Homeland Security Risk Management

On September 11, 2001, the worst attack on the United States took place from the extremist group called al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda had 19 members hijack four U.S. airplanes and used them to strike various targets on the East Coast. This attack of terrorism killed nearly 3,000 people. Osama Bin Laden took responsibility for being the mastermind behind this attack. Americans were scared and

Weigh up the risk: a risk is the likelihood that a hazard will cause harm

The homeland security is a department responsible for developing various mechanisms aimed at ensuring that the country is safe. The main focus of homeland security is to shield or reduce the cases of terror attacks. The prevention and response to both manmade and natural disasters also fall under homeland security (McElreath, Jensen, and Wigginton, 10). The Department of Homeland Security, therefore, has a broad range of responsibilities. At its formation in 2003, the department was composed of twenty-two federal agencies with over 180,000 employees. Homeland security’s formation was necessitated by the September 11th attacks in United States. Today, the Department of Homeland Security

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

When an american thinks about a terrorist attack, it is likely that 9/11 will come to mind. On september 11, 2001, one of the most historical events occured. The twin towers located, in New York City, were crashed into by civilian planes, taken over by a terrorist group. This deadly attack killed 2,996 civilians, including 19 terrorists, and wounded more than 6,000 people.

On September 11, 2001, 19 activists connected with the Islamic radical gathering al-Qaeda seized four carriers and did suicide assaults against focuses in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon simply outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane slammed in a field in Pennsylvania. Frequently alluded to as 9/11, the assaults brought about far reaching demise and demolition, activating major U.S. activities to battle terrorism and characterizing the administration of George W. Shrubbery. More than 3,000 individuals were slaughtered amid the assaults in New York City and Washington, D.C., including more than 400 cops and firefighters.

The terrorist attack on the United States on September 11th, 2001, exposed the country's preparedness to threats by an emerging threat of terrorism. The United States Department of Homeland Security was brought to life through the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Precisely, this was in response to the country's preparedness to stop such acts of terrorism on American soil. However, it was also mandated to response to such natural disasters such as hurricane as part of a wider responsibility to ensure people within the American borders were secured from all forms of danger (Kamien, 2006).

11 destroyed the lives of many, generated a tremendous economic deficit and caused mass hysteria among all Americans for years to come. On September 11, 2001, 19 radicals with the Al-Qaeda terrorist group hijacked four commercial airplanes and carried out suicide attacks on what is known today as the worst terrorist attack on the United States. This heinous act of war killed 2,996 people including civilians, firefighters, police officers and paramedics; surpassing the death toll of the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

The ability of the Department of Homeland Security to effectively manage risk is vital to national security. Risk in general, is something that is permanent but because this is known, strategies can be used to mitigate situations as they present themselves. Government managers must manage risk in a complex environment taking into consideration the diverse missions and multiple objectives of public agencies (Hardy, 2014). The role of risk management within the homeland security enterprise was managed by best and worst case scenario planning. This is something that is inevitable as we are faced within a definite variety of threats. One way to grade or rank threats is through worst-case analysis. As this analysis can be used for worst-case scenarios the federal government cannot leave out lower ranking situations (Roberts, 2007). Since the Department of Homeland Security is charged with managing risk within the enterprise, a basic equation is used to help figure out different variables and how they would be affected.

Risk management is beneficial for the Department of Homeland Defense (DHS). Not only for the DHS, but for just about any situation needing a further analysis. How can an individual understand risks if homework is not accomplished beforehand? Risk can be associated with just about any situation. The focus will be to better understand the benefits of a risk management program as applied to homeland security operations. Also, the perception, influence, and balancing of risk elements, and how it can be applied in determining the level of risk.

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States, a series of risk management evaluations were created by the US Federal Government to assess the future risks the homeland was going to face. When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was officially created in 2002, more effective risk management assessments were re-designed to evaluate the past and present dangers, prevent them and respond successfully to more terrorist attacks. Since 2001 until 2007, a development of risk assessment has been divided in phases to be able to reach a better formula that would analyze the risk within the homeland security and provide the appropriate fund to homeland security enterprise.

The security of our nation depends on our ability to manage and address the risk, which is why Risk Management plays an important role in our Homeland Security. To ensure the success of our nation in today’s ever-changing world we must maintain the stability or our country. Our safety is constantly exposed to a number of threats and hazards to our Homeland Security like natural disasters, manmade accidents, terrorist attacks, cyber-attacks, health epidemics, the smuggling of drugs, weapons, and illegal immigrants to the country. adequately.

Risk has been defined as the likelihood of a specific outcome and the results or consequences of that specific outcome (Masse, O’Neil, & Rollins, 2007). Risk is inherent to every facet of life. There are risks involved in the mundane of driving down the road or walking on a sidewalk. Certain factors are added which increases the risk of conducting these mundane tasks. For example, driving at a high rate of speed during a rain storm exponentially increases the risk that one will lose control of the vehicle and probably wreck.

It is however important to note that in seeking to define risk, it would be prudent to define the term hazard as well. As Hughes and Ferret (2009) point out, the need to distinguish between the two terms cannot be overstated. This is more so the case given that the two terms have wrongly been used interchangeably in the past. A hazard in the opinion of Barnard (1998) is simply the potential for harm. According to the author, spilled coffee on a tiled floor of an office can be regarded a hazard.

Terror attacks have become a norm in the modern society, and the occurrence of these attacks has escalated in the past few years. Back in September 2001, the United States of America oversaw the darkest period in their history. A total of 19 militants affiliated with the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, hijacked four commercial passenger planes and flew 2 of them into the World Trade Centre, 1 hit the Pentagon, while the other one crash landed in Pennsylvania. In the wake of these attacks, a trail of death, destruction, and emotional instability was left behind. What followed was the realization of the importance of emergency management and emergency preparedness in the United States.