The Department Of Homeland Security

On September 11, 2001, there were 2,996 casualties and more than 6,000 others were injured in the terroristic attacks of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Some may say that these acts of terrorism changed the American homeland security for the better, others disagree. Since the events of September 11, 2001, the Department of Homeland Security was created and expanded into one of the largest divisions of the federal government. This paper consists of the lack of homeland security before September 11, 2001, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, and the development of this department, which is leading America to be safer since the last act of terrorism.

The Department of Homeland security was founded shortly after the horrendous attack of the world trade center’s twin towers on November 11, 2001. Congress ultimately passed the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and President Bush signed the bill into law on November 25, 2002. It was the largest U.S. government reorganization in the 50 years since the United States Department of Defense was created. The main priority of the DHS is to protect the United States from terrorist attacks, man-made accidents, and natural disasters. The stated goal of the DHS is to prepare for, prevent, and respond to domestic emergencies, particularly terrorism. The DHS has over 200,000 employees making it the third largest cabinet in the United States after the Departments

Building secure and safe cyberspace and Communications system in the country is the top priority of the department. In its kind the Cybersecurity Framework of the Department is the most comprehensive and efficient one. The Department of Homeland Security performing the following activities to secure the cyberspace efficiently:

The protection of Americans from terrorist attacks since the inception of Beirut incidence has been the priority of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS has come up with several strategies for responding to an emergency situation in case of terrorist attack. Due to the problem of weapons of destruction failing to be detected at entry points, the department has launched detection at port of entry. Detection helps to locate imminent threats that could arise from radiation substances being transported in containers at the ports, as well as ports arriving in US. The strategy reduces the risk of explosives and other weapons that terrorist can use to plan attacks. United States has also established fusion centers where are highly trained

According Paul McHale (2008), the “Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for the coordinated U.S. national effort to prepare for, prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from terrorist a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high yield explosive (CBRNE) attacks. DHS role differs from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), DTRA protect the nation from WMD attacks, they concentrate on ensuring that WMD’s are not placed in the hands of any terrorists or enemies of the United States. Whereas, DHS duties are to prevent the attacks from occurring on U.S. soil. For example, DHS stops the deployment of weapons that may be in the hands of people looking to attack American and DTRA duty is to prevent these attacks

The idea of the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security evolved into the biggest U.S. government reorganization in American history. Prior to the establishment of the Department, Americans increasingly became concerned about terrorism on our soil. This concern was triggered by the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 as well as the discovery of a bomb at the Atlanta Olympics in 1994. Additionally, it became more apparent to the Americans that terrorism has a growing global reach. The U.S. commissions looked at different aspects of the U.S. national security, the Hart-Rudman Commission, the Gilmore Commission as well as the National Commission on Terrorism. The members of the Commission as well

“The Department of Homeland Security was created through the incorporation of 22 different federal departments and agencies into a joint, integrated Department.” DHS has become a more efficient and integrated Department that has become highly strengthened; the homeland security is an agency that has a more secure America. Without a doubt, it is highly equipped to confront the vast range of threats the United States of America faces. This analysis will explain why the Department of Homeland Security exists. It will also explain why the Department of Homeland Security grew into and whom they have become after September 11, 2001. Also, an explanation of who DHS is, in this I will explain all 22 different departments of DHS. Another important

The DHS continues to evolve in order to meet present and future challenges. The organization defines its current mission and goals while using current intelligence to forecast future threats. The DHS has identified areas in need of improvement in order to prepare for future threats. Citizens criticize policies in national security as infringing on civil liberties, and an ongoing debate ensues over the sacrifice of civil liberties in the name of national security. The DHS continues to evolve in analyzing future threats and identifying means for the organization to meet them.

The risk management plays an important role within the Homeland Security enterprise, because can help to organize the tasks and prepare better each organization to respond effectively in the event of terrorist attack or natural disaster (CRS 2007). Since the 9/11 terror attacks, preparation and response to terrorist attacks has changed thanks to the federal government’s attitude to distributing funds to states and local governments (CRS 2007). To better comprehend the current approach to each phase of the grant program development, it’s important to understand its origin (CRS 2007). While the nation was begin to understand the importance of homeland security, the development of the grant program and the risk management methodologies was happening at the same time (CRS

Since the attack on the United States of America on 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was established to aid the country in preventing such a horrific event or future threats from happening to the citizens. DHS has had a clean record so far and it seems to be doing a great job in deterring the terrorist’s threats from reaching the American population. There has been no serious terror attack on the United States soil since the establishing of DHS. This is not an easy feat since there are so many rules and agencies that feed intelligence, support, equipment, and personnel to this large department. To have coordination of over twenty-two agencies and ensure they are all working together is a task that may seem impossible but it is one that DHS has hit upon head-on. All the agencies must be aware of the intelligence and actions and risks that are prevalent so as to prepare themselves. Then the next hurdle is to gather intelligence and information from the citizens without violating the Patriot Act which protects the rights of the people. There is a fine line that must be monitored and not crossed in fear of interfering on someone’s rights. In some instances the people will not comply with DHS and therefore they receive a negative aspect from the population. If DHS is not able to gather intelligence from the people without infringing on their rights, what makes them so sure that the department will protect them?

After 9/11, the United States completely revamped its entire system of defense, policy prescription and stance with regards to terrorism; both foreign and domestic. The Department of Homeland Security was created, direct militaristic action was taken against these terrorists and domestic and foreign policy was changed in order to combat the new threat. While much of this “war on terror” was fought far away from U.S. soil, that did not stop these new policies from affecting the lives of U.S. citizens directly. The most noticeable, controversial and powerful of these policies was the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act (Breinholt, 23-25). While the PATRIOT Act has drawn the ire of many U.S. citizens due to its far reaching effects, lack of jurisdictional or

As communities and public safety agencies prepare their communities to deal with possible terrorism, community policing models are effectively drawn upon for a better enforcement of preparedness. Efforts by federal and state governments are mindful of the production for events of the 1960 's Civil Defense but as a result of 9/11, there has been more action for cities and towns to develop response plans for any type of local terrorist incidents. The safety of the public is most important and falls into the hands of government agencies. Community policing encourages community input and involvement.

“We have learned as a Nation that we must maintain a constant, capable, and vigilant posture to protect ourselves against new threats and evolving hazards. But we have also learned that vigilance and protection are not ends in and of themselves, but rather necessary tools in the service of our national purpose.”(Napolitano, 2010, p.iv) In the wake of the September 11th, 2001 attacks our nation has taken upon itself extreme vigilance to ensure the security and defense of the American people. The relationship between homeland security and homeland defense is one that is tightly knit. Each has a very distinct mission set but somewhere along the spectrum they cross over and mutually support each other in the best interest of the nation.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) currently has a limited ability to persistently monitor, detect, and track, non-emitting vessels that operate in Customs Waters, which spans from the shore line out to 12 nautical miles. The volume of non-emitting vessels without metadata is due in part by the lack of regulatory policy mandating vessels broadcast their identification and location which would assist with Maritime Domain Awareness. This limited ability situates DHS in need to mature the Maritime Domain Awareness Network and optimize the existing infrastructure and allows for flexibility to expand and evolve as the threat changes.

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.