Microcomputer usage in disaster preparedness and response

Abstract

Drabek, T.E., 1991. Microcomputer usage in disaster preparedness and response. Industrial Crisis Quarterly, Microcomputers are being implemented in state and local emergency management agencies. This paper summarizes field data gathered in five states (Florida, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia), and sixteen local jurisdictions within them, regarding the patterns of implementation for disaster preparedness. Major implementation barriers, changes in use patterns, and organizational impacts are discussed. Primary uses during several actual disaster responses are described as well as important uses and adaptations made after the disaster response.

Introduction: Social Organization of Demographic Responses to Disaster: Studying Population—Environment Interactions in the Case of Hurricane Katrina

“…In its 22-year history, Organization & Environment (which was called Industrial Crisis Quarterly for its first 9 years) has published nearly 30 articles that explicitly invoke disaster as context for investigating meaningful ecosocial interaction. Most of these articles focus on how organizations prepare for a disaster (Charles & Settle, 1991;Denis, 1991;Drabek, 1991;Harrald & Wallace, 1988;Kartez, 1989;Morehouse, 1987;Pauchant & Mitroff, 1988;Perez-Lugo, 2001), fail to prevent or cause a disaster (Elliott & Smith, 1993;Gephart, 2004;Harada, 1994;Meshkati, 1991;Pauchant & Mitroff, 1988;Radell, 1992;Sanders, 1988;Schwartz, 1989;Stephens, 1993;Tombs, 1989), respond to a disaster (Aranoff & Gunter, 1992;Bonnieux & Rainelli, 1993;Cohen, 1996;Cox, 1987;Marcus & Goodman, 1989), or deflect their role in a disaster (Blocker & Sherkat, 1992;Cox, 1987;Gephart, 1988Gephart, , 1992. Few articles, by contrast, have documented how individuals and communities who actively experience disaster respond to it and arrange their own recoveries within these broader contexts of organizational action and failure (see Burley, Jenkins, Laska, & Davis, 2007;Picou, Gill, Dyer, & Curry, 1992;Westley, 1997).…”

Impact of network ties on change in police agency practices

“…Kearns (1992), for example, found that network ties helped account for patterns of municipal governments' adoption of computer applications. Drabek (1991), LaPorte (1996), O'Toole and Meier (2004), and Peled (2001) have also considered network influences on innovation in various public agencies. It is important to consider such influences for police departments too.…”

“…Along with technical, organizational, fiscal, and political factors, network ties between police agencies may be important in explaining which agencies do or not change their practices or technology. Studies of innovation adoption have highlighted the influence of network ties for organizations in general (Strang and Soule, 1998), and public sector organizations in particular (Drabek, 1991; Kearns, 1992; LaPorte, 1996; O'Toole and Meier, 2004; Peled, 2001). But although this has been suggested as a fruitful avenue for policing research (Klinger, 2003), relatively little existing research directly considers network influences on change in police agency practices or structure.…”