Homeland Security - Coursework Example

Homeland Security DHS Department of Homeland Security or DHS is a cabinet department within the United States that was as a reaction to the 9/11 terrorist attack. The mission of the department is to safeguard US from potential dangers such as terrorist attacks, and other natural and man-made disasters. FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA is an organization created with the US Department of Homeland Security. This agency is charged with the duty of acting as a crisis management team after any natural or man-made disaster strikes the US. Patriot Act The Patriot Act was an act passed by the Congress into the US Constitution in 2001. Signed by George Bush, the act aims for 'uniting and strengthening America by providing appropriate tool required to intercept and obstruct terrorism' (Chang) NORTHCOM The United States Northern Command or NORTHCOM is a branch of the US military that defends the US against any possible mainland invasion. This unified Combatant Command is responsible for safeguarding the US from any air, land or sea attack that could potentially come from Mexico, Canada, Alaska or Puerto Rico. NIPP The National Infrastructure Protection Plan or NIPP is plan developed by the Department of Homeland security. The plans aims to bring together critical infrastructure and key resources in the country to act as protection for the country against any potential attacks According to this plan, the public and private sector needs to form a unified front in order to minimize risk for the country. Risk Management Risk Management is a systematic task of identifying, evaluating, prioritizing and minimizing risk while also taking into consideration financial and other resource constraints that an organization may face. HUMINT Human Intelligence or HUMINT is all kinds of intelligence information that is collected through human means including but not limited to interrogations. SIGINT Signals Intelligence o SIGINT, as opposed to HUMINT, is intelligence gathered through the help of technology or more specifically signals. This includes both communications intelligence and electronic intelligence. NRF National Response Framework or NRF is a part of the strategy developed by the Department of Homeland Security to bring the country together in the case of a disaster or emergency. The framework aims to improve the country's ability to manage incidents by covering all aspects of a disaster. The Posse Comitatus Act The Posse Comitatus Act is an Federal law act enacted by the Congress in 1878. This act prevents the US military personnel to act as law enforcement agents within the United States. In this capacity, the law limits the power of the Federal government to enforce any state law in US. Outline the sources of US Law In the United States, there are many sources of the law. These can be broadly categorized into primary and secondary sources of law. There are five primary sources of law. These include: 1. The US constitutions and also the constitutions of the different states within the US; 2. The Statutory law which is passed by the Congress, the state legislatures and also the governing bodies; 3. Administrative Regulations, that are those passed by agencies such as the Food and Drug Association; 4. Common laws; 5. Treaties (Cross and Miller, 4) The secondary sources of law include books, journals, legal encyclopedia and any other publication that provides an explanation of the primary sources of law. Outline the major statutes that relate to homeland security? The following statutes relate to homeland security: 1. The Illegal Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996: This act requires an automated record to every foreign immigrant entering and leaving the United States; 2. The Immigration and Naturalization Service Data Management Improvement Act: This act also focuses on keeping a record of foreign immigrants entering and leaving the US; 3. The USA Patriot Act: This act deals with verifying data of foreign people applying for a US visa; 4. The Visa Waiver Permanent Program Act: This act deals with developing an automated system of exit and entry records in US; 5. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004: This act requires keeping a record of all data regarding foreign immigrants. 6. The Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007: This act requires that the 9/11 Commission be followed by DHS. Outline the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. To what extent have they been implemented? Recommendations of 9/11 Commission are as follows: The US government should identify all sorts of risks from terrorists acts and priortize them accordingly; The US and the rest of the world should come together to make sensitive areas including Afghanistan and Pakistan into safe and secure regions. The US government should improve relationship with the Middle East specifically Saudi Arabia; The US government should work on extending cordial relations to the rest of the world and specifically towards Muslims. The US government should defends its ideals against the rest of the world; The US government should fund youth programs such as building schools in Muslim states dispel ignorance; The US government should join hands with the international community to develop a strong strategy against Islamic terrorism; The US government should take action against any financing of terrorist activities and weapons and for this the government should need to combine different forms of intelligence to gather crucial information. The US government should work on developing the right agencies to deal with its war against terrorism. The recommendations have not been fully implemented since the US still needs to create a more secure entry and exit system into the US. Outline the process by which the US obtains intelligence for homeland security purposes. US obtain intelligence through different agencies in a variety of ways. These include: SIGINT: intelligence through signals; IMINT: intelligence through satellites; HUMINT: intelligence through human sources; MASINT: signature intelligence. What is the difference between an all-hazards approach to emergency management and homeland security as opposed to the specialized hazards approach? Give an example of a special hazard for which the military, in particular the National Guard, have been trained to handle. An all-hazards approach to emergency management claims that all emergencies require similar resources in order to manage them. Thus all kinds of emergencies whether human or man-made should have one way to deal with them. The specialized hazard approach, however, provides a different approach and use of resources for every different kind of emergency. A special hazard that National Guard have been trained to handle is illegal drug activity. References Chang, Henry, The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 ("USA PATRIOT Act"), n.d. , Retrieved from http://www.americanlaw.com/patriotact.html Cross, Frank and Miller, Roger, The Legal Environment of Business: Text and Cases: Ethical, Regulatory, Global, and Corporate Issues, Ohio: Cengage Learning, 2011 Read More