation: A systematic approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications
