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Recent events have highlighted the need to address cybersecurity threats to systems supporting critical infrastructure and federal information systems which are evolving and growing. These threats have become ubiquitous in the United States, and throughout the world. Many information and communications technology (ICT) devices and other components are interdependent so that disruption of one component may have a negative, cascading effect on others. In the United States, the Federal role in cyber-security has been debated for more than a decade but creating a policy is complicated because in the United States, State and local governments are the major institutions responsible for providing services to their populations. It is important that critical infrastructure such as Publically Owned Treatment Works (POTWs) and Public Water Systems (PWSs) adopt suitable countermeasures to prevent or minimise the consequences of cyber-attacks. This paper discusses both technological and procedural techniques that can be used to protect against cyber-threats.

This paper proposes a regional competitive governance and management of response and recovery from disasters. It presents problems experienced in major disasters, analyzes the failures, and suggests how a competitive system that relies on private and volunteer regional leaders, personnel, and capital can improve preparation, response and recovery efforts over the existing government system. A Public Choice approach is adopted to explain why government often fails, and how regional governance may be socially more efficient than the existing federal- state-local funded and managed disaster system. The paper suggests that the federal role might change from both funding and supplying aid in disasters to merely funding disaster recovery efforts. When a disaster occurs, available businesses and government resources in the region can be utilized under a competitive system. These resources could replace existing federal and state inventories and emergency personnel. An independent regionally controlled and managed council, which also develops its own financial resources, and local volunteer leaders are key for success. The paper suggests a new planning method that utilizes the statistical Factor Analysis methodology to derive an efficient organizational and functional model to confront disasters.

This paper analyzes empirical differences in adoption services of public and private agencies. The empirical investigation includes cross-sectional time series aggregated data for the 50 states within the United States from 1996 to 2010 with detailed statistical analysis of the period from 2000 through 2010 for which consistent and comprehensive data exists. Under private agencies, only 11.6 months elapse from the time the courts terminate the natural parents' custody until the child is adopted, while with public agencies the same process lasts for 16 months. Furthermore, during the decade from 1996 to 2006 private agencies completed more adoptions than public agencies. However, the performance gap in favor of private agencies was eliminated in 2006 and in the following years. The results suggest that privatization of adoption of young and healthy children did not show an advantage for private services. However, transitioning adoption services to private agencies for older children or children with complex special needs, improves the adoption services compared with those of public agencies. Subsidization especially improves the adoption of older children and of all children with special needs while it appears to be statistically insignificant or implied as unnecessary for healthy babies.

Burglar alarms are the single most effective deterring and detecting measure for burglary. On net, alarms provide benefits to communities, but 94–99 percent of police responses to alarms are to false activations. Solving the false alarm problem could free up the resources equivalent to 35,000 U.S police officers. Response to false alarms is a private good while response to an actual crime is a public good. The paper analyzes a Public-Private-Partnership policy called Verified Response (VR) where the initial response is usually provided by private security under a competitive setting, and police respond only if a crime is verified. A case study of Salt Lake City, Utah is conducted using synthetic control methods to evaluate this program. The introduction of this policy is associated with an 87 percent annual reduction in police alarm response calls, a 26 percent reduction in burglaries, and faster response to all police calls. The paper relies on Public Choice theory to explain why this solution is not adopted in the majority of cities.

The goal of this book is to discuss the potential for the use of public–private partnerships (PPPs) for encouraging critical infrastructure investment throughout the world. Critical infrastructure is defined as the essential service or services that underpin and support the backbone of a nation’s economy, security, and health, according to the United States (US) Department of Homeland Security. These services include the power used by homes and businesses, drinking water, transportation, stores and shops, and communications. Sixteen critical infrastructure sectors have been identified which compose the assets, systems, and networks, physical or virtual that are vital to physical security, economic security, and national public health and safety. This book will discuss the objectives and legal requirements associated with public–private partnerships (PPPs). Experts will discuss the elements that make up a successful PPP as well as provide examples where PPPs have failed. Examples will include the application of the PPP concept in the United States, as well as in Europe, the UK, China, South Korea, and in Australia for a wide variety of activities. It makes an attempt to “demystify” the PPP concept and to discuss both the successes and failures associated with PPPs. Hopefully the information presented in this book will assist decision makers in making these important investment decisions.

It is estimated that there are more than 160,000 public drinking water systems in the United States (US), but most Americans receive their drinking water from one of the nation’s over 50,000 community water systems. Most large water systems are publically owned. Despite the US success in operating and managing water systems, many organizations have expressed concern over the state of the nation’s infrastructure in general and water supply in particular. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has graded US drinking water infrastructure at D. Other organizations including the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the USEPA have called for increased investment in drinking water infrastructure. Public–private partnerships (PPPs) have been suggested to improve drinking water infrastructure. A PPP is a long-term cooperative arrangement between two or more public and private sector organizations. An argument frequently expressed is that PPPs can provide superior access to capital for infrastructure investment. However, medium to large water utilities in the United States generally have access to the capital needed for investment in infrastructure. However, there are thousands of small water utilities that do have difficulty in acquiring capital for infrastructure investments. Therefore, exploring the use of public–private partnerships at the state and regional level and to use state level borrowing authority to assist in acquiring the capital needed to make these investments might be appropriate.

The issue of cyber-security is currently having and will continue to have a major impact on organized society. Cyber-threats to infrastructure, and other assets, are of growing concern to policymakers throughout the world. For example, the President of the United States (US), in 2009, declared cyber threats to be among “the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation” and stated that “America’s economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on cyber-security.” Cyber-attacks might include denial of service, theft or manipulation of data. Information and communications technology (ICT) is becoming ubiquitous and many ICT devices and other components are interdependent. Therefore disruption of one component may have a negative, cascading effect on others. It is clear that cyber-security issues include not only the threats associated with information technology but also involves physical threats to Critical Infrastructure (CI). Damage to critical infrastructure through a cyber-based attack could have a significant impact on security at the national level, the economy, and the livelihood and safety of citizens. It is therefore important that national governments develop comprehensive strategies to deal with issues related to cyber-security. As critical infrastructure becomes more dependent on computer technology and increasingly tied to the internet, cyber-attacks against communication networks and system are growing in number and are becoming more sophisticated. Several examples are presented, that illustrate the impact of cyber-attacks on international security as well as attacks on critical infrastructure. In addition, a number of approaches that might help deal with cyber-security are suggested including the development of public-private partnerships.

This article discusses the changing landscape of US crime, and both describes and evaluates the growth of private security in total security provided. Since the mid-1970s violent and basic property crimes have constantly declined while the number of economic crimes like identity theft, counterfeit goods and cyber misdeeds increased substantially. Monopolistic police have not addressed the changing landscape of crime and continue to deliver their traditional services. As market forces have limited influence on government, private security that is highly competitive and client oriented has been quicker to adopt technology and management innovations and address the new types of crime. Private police are estimated to be three times larger than public law enforcement. The article concludes that the increased penetration of private security is socially beneficial by improving efficiency, delivering client-oriented services and forcing police to improve their performance.

Using the results of a unique telephone survey the frequency of consumer flights from airports in a multi-airport region are modeled using a multivariate Poisson framework, the parameters of which were estimated using a latent variable application of the expectation maximization algorithm. This offers a different perspective since other work on airport choice uses the results of airport intercept surveys that capture only a single choice per respondent, whereas the data from the phone survey is count data for the airports in the study. An airport’s own-distance had the expected negative impact on mean usage of the airport, although the cross effects were somewhat mixed. Ticket price differences between airports were not always statistically significant. Mean usage was found to be increasing in income for PHL, but was decreasing for the other airports, reflecting the increasing value of respondents’ time as their income rises. If the destination of flights is domestic (international) then the result is to increase usage of PHL, BWI and EWR (JFK). Except for JFK, if the purpose of travel is mostly pleasure then it results in more travel from JFK and less from the other three airports. The availability of a low cost carrier would result in more frequent travel.

The system for the adoption of children is not working well. The dysfunction of the adoption system manifests itself in an excess demand for healthy white babies and excess supply of older children, minority children, or those with disabilities. A market solution can increase the number of adoptions for older children, minority children or children with disabilities. Recognizing the heterogeneity of children and taking account of those differences will yield price differentiation in segmented markets. Such differentiation is especially important in the market for adopted children where the lifetime consequences of a poor match can be severe; more information about child attributes can only improve child-adopter matches. Revenues from the sale of adoption rights for highly demanded children could subsidize the adoption of the less desired children. The time to adoption will decrease and more of the less desired children will be adopted; the sum of consumer (adoptive parents) plus producer (biological mothers or the adoption agencies) surplus will rise and eliminate sub rosa markets for the more desired children.

Federal first responder funding is estimated to be $98 billion below the minimum required level over the 5 years ending in 2010. A significant portion of that shortfall can be covered by savings attained by eliminating non-public-good services, initiating public–private partnerships for meeting peak time demand in emergency situations, and contracting-out other public services. We concentrate on such savings in the context of response to false calls to police, fire, and ambulance services. Solving the false alarm problem for police, fire, and ambulance services and eliminating some non-public-good police services could release significant service-hours and 23.7–31.4% of the required additional Homeland Security (HLS) annual spending. Reducing false alarms means 88,000 police, fire, and ambulance first responders could be shifted to HLS activities.

Public security agency response to a call for emergency service is a commons good. As consumers demand more of the commons good there is increased congestion. Police services as a commons good are modeled using the uncertainty about which calls for service are bona fide. The results are that optimal alarm systems per officer rise with the officers’ wage, fall with the value of avoided losses and rise with the productivity of officers. Ceteris paribus, avoided losses are greater in the community with more alarm systems. Homogeneity of the community increases the optimal number of alarms per officer. Fining ‘well-behaved’ alarm owners more heavily increases police productivity. 1I ntroduction All service providers responsible for emergency response suffer from a high rate of false calls that consume significant amounts of resources. 1 The high incidence of false calls could hinder first response efforts in the event of a terrorist attack and cause a wasteful use of local resources. The question is whether first responders can mitigate the incidence of false calls. We consider the particular case of burglar alarms to illustrate the impact of an appropriate public policy on calls for emergency service. The issue and the solution of the response to burglar alarms can be applied to other emergency services as well. The false alarm rate for burglar alarm activations is 94‐99 per cent 2 in the USA, Canada, Great Britain and New Zealand. The cost of response to

The Civil Aeronautics Board was dismantled on the premise that competition and the threat of entry would restrain airline prices. If consumers do not search for low fares, then the threat of entry will have little impact. The entry of a low fare carrier will reallocate fliers within but not between airports. Telephone survey data were used to estimate probit models for the use of Baltimore–Washington International, Newark International, JFK International, and Philadelphia International Airports to evaluate the effect of low fares on consumer behavior. In airport usage, age and gender do not matter. Although survey participants reported that airfare is an important consideration, actual searching for a low fare was unimportant. The availability of non-stop flights, wait at check-in, income, and distance from home were important.

Ninety-four to ninety-nine percent of all police physical responses to burglar alarm activations are false. In 2000 police responded to 36 million false calls at an estimated cost of $1.8 billion. This paper presents and evaluates ten police policies for dealing with this waste of police resources. The paper then suggests that a public–private partnership will yield the highest net social benefits and avoids undesired cross subsidization. It further shows that implementation of a market oriented economic model where the police fulfill merely their public obligation is preferred to intuitive solutions that are often used by police. q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hard to adopt children remain in foster care for a long time and are often shifted from one temporary arrangement to another. In this paper, we present and evaluate the privatization of the administrative aspects of adoption and foster care in Kansas, Michigan, and Illinois. The Illinois model which permitted the most competition among private and public providers achieved the best results in increasing adoptions and eliminating inefficient providers. A national adoption market with ubiquitous information is recommended. Then, we apply a modern economic theory of auctions to the adoptive process. This will help solve the problem of children languishing in foster care and provide additional resources to assist adoption of hard to place children.

A series of surveys were analyzed to determine how vending machine location and properties affected the likelihood of being vandalized. Two broad categories of vandals were identified, professionals and amateurs, by their vandalism methods. Both types were found to be rational in the sense of being drawn to areas where they could remain anonymous and could escape detection. Professionals were found to respond to the size of the monetary prize. Amateurs were drawn to public areas such as schools, parks, and grocery stores, where they appeared to be motivated by the possibility of an audience. As such, the behavior of amateurs is less amenable to economic analysis than to psychological or sociological study.

This article investigates home attributes that attract residential burglars in choosing a target. These attributes are the location of the home, its physical appearance, demographic characteristics of the residents, and the security precautions present. The theoretical foundation of the empirical model is the criminal utility maximization behavior that considers costs and benefits as formulated by Becker. However, this article introduces to the model the spatial dimension of the burglar's search for a target. The incidence of burglary is the dependent variable and is measured in a dichotomy scale. The empirical analysis utilizes a survey database of burgled and non-burgled homes that was conducted by the researchers. A logit model is used for the investigation, and the effects of the explanatory variables are calculated as probabilities. The database is unique in the wealth of attributes of individual homes that are relevant to burglars' decision process.

This paper applies household survey data to discern a pattern of, and subsequently propose preventative solutions to, suburban property crime. Specifically, 22,192 households in Greenwich, Connecticut were urged to respond to a questionnaire. The survey included questions that measure the household’s proneness to victimization and its level of precautionary activities. The probability of victimization is estimated by applying the SAS/STAT program. The study considers the properties of the Deterrence Hypothesis and the rational behavior of burglars. The Deterrence Hypothesis is associated with the relative effectiveness of criminal justice. The focus is on the deterrence activities initiated by homeowners to reduce the probability of being burglarized. It details the results of a logistic regression analysis applied to individual households. The probability of residential burglary is calculated by accounting for the location, surroundings and attributes of the residences, as well as a variety of security precautionary measures.

There is general recognition that urban water systems are vulnerable to both manmade and natural, threats and disasters including droughts, earthquakes, and terrorist attacks.

The factors that are crucial in predicting burglary of commercial establishments are evaluated. Burglars are rational in their choice of target, in that they consider both the revenue generated by the burglary and the chances of being apprehended. Location of the target plays a major role; establishments located within three blocks of heavily travelled thoroughfares are less vulnerable to burglary than those located further away. The wealthier the community, the higher the probability of burglary of its commercial establishments. Retail establishments and businesses which are located in office parks are most vulnerable to burglary. Establishments which have been in business less than one year are more likely to be burgled; the longer a store is in business, the less likely it is to become a victim of burglary. Burglar alarms are the most effective deterrent available to commercial establishments, followed by the installation of exterior and interior lights. In general, the probability of burglary of non-alarmed properties is 4.57 times higher than of similar alarmed property. The study is based upon a detailed survey of commercial establishments in three suburban communities of Philadelphia. These communities vary in their locational, physical and socio-economic characteristics and represent many suburban localities throughout the United States.

Home surveys and ethnographic studies have demonstrated that alarms are effective in deterring intruders. Local police departments across North America, however, face significant difficulties in responding to ever-increasing false activations and in managing alarm registrations. Local, county, and state governments must know whether alarms create a net benefit or a net burden to society as a whole. In this paper, all social costs and benefits are computed, and a positive annualized social net benefit is realized. Benefits include avoidance of property losses and personal injuries from both burglary and fire. Costs include installation and utility charges for systems and police response. The results of the analysis provide public policy suggestions for police involvement in alarm activities and for effective alarm-related ordinances.

This paper evaluates the net benefits yielded by residential and commercial burglar and fire alarm systems. The policy issue addressed is whether or not alarms should be encouraged by local police departments as a crime prevention measure. It is shown that the total benefits of burglar alarm ownership outweigh the total costs for the combined and separate commercial and residential units. Police respond to each activation with two patrol cars. On the average, alarms are activated 1.12 times a year, and 94 to 98 percent of all activations are false. Thus, alarms impose a significant burden on police resources. Additionally, the fear of being fined is not an effective deterrent against the installation of a burglar alarm. The data was gathered from a suburban community in Pennsylvania that is a prototype for many U.S. suburban localities. The data is regarding individual properties collected from police files on the attributes of burglaries and alarm ownership. Attributes of properties were derived from the real estate board of the county. Data on incidents and the value of property stolen was obtained from questionnaires sent out to all burglary victims.

I Introduction Fire and crime which occur in homes are costly and demoralizing events that affect every residential community. Victims suffer financial loss, days lost from work, and a dramatic decrease in the quality of life when their privacy is invaded and their homes are no longer regarded as safe havens. All citizens are affected by higher insurance premiums and higher taxes to pay for stepped-up police and fire protection. Neighbors of fire and crime victims also experience a decrease in their quality of life associated with the alienation and despair that accompanies the fear of crime and the apprehension of fire in a community (Krohm, 1973; Sesnowitz, 1972, 1973; Brantingham and Brantingham, 1975; and Jarrell and Howsen, 1990). Sometimes crime and fire are directly associated as in the case of arson. In other cases, invasive crime can take many forms independent of arson. In any event, criminals cause everyone to pay for their criminal acts, either directly or indirectly. Consider the case of residential burglary. Alarms may change burglaries into attempted burglaries which although still a crime, do not make the victims suffer as great a loss since the actual crime of burglary is prevented. The National Crime Prevention Institute (1986) operationally defines crime prevention as the practice of crime risk management. "Crime risk management involves the development of systematic approaches to crime risk reduction that are cost effective and that promote both the security and the socioeconomic well-being of the potential victim" (2). Note that this definition includes both social and economic costs of crime. In the case of residential alarms, the key phrase in this operational definition is "cost effective." It can be argued that residential alarms would not be cost effective if the owners were required to pay the true costs of servicing these alarms by the police and fire departments, including the false activations. Much of the costs of servicing residential alarms is paid for by the general public who support the police and fire departments from their general tax base. Furthermore, not all the residents of a community can afford or choose to install residential alarms. If the costs paid by those residents who do not own alarms were to accrue to the alarm owners, the question of whether residential alarms are cost effective would be answered directly. But these costs are borne by the entire community, owners and non-owners of alarms. Non-alarm owning residents experience few of the benefits, although they share in the costs of servicing the alarms. This article assesses whether or not the community as a whole benefits from the existence of the alarms. In the case of residential burglary, there is the added question of whether alarms increase or decrease the burglary rate in other non-alarmed houses. This is referred to as the spatial displacement of crime (Meithe, 1991). There are, at least two possibilities: First, the burglar skips the protected house and goes to the unprotected, as a result, total burglary rate remains the same or diminishes somewhat perhaps because of the time factor. Thus, the victims have merely changed. The second possibility is that burglars cannot tell which houses are protected (unprotected houses may have fake alarm notices, for example) but do know, by experience, what fraction of houses in the neighborhood are protected. This experience is referred to as "learning by doing" (Deutsch, Hakim and Spiegel, 1990). If burglars have a feel for what percentage of houses in a community have alarms, then the alarms serve two functions. One is to stop a burglary in progress (only for alarm-protected houses in communities in which burglars feel the proportion of alarmed houses is low enough to exploit). The second is to deter attempts (in communities in which burglars feel the proportion of alarmed properties is too high to exploit), and this works equally well for protected and unprotected houses. …

Following the events of 9/11, the Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency created the Water Protection Task Force (WPTF), which identified water and wastewater systems as a major area of vulnerability to deliberate attack. The WPTF suggested that there are steps that can be taken to reduce these vulnerabilities and to make it as difficult as possible for potential saboteurs to succeed. The WPTF recommended that be scrutinized with renewed vigor to secure water and wastewater systems against these possible threats. It also recommended that water and wastewater systems have a response plan in place in the event an act of terrorism occurs. The WPTF identified water distribution networks as an area of special vulnerability and highlighted the need for rapid on-line detection methods that are accurate and have a wide detection range. As a result of these recommendations novel technologies from various fields of science and engineering are now addressing water security issues and water and wastewater utilities are looking for innovative solutions. Once such technologies are available, there will be a rapid implementation process that will present many business opportunities for the private sector. However, in addition to terrorist threats water and wastewater systems are inherently vulnerable to natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods. This volume will address the problems associated with both intended terrorist attacks and natural disasters affecting water or wastewater systems. The book is divided into parts based on the kinds of threats facing water and wastewater systems: a direct attack on water and wastewater infrastructure storage reservoirs, and distribution and collection networks; a cyber attack disabling the functionality of the water and wastewater systems or taking over control of key components which might result in system failures; and, a deliberate chemical or biological contaminant injection at one of the water distribution system's nodes. It will examine unique plans, technological and managerial innovations for protecting such systems, and includes descriptions of projects that were implemented to respond to natural disasters. Case studies are presented that discuss existing projects and evaluate their performance, with an emphasis on providing guidelines and techniques that can be implemented by water and wastewater planners and managers to deal with natural and manmade disasters should they occur.

This book discusses the inherent vulnerability of urban water and wastewater systems to both manmade and natural threats and disasters including droughts, earthquakes, and terrorist attacks. It contains insights from an internationally recognized group of experts on the problems associated with natural and manmade disasters as well as recommendations on how to anticipate and remediate those disasters. It is well established that natural disasters including major storms, such as hurricanes and flooding, can effect water supply security and integrity. Earthquakes and terrorist attacks have many characteristics in common because they are almost impossible to predict and can cause major devastation and confusion. Terrorism is also a major threat to water security and recent attention has turned to the potential that these attacks have for disrupting urban water supplies. Government planners have been forced to consider the possibility that the nation’s critical infrastructure, including water systems, may in fact be vulnerable to terrorism. After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed a Homeland Security Strategy (USEPA, 2004). Its intent was to enhance national security and protect human health and the environment. The state of the art in protecting water and wastewater systems from natural and manmade threats is discussed in this book with chapters from US and international experts. A particular area of concern for water systems is cyber security. A report by the US Government Accountability Office has highlighted some of the vulnerabilities associated with possible cyber attacks and some possible solutions are discussed.

Employing observation and deduction, the present study addressed the question of why some homes in a community are more likely targets for burglary. The period of observation spanned two-and-a-half years, in three Philadelphia suburbs. The townships differ in population density, distance from the city, and affluence. The deduced burglary model entails four decision points for the burglar: choice of neighborhood, choice of street, choice of property, and choice of point of entry. The neighborhood is chosen for its proximity to thoroughfares that are familiar to the burglar. Cul de sacs abutted by a wooded area or an abandoned railroad right-of-way, which offer opportunities for concealment, were targeted more frequently than other streets by burglars. Homes with high value and few target hardening attributes were more likely targets than other homes. Most burglars entered the targeted home through a first floor doorway. All other things equal, the presence of an alarm reduces the victimization rate. The alarm reduces the victimization rate to a greater degree as home value increases.

This study uses a Policy Delphi to discern differences in perspective among and within groups responsible for formulating and implementing vocational rehabilitation policy. Four groups of players were chosen for our analysis: government officials, academics, directors of rehabilitation centers, and the staff who interface with program participants. Significant differences were found between the groups regarding the relative importance of possible legislative goals. This suggests that the failure of vocational rehabilitation policy to promote a work agenda may be attributed to a lack of consensus among policy implementors. The Delphi technique could help policy planners understand the different perspectives within the implementation community, and hence craft more realistic legislation.