2014 Digital Yearbook of Homeland Security Awards

GSN 2014 Digital Yearbook of Homeland Security Awards Recipients
GSN INTERVIEW
K. Denise Rucker Krepp, Distinguished Judge,
GSN 2014 Homeland Security Awards Program
Denise Krepp is a homeland security and transportation consultant who began her
career as an active duty Coast Guard officer. After September 11, 2001, Denise was a
member of the team that created the Transportation Security Administration and the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Denise then worked for the House of Representatives’
Homeland Security Committee and advised members on homeland defense,
maritime security, and critical infrastructure issues. She also served as Maritime
Administration Chief Counsel during the first Obama administration. In addition to
consulting, Denise is currently a professor at Pennsylvania State University; serves on the Board of Directors
for The Infrastructure Security Partnership; is a commentator on Backroom Politics, a weekly radio show;
and an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, a local elected position in Washington, DC.
GSN: What should the Department of
Homeland Security focus on in the next
ten years?
KDRK: DHS should redefine its definition of transportation
“stakeholder” and increase stakeholder involvement
in the development of security plans and training exercises.
Currently, stakeholders are defined as owners and
operators. For example, freight and passenger rail stakeholders
in Washington, DC are limited to Amtrak, CSX,
Norfolk Southern, Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority
(WMATA), DC Homeland Security and Emergency
Management Agency, DC Department of Transportation,
etc. Individuals who live and work next to the highways
and rail lines that cut through the city are not included.
Excluding local individuals from the definition
of stakeholder means that they are not involved in the
development of federal policies. When the federal government
develops new regulations and initiatives, it seeks
input from the government coordinating councils (GCCs)
and sector coordinating councils (SCCs). The GCCs are
comprised of federal and state agencies. The SCCs are
comprised of owners and operators. There is no one at
the table representing the individuals that live and work
along transportation routes.
Local neighbor representation is critical because
these individuals are the ones that will be immediately
impacted when an accident occurred. In 2013, forty-seven
people died when a train derailed in Lac-Megantic, Cana-
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