For our purposes, a detailed framework in the neighborhood of 1,200 to 1,500 words is appropriate. There is
no set format for your framework. You may choose to present your framework as an essay, an outline, a chart,
or a PowerPoint, but it should include sufficient detail to give your fictitious crisis communications team and
your decision maker the gist of your plan and their accompanying marching orders.
BACKGROUND:Director Jonathan Miller is a former U.S. Attorney from Chicago. He has extensive experience
with violent
crime and organized crime, but has been in private practice for several years and is not particularly
knowledgeable about current national security threats, to include terrorism, cyber crime, and espionage. He
is an extrovert who thinks of himself as the primary spokesperson for the CBI, and he is comfortable as a
public speaker and in front of the camera. He is confident and decisive, but he prefers to approach large
decisions through discussion and consensus. He likes to talk about issues, and he respects the opinions and
perspectives of those around him, but he is not afraid to make unpopular decisions for the good of the
agency or the people he serves.
He leads an agency of roughly 12,000 agents and 24,000 intelligence analysts, computer specialists,
financial specialists, scientists, writers, and the like. He routinely travels to the more than 50 CBI field
offices across the country. He is very people-oriented, very talkative, and very personable. He routinely
drops in on different divisions and programs throughout Headquarters and the Capitol City metro area. He
is well liked by the employees of the CBI and their law enforcement counterparts. Director Miller is highly
intelligent, and well-versed in how to play the political game, but he can tend to talk too openly and
honestly, sometimes to his detriment.
The CBI’s primary issues are terrorism, state-sponsored espionage, cyber crime, and rising violent crime in
cities such as Chicago and Detroit and Birmingham. Though the CBI is a federal law enforcement
agency, the director is often viewed as one of the leading voices for state and local law enforcement, and
he is expected to advocate for his state and local counterparts at the national level. The CBI also faces a
fair amount of discord with the Department of Justice, which operates from a presidential administration
point of view, while the CBI prefers to remain non-partisan.
PROMPT: It’s a Saturday evening in the spring. At approximately 8:30 p.m., four teams of individuals armed
with sub-machine guns and wearing explosive vests attack several different locales in Capital City. One team
strikes at the Kennedy Center, opening fire on a group of 500 people attending an off-Broadway production of
“Hamilton.” Many theater-goers are shot in their seats, and as of now, the death toll is 321, with another 75
severely injured. The second team strikes on U Street, opening fire on diners and bar-hoppers on the terraces
of various restaurants, killing 53 and severely injuring dozens more. The third team attempts to drive a large
moving van through the barricade of the CBI Headquarters. They do not breach the barricade, but they kill four
police officers, and they detonate their explosive vests, significantly damaging the front of the first few floors of
the CBI Headquarters. The fourth team gains entrance to the freshman dormitories at Thomas Jefferson
University — a prestigious private university, killing 36 students and severely injuring a dozen more.
Draft a brief (no more than 1,500 words, plus or minus 10 percent) giving Director Miller a plan of action based
on your crisis communications plan. What are his first steps? How does he deal with employees? How does he
handle the media? How does he deal with the public? What should he say to Congress? How should he
coordinate with other members of the intelligence community? Identify key messaging for internal and external
audiences, to include employees, the media, and the public. What can Miller do to help re-build the brand and
reputation of the CBI?