EMC174 No ID issued! 
To:   Emergency Communications Units - Information Bulletin
To:   Emergency Management Agencies via Internet and Radio
By:   Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) of the
      California Governor's Office of Emergency Services  

EMC174 No ID issued!              For release 3/8/99

The following sincere question came from a communications unit
responder who had been told there were no current plans to issue
"ID badges", apparently due to local budget constraints.

Query: "What good is all my generators, antennas, flood lights,
radios, scanners, computers and knowledge if I can't enter the
disaster area to provide support because I don't have an [ID]
badge?"

Response: The issue may NOT be one of budget, but of policy.
Sometimes, other "reasons" are given when someone is unable to
respond due to a local situation that may be too complex to
otherwise explain. It's possible the jurisdiction is re-examining
the ID process; or a policy change is coming down the line. Or,
it could be local politics behind the problem.  It's hard to help
without knowing more of the situation than what was provided.

Obviously, it is important for ACTIVE unit participants to have
adequate means of identification so they can travel to/from the
jurisdictional EOC facilities to assist with communication needs.
To wait for the event to occur in order to issue ID's is far too late.

The problem for _inactive_ participants is another matter. Most
jurisdictions want active, trained, knowledgeable people and may
consider the inactive person to be a potential liability. If that is
the case then the non-issuance of ID's speaks for itself.

There is yet another aspect that is tempting to avoid, yet should
be mentioned. An accumulation of "generators, antennas, flood
lights, radios, scanners, computers, as well as knowledge" does
not insure that the person will be wanted or needed. There are
often far more important aspects than the persons equipment.
Amateur Radio licensees have posed this same question for at
least 50 years to my personal knowledge. In most cases it comes
from someone who is not ACTIVELY involved with a local response
unit. Mere registration (or as some call it, membership) is not
enough in many cases. It takes a certain dedication, interest,
willingness to work cooperatively and a reasonably peaceful
personality before some agencies will entertain the thought of a
persons participation by issuing their ID. 

While this may not be the answer you sought, it is the result of
years of observation of why agencies do what they sometimes are not
willing to explain. Note the crux of the query was "to enter a
disaster area to provide support..." It's almost impossible to
guess a particular jurisdictions reasoning, but experience shows
that active and cooperative participation in a unit that is
CONSIDERED AN ASSET will always produce the necessary unit ID
for local use. 

Agencies want benefits, and IF they perceive they are getting a
benefit from a unit or a responder, their identification will
follow. It is axiomatic. Yet, there are times astute leadership
IN the unit is needed to bring the benefits to the attention
of the right people in the agency. That is quite a different
topic!
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EOM