Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Victor Ferreros

Abstract

Abstract Terrorism preparedness is essential for federal, state, and local governments. However, literature indicated that local governments may not be ready to respond to a terrorist event. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine terrorism preparedness levels related to collaboration in the National Capital Region (NCR) of the United States to determine first responders’ perspectives regarding challenges of organizational change. The research questions for this study concentrated on the evaluation of terrorism- preparedness and organizational changes among first response agencies since 2014, Schein’s ideas of organizational cultural change were the theoretical foundation. Four NCR public safety agencies were randomly sampled , and participants provided data by completing the First Response Organizational Terrorism Preparedness Survey, a modified version of Rand Corporation’s Combating Terrorism Survey. The data were analyzed to measure terrorism preparedness and look at organizational leadership challenges since 2014. Regression analysis was used to analyze the independent variables (processes, resources, personnel, and organizational culture) and terrorism preparedness was the dependent variable. Findings showed that first response agencies are slightly better prepared for terrorism today than in 2014, and processes are a stronger predictor than personnel and resources. Organizational culture was not as strong as the other predictors of terrorism preparedness. The findings in this study have potential Implications for positive social change by providing first responders in the NCR with better information about terrorism preparedness to protect communities during a terrorist event.

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