Government Public Safety

The primary concern of this paper is to establish the impact of the USA Patriot Act on local law enforcement and its potential for net widening. This paper will cover three primary areas to provide a proper public safety case analysis. First the paper will describe the public safety agency and its roles in relation to the USA PATRIOT ACT. Then the paper will provide a detail explanation of the leadership, management, and administration roles of the public safety agency chosen. Finally this paper will cover the importance of efficient administration in public safety.

In other words, local law enforcement officials are usually the first line of defense against potential terrorists as they are more likely to come into contact with each other rather than with federal law enforcement agencies. Therefore, police officers are amongst some of the most important and vital personnel this country has when preventing terrorism on American territory. He also articulated that his description of how local law enforcement contributes to homeland security is not mutually exclusive to terrorism. Local law enforcement officials also field the burden in trying to evacuate a city before a natural disaster occurs and calming or redirecting the general public during a state

There has been much less consideration in the role of state and local government, which play a major role in preventing and responding to a terrorist attack. Community policing and other federal agencies can share many strategies such as transforming the agencies to take on new mission should be part of the homeland security strategy because fighting local crimes is the more effective approach in dealing fear and social disorder. When law enforcement are being trained toward a national role in homeland

The major goal in any antiterrorism plan is to prevent the attack from ever occurring. Federal agencies are the primary actors that deal with terrorism, but they rely heavily on local police to assist in their mission. Local police forces are those that are likely to encounter any

The “Texas Department of Public Safety” (DPS) has the responsibility of protecting and serving the citizens of the State of Texas from a variety of risks, threats, and hazards. The State of Texas embraces a methodical approach when addressing threats against the public, public safety, and following threats faced by Americans; cyber threats, terrorism : crime, manmade and natural disasters, industrial accidents, and public health threats” (DPS, 2016).

The role of Homeland Security originated from the Founding Fathers, under the United States Constitution, that created a system and gave the primary role of homeland security to state and local governments (Oliver, 2007). When state and local governments became overwhelmed and could no longer effectively deal with a crisis then homeland security government would assist those governments (Oliver, 2007). The relationship was created through the United States Constitution in Article 4, Section 4, which declared that “the United States shall guarantee to every state in this Union a Republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence” (U.S. Constitution, 2015) (Oliver, 2007). President John F. Kennedy was elected 1961, and made it a priority to necessitate organizational changes with homeland security (Oliver, 2007). President John F. Kennedy felt that local governments were doing little if anything to prepare for natural disasters and civil defense (Oliver, 2007). This became a priority for the Kennedy administration, and the office of civil and Defense mobilization was split into two agencies that became known as the Office of Emergency Planning and the Office of Civil Defense (Oliver, 2007).

Throughout its history, FEMA has had two main missions. First, FEMA’s mission is to enhance the federal government 's capacity to deal with and survive foreign attacks. The main types of foreign attacks that FEMA is tasked to respond to relate to terrorist attacks and nuclear war. The second mission of FEMA is to assist state and local authori¬ties to respond to man-made and natural disasters that are to enormous for the local and state resources to respond to efficiently. While national security focuses more on civil defense, state and local authorities are more focused on natural disasters such as hurricanes, storms, floods and potential nuclear power accidents. These divergent focuses really presents FEMA with huge challenges since federal security authorities’ main objective is quite different from state or local authorities’ focus. Considering that FEMA designed the Federal Response Plan, the agency has the challenge of balancing these interests while working on its two key missions.

Public safety and welfare of the community falls under the jurisdiction of elected and appointed officials. Local officials provide strategic guidance and resources during preparedness, response, and recovery efforts. They must have a clear understanding of their responsibilities for success in emergency management.

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The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for “consolidating existing federal government response plans into a single, coordinated national response plan.” (GAO Reports. 2007.) The Homeland Security Act of 2002 allows them to handle all sorts of disasters from natural disasters to terrorist attacks. DHS also “Operates the Federal

The National Response Framework is a guide designed to assist local, State, and Federal governments in developing functional capabilities and identifying resources based on hazard identification and risk assessment. It outlines the operating structure and identifies key roles and responsibilities. It established a framework to identify capabilities based on resources and the current situation no matter the size or scale. It integrates organizational structures and standardizes how the Nation at all levels plans to react to incidents. The suspected terrorist attack will have health, economic, social, environment and political long-term effects for my community. This is why it is essential that local government’s

8). Therefore, although the attacks of 9/11 generated alterations in our national defense strategies, it additionally adjusted law enforcement policies immensely (Brooks, B. E., 2010, p. 113). It is now more common to have squads of police officers, such as SWAT teams, with specialized training in preventing future terrorist attacks. With exceptions to some officers at the local level, many of these specially trained teams are made up of state and national law enforcement. There are several local law enforcement agencies throughout America that do participate in anti-terrorism training, but on a larger scale many of these local departments lack the necessary training needed to prevent such threats. Therefore, local police departments, who lack special training, depend on the departments that are qualified to aid them. Likewise, the training these lower level law enforcement officers obtain varies greatly than that of state and national law enforcement. Despite the quantity of officers in local law enforcement departments, it is essential that each individual officer undergoes the preparations that are essential to be well equipped for reacting to a threat of terrorism. These preparations are crucial in that local law enforcement officers are often the first responders to these attacks, therefore they should be familiar

Local protective measure planning equips first responders with the knowledge needed to organize efficient response results in the event of an emergency. Structured open dialogue between local emergency jurisdictions enables responders to delegate the appropriate individuals and equipment resources to the impacted local areas requiring the most aid following a terror event. By establishing a streamlined communication framework, local emergency responders can collaborate their efforts and resources to promote collective well-being. When a local emergency plan specifies what responders and resources belong where and at what time, response overlap and shortages can be avoided. Unionized response action established prior to a terrorist incident, serves to mitigate the risks, hazards and threat of injury or harm the people and property of the US face when a terrorism event occurs. Furthermore, a structured local emergency operations plan for a hazardous materials incident involving a terrorist is imperative to public health and safety, as the blueprint outlines protective measures the public can follow to minimize their exposure to dangerous substances. The people of a community affected by a terror event can be warned and notified of the event’s associated dangerous materials, which threaten their well-being, through a variety of methods such as warning sirens or horns, emergency alert systems, automated

Later, the federal, state, and local government responses to disasters such as Hurricane Katrina expanded the concept of homeland security to include significant disasters, major public health emergencies, and other events that threaten the United States, its economy, the rule of law, and government operations (2). Homeland security is the combination of law enforcement, immigration, disaster relief, and terrorist activities within the United States’ borders. This would be based on the local agencies and civilian departments to safeguard the people from any threat within while being assisted by the government. In some aspects of terror attacks, there will be a combination of both homeland security and homeland defense. 9/11 is the perfect example as homeland security was responding to the local disasters and threats while the homeland defense, military, was deploying to get to the root of the threats. This is essential to the way homeland security operates because this will stop the attack on the nation’s soil before it reaches the borders and local government agencies are required. The biggest issue with the homeland security aspect is that the

Local law enforcement is the first-line of defense against terrorism and nefarious agents that wish to harm U.S. persons and interests. Based on the 9/11 Commission’s findings, Congress specifically created the Office for State and Local Law Enforcement (OSLLE)(DHS.GOV 2016). OSLLE has two, overarching responsibilities regarding homeland security. First, the organization leads and coordinates DHS policies aimed at “preventing, preparing for, protecting against, and responding to natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disaster” at the local, state, or territorial level(DHS.GOV 2016). Second, it is tasked with serving as a liaison between DHS and local and state law enforcement departments and agencies throughout the U.S(DHS.GOV 2016). Experts note that