As communities are banding together to help those impacted by recent tornados, local governments are looking at their shelter, emergency, and evacuation plans and wondering if their citizens are ready for tornado and hurricane seasons.

Perhaps the most important service a local government provides is keeping its residents safe. However, keeping people safe is a job for more than just the police department.

After participating in educational exchange visits with Santa Ana, California, two Salvadoran cities adapted a school-based gang reduction program from Santa Ana and conducted a successful pilot in three schools.

This article will show how resiliency has been expanded to include actions before, during, and after a disaster.

As local governments have wrestled with budgets for the last six years, police and fire departments have not been immune.