HSPD-5 is shortened for Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5. This directive states that the United States should be able to operate under a singular national incident management system. Its’ objectives ensure “… that all levels of government have the capability to work effeciently and effectively together…coordination with private and non-governmental sectors for adequete planning, equipment, training, and exercise activitites and to promote partnerships…the gathering of appropriate information and providing it to the public, the private sector, State and local authorities, Federal departments and agencies…” ( Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, 2003).
Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 directly relates to the National Incident Management System and the National Response Framework. In fact, it directly correlates with their missions. HSPD-5 was the directive that needed to start things in motion; NIMS and the NRF are the aftermath of the directive. With the formation of NIMS and soon after the NRF, America can operate successfully under one national manage...
After the horrendous terrorist attack on the New York Trade Center a new Bill was passed by congress shortly after September 11, 2004. This bill is known as The Domestic Security Enhancement Act also called Patriot Act 2. This bill was designed as a follow-up to the USA Patriot Act to work in increasing government surveillance, detention and other law enforcement powers while reducing basic checks and balances on such powers. By the beginning of the year 2003 a draft of the legislation was available. Amongst the most severe problems the bill diminishes personal privacy by removing checks on government power, diminishes public accountability by increasing government secrecy, and diminishes corporate accountability under the pretext of fighting terrorism. Also the bill undermines fundamental constitutional rights of Americans under overboard definitions of “terrorism” and “terrorist organization” or under a terrorism pretext. Furthermore, unfairly targets immigrants under the pretext of fighting terrorism. (http://www.aclu.org/Safeand Free/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=11835&c=206)
The Department of Homeland Security was created in an effort to communicate more efficiently and to twart potential threats of terrorism. The failure to enact the Ammonium Nitrate Security Act is a failure to create a simple process which could provided another level of safety against a terrorist attack. The Sandy Recovery Act was a step in the right direction to aid Native American tribes residing on reservations but is only one step in a bigger process to achieve the effectiveness need for the race.
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 response is coordinate with all responders. Response doctrine is comprised of five key principles: (1) engaged partnership, (2) tiered response, (3) scalable, flexible, and adaptable operational capabilities, (4) unity of effort through unified command, and (5) readiness to act. An introductory word about each follows. (Homeland Security, 2008)
Chapter 1-3 showed the beginnings of homeland security and the expansion and growth of Homeland Security. Chapter 4 shows the actions of homeland security, and the steps they take toward a problem to access it. The DHS above all needs to realized and understand how to address an attack quickly and efficiently, and have counter measure put into place beforehand. The DHS must be able to access the risks of any situation, and must decipher the potential hazard the situation could cause. When looking at the many functions of the DHS, nothing could be more important than the ability to understand or hinder or stop an attack man made or not. First Homeland Security studies the nature of the risk; this means that they study what is likely to happen in a certain situation. The texted explains risk as what can go wrong. A cigarette smoker takes a risk every time he lights up, and everyone take a risk when getting into a car. The DHS takes what they know from prior circumstances to determine the reality of the risk; the department must also anticipate any attack even without prior knowledge to the circumstance. The main questions of risk assessment are easy to understand, questions like will people be injured or harmed. But when looking at chapter 1 which asks the reader to look further into why terrorist commit terrorism, that’s when its easier to see the DHS skill at risk assessment. For example if you understand that a terrorist attack could be coming from radical Islamist terrorist; then you would understand a risk by understanding their motive behind the attack like their religious holidays. The DHS uses a three-fold method for risk assessment and they are threat, vulnerability and consequence. The Rand organization uses th...
The Department of Homeland Security faces challenges of failure to coordinate and cooperate in the latest fight against computer crimes as well as more general intelligence-gathering operations. (...
After the fear of terrorism grew in the United States do to the Al Qaeda 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the US Government found a need for a centralized department that umbrellas all other agencies when it comes to homeland security. The U.S. Government found this umbrella agency with the passage of the Homeland Security Act by Congress in November 2002, the Department of Homeland Security formally came into being as a stand-alone, Cabinet-level department to further coordinate and unify national homeland security efforts. (Homeland Security) With the creation of the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the government had a pinpoint location for the collection and gathering of intelligence, control of policies that effect national security, and a no fail mission. The Department of Homeland Security started to engulf other agencies and created many more, a total of 22 agencies now fall under the DHS. The DHS is control of all areas that deal with national security which included but are not limited to coastal and boarder protection, domestic terrorism, international terrorism, protection of the American people, protection of key infrastructure, protection of key resources and respond to natural disasters.
The general topic for this literature review will be an examination of the Department of Defense and the National Guard in terms of Homeland Security. The areas of Homeland Defense and Civil Support will be primary subsections of Homeland Security which will be reviewed. For purposes of defining a time period none of the literature reviewed will be prior to September 11, 2001. The reasoning for this being to examine Homeland Defense using literature pertaining to 9/11 and the Boston Marathon Bombing, and Civil Support using literature pertaining to Hurricane Katrina.
This paper will briefly discuss the formation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). With every government program or agency comes an alphabet soup of acronyms and DHS is no different from the rest. To better understand the agency and concepts that comprise DHS, this paper will also examine acronyms associated with DHS. They are QHSR, HSE, NRF, NIMS, ICS, and UC. Each will get a description while highlighting and discussing core elements or requirements that each acronym calls for or offers.
NIMS provides a uniform nationwide basis and way for federal, state, tribal, and local governments, along with the public to work on preparedness, recovery, response and mitigation no matter what causes an event. With all organizations using the same application, effective and efficient responses are possible. Organizations will be able to arrive on the scene and be ready to assist and understand exactly what each group is doing and why. Protocols are set and it is known what equipment and personnel are available. With NIMS all groups are able to integrate und...
The Patriot Act has been under scrutiny and opposition since its creation following 9/11. When 9/11 struck it was clear that Americas intelligence was lacking in some specific way, but it was translated that America needed greater allowance for gathering information. The Patriot Act was signed on October 26, 2001, very close to 9/11. It can be concluded that the Patriot Act was signed with such extreme ability’s applied, because of how close it was signed after 9/11. The Act Greatly expands the liberty’s if law enforcement in their efforts to gather information, which in turn imposes on the privacy of the American people. The FBI has the ability to study any citizen suspected of terrorism, and has access to all their information. Wire Taps and other invasive action are allowed and granted by the Patriot Act. Was the Patriot Act signed to quickly? Are its measures to extreme? When is the line drawn on how much power the government can have? Is the Patriot Act effective enough that it is necessary? Should we as Americans willing to trade freedom for safety? Can the Patriot Act effectively stop or hinder terrorist attacks; has its stopped enough attacks to be validated? Another question is does America want a government that has that much power, how much are we as Americans willing to sacrifice, and how much more liberty’s is the government going take. If the government can pass the patriot act, what other legislation can they pass? In reality it all comes down to the American people, we are democracy but do we have the power in are hands? When finding all these questions one asks do we need an act that is in fact this controversial? Is the Patriot Act a necessary evil? To find this answer we have to answer all the questio...
Over the course of the history of the United States of America, the country has had struggles with its own borders and the protection of those borders. Illegal immigration is a big problem and the smuggling of drugs, weapons, and cash over our borders into our country has evolved into a bigger problem. The United States has over seven-thousand miles of border to cover each day. That is quite a bit of land, but the only problem with this is there is a lack of manpower to cover every single mile of border. The US shares its borders with Canada and Mexico. All along these borders are small communities and cities that are occupied by US citizens. This means that these cities and communities require the protection of our Homeland Security Agency.
The concept of homeland security has developed over the last decade. Homeland security as a concept was precipitated by the terrorist attacks of 9/11. However, prior to 9/11 such entities as the Gilmore Commission and the United States Commission on National Security discussed the need to evolve the way national security policy was conceptualized due to the end of the Cold War and the rise of radicalized terrorism. After 9/11, policymakers concluded that a new approach was needed to address the large-scale terrorist attacks. A presidential council and department were established, and a series of presidential directives were issued in the name of “homeland security.” These developments established that homeland security was a distinct, but undefined
However, some sources say that the DHS lead National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) falls well short because of not listening and not sharing information with critical infrastructure owner/operators. The NIPP document created by the DHS is for the government and is not a plan to improve resilience. The document is said to lack private sector information and most feel that the meetings with the government about the document were not heard. As for the information sharing part of the document there are shortcomings that do not enhance national level situational awareness. However, there are seven topics raised in the new document after its original creation four years ago. The first is to elevate security and resilience as the primary aim of CIP efforts. Second, expanding and updating critical infrastructure risk management. Third, focus on national priorities jointly determined by public and private sector. Fourth, integrate cyber and physical security. Fifth, affirm the reality that critical infrastructure security and resilience require international collaboration. Sixth, show continued progress to support execution of the plan at both national and community levels. Lastly, present a detailed Call to Action that includes steps the federal government will undertake to work with partners to make progress toward security and
The first area is the Department of Homeland Security’s mission. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created in 2002 by the Homeland Security Act. In 2003 the DHS started their operations. The DHS primary responsibilities and objectives includes prevention, protection, and response to issues that threaten national security. There are five core missions that define the DHS: Managing and securing our nation’s borders, strengthening security initiatives to help prevent terrorism, administering and enforcing the nation’s immigration laws, ensuring that the nation can rebound fast and or prevent disasters, and ensuring the internet is secure by instituting safeguards that protect the nation against cyber-attacks. (TWH, 2003)
Terrorism will happen again regardless of how prepared the U.S. thinks it may be. This means that it is the country’s job to ensure that there is a continuation of measures that should be taken to fight against terrorism. Others believe that the U.S. is fully prepared for another terrorist attack and that enough has been done. The question at hand is, should the U.S. still be concerned about terrorism. The United States needs to be concerned about terrorism to prevent tragedies like 9/11 from happening again, to address problems with domestic terrorism, and to improve homeland security.