The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International announced its partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in its “If You See Something, Say Something” public awareness campaign. The kick-off for this program will begin in eight different metropolitan areas but will be expanded into other cities as the program grows. The inaugural locations are Baltimore, Denver, Ft. Lauderdale, Minneapolis, Orlando, St. Paul, Southwest Florida, and the Washington, DC area.
“Now more than ever, security is a critical component in the day-to-day operation of all commercial buildings, and BOMA’s partnership with DHS is just one more component to assist in this ongoing effort,” said BOMA International Chair Boyd R. Zoccola, executive vice president, Hokanson Companies Inc. “By joining forces with DHS in the ‘If You See Something, Say Something’ public awareness campaign, BOMA International provides yet another tool to building owners, facility managers, and their staffs that heightens the importance of security in an effort to keep their occupants safe and their buildings secure.”
As part of BOMA International’s partnership in the campaign, flyers displaying the campaign’s logo as well as the BOMA local association’s logo will be provided free to BOMA members to download via the BOMA International web site and are to be displayed in the buildings’ break rooms. The flyers instruct building staff to report any suspicious activity using specific phone numbers designated for their local area.
The “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign–originally implemented by New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority and now licensed to DHS for a nationwide campaign–is a simple and effective program to engage the public and key frontline employees to identify and report indicators of terrorism and terrorism-related crime to the proper transportation and law enforcement authorities.
DHS launched the campaign in conjunction with the Department of Justice’s Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative–an administration effort to train state and local law enforcement to recognize behaviors and indicators related to terrorism and terrorism-related crime; standardize how those observations are documented and analyzed; and ensure the sharing of those reports with the Federal Bureau of Investigation-led Joint Terrorism Task Forces for further investigation.
DHS will continue to expand the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign nationally to ensure America’s businesses, communities, and citizens remain vigilant and play an active role in keeping the country safe.
