Office of Inspector General  

U.S. Department of Homeland Security  

Washington, DC 20528 

Homeland  

Security

Preface  

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) was established by 

the 

Homeland Security Act of 2002

 (

Public Law 107 296

) by amendment to the 

Inspector General 

Act of 1978

.  This is one of a series of audit, inspection, and special reports prepared by our office as 

part of our DHS oversight responsibility to promote economy, effectiveness, and efficiency within 

the department.  

This report assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the information technology that the Emergency 

Preparedness and Response Directorate uses to support incident response and recovery operations.  It 

is based on interviews with employees and officials of relevant agencies and institutions, direct 

observations, and a review of applicable documents. 

The recommendations herein have been developed to the best knowledge available to our office, and 

have been discussed in draft with those responsible for implementation.  It is our hope that this 

report will result in more effective, efficient, and economical operations.  We express our 

appreciation to all of those who contributed to the preparation of this report.  

Richard L. Skinner  

Inspector General