COMPASS: Cooperative Operations Model for Ports, Airports, and Surface Security

Program Overview

No single agency can secure an airport or a port. Police, security, fire, medical, emergency management, regulators, carriers and tenants all have a part. From 9/11 onwards, major-incident reviews return to the same failure: not courage or equipment, but cooperation and command. Who is in charge, at what level and with what authority? Answered for the first time on the day, the response is improvised and decisions stall when they matter most. COMPASS is the INTERPORTPOLICE model framework for interagency cooperation in aviation, maritime and surface transportation security. It runs on two tracks: routine, day-to-day coordination and crisis response. It is a pre-planning and training model, adapted to local law and resources, not a script to read during a crisis. It adapts the United Kingdom Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Principles (JESIP) and multi-sector resilience practice for airports and ports. Its command element trains Strategic, Tactical and Operational commanders on a role-not-rank basis, so police and security work under one command structure.

• Five principles for joint working: co-locate, communicate, co-ordinate, jointly understand risk, and share situational awareness
• A joint decision model: gather information, assess risk, consider powers and policies, identify options, act and review
• Plays agreed in advance, with jurisdiction settled for hostile events, maritime escalation, hazardous materials, and cyber-triggered incidents
• A common reporting format (M/ETHANE), so every agency reports an incident the same way
• A standing, chartered cross-sector working group meeting on a fixed cadence, with a joint decision log
• Command competence: Strategic, Tactical and Operational commanders, trained and recognized

• Multi-agency response that is interoperable by design, not by luck
• Relationships, and a common command language, built with partners before they are needed
• Lessons from every activation and exercise captured and shared