No More Color-Coded Chaos

Jena McNeill / January 27, 2011

Today, the color-coded threat system, officially known as the Homeland Security Advisory System, will be nixed by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. She should be applauded for getting rid of a system that has zero credibility and has done little to achieve its goal of informing the public about potential threats.

The color-coded system has long been the butt of late night talk show jokes since it was created after 9/11. Who could forget Jay Leno teasing that the Department of Homeland Security had “added a plaid [to the color codes] in case we were ever attacked by Scotland.” The fact that it became such easy fodder for humor demonstrated what made it such as disaster. The system would ratchet up terrorism concerns through the nation by raising the color level regardless of whether the nature of the risk actually warranted an increase, and in turn the federal government would respond by spending an estimated $1 billion on increased physical security measures (this doesn’t include the cost to state and local governments, the private sector, or private citizens). As my colleagues emphasized, we never knew whether measures ever even prevented or deterred attacks. The public, for its part, mostly ignored it. (more…)