PUA 440 Department Of Homeland Security

PUA 440
Case Study 1
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Case Study 1: Department of Homeland Security Analysis
PUA 440
Spring 2017

PUA 440
Case Study 1
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Define the Problem
With the signing of the Homeland Security Act in November 2002, the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) was created.This innocuous act attempted to unify 22 pre-existing, competing, and conflicting agencies under a single departmental umbrella. In addition to this task, the newly created department was forced to sink or swim on a sea on convoluted jurisdictions and overlapping responsibilities, all while working to establish a defining strategy and overall mission. The mission the DHS is commonly known as “With honor and integrity, we will safeguard the American people, our homeland, and our values.”

Of particular concern are how
DHS responds to a terrorist attack, how prepared DHS is for a terrorist attack, and how much effort DHS puts into coordinating with state and local governments in both preparedness and response to terrorist attacks. These problems can be broken down into seven components,
Awareness, Prevention, Protection, Response, Recovery, Service, and Organizational
Excellence. (Stephens, 2007, p54) The idea behind the creation of DHS was resolute; the actual implementation of the department is the real challenge as new regulations and boundaries are set then reset. Because of the magnitude of the mission DHS faces, the poor execution of its implementation means that we will still have questionable policies and over-reaching regulations. Could better research into the situation affecting the US at the time of its creation have helped lawmakers better draft the original DHS regulations making its ascension amongst the presidential cabinet departments and its acceptance by the American public easier?

PUA 440
Case Study 1
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Analyze the Case

Instead of adding administrative burden to the department by increasing the layers of communication, the agency should look to eliminate layers. Cloud computing for example is a great method of giving everyone the same information. Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are another method where downstream governmental officials can receive information from a single source.
The allocation and distribution of federal funding for DHS programs and services should be revised as appropriate. The initial designers of the law looked simply at “equality of availability” instead of “equality in threat and possibility.” While it is true that an attack could occur anywhere in the country, there are some more obvious targets, including major metropolitan areas, the energy grid, and chemical or nuclear storage. Because the DHS is bound by the US Patriot Act, all funding is issued at a pre-determined amount to each state. States who feel they are being shorted should first look at their own expenditures to see if they are