On December 1, 2010, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the expansion of the national “If You See Something, Say Something” public awareness campaign throughout Minnesota to include Mall of America as well as other public venues across the state.
Homeland security begins with hometown security, and every citizen plays an important role in ensuring America’s safety,” said Secretary Janet Napolitano. “The ‘If You See Something, Say Something’ campaign will provide the citizens of Minnesota and the many shoppers and visitors to Mall of America with the tools to identify and report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats to the proper law enforcement authorities.”
The “If You See Something, Say Something.” campaign began by New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority with a DHS grant of $13 million. The expansion of the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign to Mall of America includes both print and video advertisements throughout the mall’s shopping and amusement park areas to help thousands of daily tourists and shoppers identify potential threats and suspicious situations.
The state-wide expansion of the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign will begin in Minneapolis and St. Paul and will leverage Minnesota’s participation in the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative – an administration effort to share tips by citizens with law enforcement agencies around the country.
Since this summer, DHS has worked with its state, local and private sector partners, as well as the Department of Justice, to expand Nationwide SAR Initiative to communities throughout the country, including the recent state-wide expansion of the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign throughout New Jersey and new partnerships with organizations including the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), Amtrak, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), the general aviation industry and six state and local fusion centers across the Southeastern United States that participate in Southern Shield.
In the coming months DHS will continue to expand the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign nationally with public education materials and outreach tools designed to engage America’s businesses, communities and citizens to remain vigilant and play an active role in keeping the county safe. [1]
“If You See Something, Say Something” Expands to 9,000 Federal Buildings
Department of Homeland Security announced the expansion of the national “If You See Something, Say Something” public awareness campaign to 9,000 federal buildings.
“Homeland security begins with hometown security and every citizen – including government employees – plays a critical role in ensuring America’s safety and security,” said DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. “Our partnership with the Federal Protective Service (FPS) and the General Services Administration (GSA) to expand the ‘If You See Something, Say Something’ campaign to our nation’s federal buildings is a crucial step in helping the millions of people who work in or visit our federal buildings every day identify and report suspicious activity indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats.”
In the coming months of 2010 the Department will continue to expand the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign nationally with public education materials and outreach tools designed to help America’s businesses, communities and citizens remain vigilant and play an active role in keeping the country safe. [2]
“If You See Something, Say Something” campaign expands to Wal-Mart:
Department of Homeland Security announced on December 6, 2010, the expansion of the Department’s national “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign to hundreds of Wal-Mart stores across the country.
“Homeland security starts with hometown security, and each of us plays a critical role in keeping our country and communities safe,” said Secretary Janet Napolitano. “I applaud Wal-Mart for joining the ‘If You See Something, Say Something’ campaign. This partnership will help millions of shoppers across the nation identify and report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats to law enforcement authorities.”
More than 230 Walmart stores nationwide launched program in December 2010 and a total of 588 other stores in 27 states joined the campaign in 2011. [3]
“If You See Something, Say Something” Program Goes to the Super Bowl:
Janet Napolitano joined National Football League to announce a new partnership to bring the Department of Homeland Security’s “If You See Something, Say Something” public awareness campaign to Super Bowl XLV.
The campaign will include both print and video advertisements, as well as a training video for NFL employees to ensure that both employees and fans have the tools they need to identify and report suspicious activities and threats. DHS is also working with federal, state, local and private sector partners to support security efforts at the Super Bowl through additional personnel, technology and resources. [4]
There have been 10 Super Bowls since 911 and NOT a single incident at any of them. Why was there an urgent need for Napolitano to be there in 2011? Could she just have wanted to muscle in on the party?
The “If You See Something, Say Something” program is straight out of 1984. All of the government watch programs are Big Brother programs designed to make everyone distrust everyone else and only trust in Big Brother.
“If You See Something, Say Something” Expands to Coffee Shops:
Big Brother is watching you while you drink your coffee, or at least imploring you to watch others while you drink your coffee.
Coffee lovers getting their morning fix may notice an advertisement on their coffee-cup sleeves with a helpful message from the Department of Homeland Security. “If you see something, say something,” the ad says, “Report unattended bags and unusual behavior to police or transit personnel.”
A DHS spokesperson said the Maryland Transit Administration started the coffee sleeve campaign. According to the sleeve, the ad was “purchased with funds provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.”
Part of the Department of Homeland Security’s guidelines for suspicious behavior include: Individuals “acting furtively and suspiciously” and “avoiding eye contact.” The side effects of heavy caffeine use include irritability, anxiety, tremulousness and muscle twitching.
The sleeves are distributed by BriteVision Media, a company that sells ad space on coffee sleeves and then provides the sleeves free to restaurants and cafes. BriteVision did not immediately return requests for comment.
DHS first launched its “If you see something” public awareness campaign in July 2010. The campaign’s website touts it as “a simple and effective program to raise public awareness of indicators of terrorism and violent crime, and to emphasize the importance of reporting suspicious activity to the proper state and local law enforcement authorities.”
The trademarked “if you see something” slogan was coined by Allen Kay, chairman and chief executive of the Manhattan advertising agency Korey Kay & Partners, shortly after the 9/11 attacks. It was originally used by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York City. [5]
Endnotes
[1] DHS. “Secretary Napolitano Applauds Expansion of ‘If You See Something, Say Something’ Campaign to Mall of America.”12.01.2010.www.dhs.gov/ynew/releases/pr_1291224227819.shtm.
[2]. DHS. “Secretary Napolitano and Administrator Johnson Announce Expansion of ‘If You See Something, Say Something’ Campaign to Federal Buildings Throughout the Country.” 12.08.2010. www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_ 12918312 42174.shtm.
[3] DHS. “Secretary Napolitano Announces Expansion of ‘If You See Something, Say Something’ Campaign to Wal-Mart Stores Across the Nation.†12.06.2010. www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1291648380371.shtm.
[4] DHS. “Secretary Napolitano Announces ‘If You See Something, Say Something’ Campaign at Super Bowl XLV.” 1.31.2011. www.dhs.gov/ynews/releas es/pr_1296509083464.shtm.
[5] C.J. Ciaramella.”Homeland Security recruits jittery coffee drinkers to spot terrorists.”Daily Caller. 9.19.2011.