National Security and Homeland Defense - Research Paper Example

?Running head: National Security and Homeland Defense Executive Summary The aim of this paper is to understand the different type of agencies that are involved in homeland defense. In addition to that, this paper discusses the roles of these agencies and the areas that they govern. Furthermore, the paper gives an instance of an agency in the federal, state and local law-enforcing unit. Lastly, the paper looks at case studies in which all the agencies whether federal, state or local were involved in enforcing law and protecting their citizens. This paper shows that the various agencies involved at the state, federal or local agencies make a perfect team in making the country safe for its entire citizen. Introduction There are many threats that face us daily in the society that we live. Whether it is from terrorist attacks, theft attack, attack amongst ourselves or threat issues, we are still faced with danger all around us. Many agencies are deployed to protect us from such kinds of attack. They investigate in to the matter and come up with solutions to our problems. They assure us that we will be all right and every single matter will be handled professionally in accordance with the laws that govern us. Given their different roles in the society, they work together to protect its citizens. The agencies involved are federal, State Law Enforcement agencies or local agencies that are the municipal or county police. The federal Given to them the duty under the United States Code, the Federal agencies that exist in the United States have the authority to enforce laws only at the level of federal. The federal agencies have the same powers as the police in that they both act together with the police. They are only given the permission to investigate issues within the range of power they are endowed. Their investigate powers is clearly seen nowadays especially after the USA patriotic act was passed. At the federal level, most of the duties of enforcement are placed under the department of Justice. An instance of a federal agency is the Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Marshals. In addition to that, the homeland security department has many federal agencies that work together with it. An instance of a federal agency that works with the department of homeland security is the United States Secret Service and the Transportation Security Administration (Reiss & Albert 1992). Since the government of the United States is structured as sovereign states in which each state is responsible for maintaining their own military, police and any other agency involved in the law making process, the constitution has not given the federal agencies to practice the benefits that a normal police has. The constitution has only allowed the federal agency to exercise their powers on affairs between states and any affair that is foreign. In the case of policing, if a crime happens at a different state, then the federal agency does not have any power. If the federal agency acts on a different state, then they have gone against the law of federal that governs the interstate relation and they can be charged by the jurisdiction of federal. The United States Secret Service As a part of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the United States Secret Service is an example of a federal agency that exists in the United States. The United States Secret Service is involved in many responsibilities in the federal department. Responsibilities of the United States Secret Service The primary duty of the United States Secret Service as stated in their mission is to protect the financial system and the payment process of systems n the United States. They are usually involved in crimes that involve any financial fraud whether it is institutional, electronic, identification of false documents or any money laundering process. It is also responsible for the protection of the President of the United States. That is the second main mission of the United States Secret Service. Under the laws that have been assigned to it, the Unites States Secret Service is also responsible for protecting the president, his vice or any elected president that has not been sworn in yet, ex presidents, their widows or widowers and their immediate family members. The United States Secret Service is also involved in the protection of any president who is visiting with their families. By the year 2010, the service had approximately over 6,500 employees. The special agent consisted of 3,200 members, the uniformed division officers are 1,300 in number while the technical and administrative staff has over 2000 employees (Reese, 2009). Core Values of the United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service has core values that are represented by the star, which are loyalty, courage, duty, honesty and justice. Before being a team member of the United States Secret Service, every team member has to take an oath in allegiance to the pledge they have made. In order to make sure that the core values are integrated, performance appraisal is usually conducted. This is to make sure that the vision and their mission target is met. The core values assist them to function properly. State agencies The state agencies that are involved in law enforcement in the United States is commonly the state police in which every state has its own. They are involved in enforcing tasks such as in the highways of the state, in traffic and the expressways that exist between the states. In addition to that, they also make sure that the security of the state is well governed, they train their fellow police, the responsibility of the governor being safe also befalls them and they assist in instances where technological and scientific work is needed. The states agencies act under the Department of Safety (Kelling & Mary 2002). Moreover, they also serve under different departments that are unique to every state. They assist in any complex or serious tasks by seeing that the multiple jurisdiction task force in every state operate effectively and efficiently. The department of Transportation is a good example in which the state agencies can serve under. A good example of the state agencies is the National Guard in the United States. National Guard of the United States A collection of units that exist in each State and territorial bases, armed forces members who are can either be active or inactive, National Guard Militia members from the National Guard of the United States. In addition to serving as a national guardsman, most of the members of the National Guard have a full time job as civilians. It has the Army National Guard of the United States which is a component of the United States Army and the Air National Guard of the United States under the Air Force. Responsibilities of the National Guard of the United States If either the governor of the state they serve in or their territory, which they are in, most of the time, declares any state of emergency they are activated for such missions. In addition to that, in case of any forgoing way or a national emergency, which the president, the congress or the secretary of the Defense can declare, they are activated so that they may assist the armed forces. The National Guard members are not activated in person but through the Temporary Duty Assignments or any transfer that is voluntary (The National Guard Bureau, 2012). Their mission statement is that the responsibility of the Guard Soldier is to always be prepared for any call whether it is from the governor of the state or the president himself. The mission also states that the Guard soldier is to be involved in any emergencies whether domestic, combated, in any effort of countering drugs and should expect the main area of operation be their home state. It can be at either the state level or national level. In addition to that, they are expected to respond when called by the president or to train any forces member. Equal speed, efficiency and strength are required in the members of the National Guard of the United States if they are called for duty. Local agencies A good example of an agency that operates locally is the County police. Most of the time they exist in counties that are metropolitan and have a jurisdiction that is countrywide. In some parts, the department of sheriff exists and it is only responsible for handling minor tasks for instance service of papers or the security of any local courthouse. In other counties, the local sheriff maintains the law and order since the county police does not exist. In such a case, they act as both county and sheriff police. They have various categories that is the full-service, the limited service and the restricted service (Langeluttig, 1927). The full service county sheriff gives the citizens the full duty of services to the county they service in regardless of the local communities that exist there. In addition to that, when ordered to, they can give police services to some specific districts within the county an instance is the Hawaii County, which does not have a state police but has a county police. The limited service county police offer their services to some parts of the county that are unincorporated. The restricted service county police are assigned specific tasks only. At times, they back up the municipal police or supervise road construction works. Seattle Police Department-Local agencies In the Seattle city, Washington, the Seattle Police Department is usually the key law enforcement agency. Their main tasks usually involve enforcing the laws in the city. The department consists of various units. The units include motorcycles, bike patrol, mounted patrols, SWAT and harbor patrol (Seattle Police Department, 2012). Responsibilities of the Seattle Police Department-Local agencies The responsibilities of the Seattle Police Department are integrated within its mission. The main aim of the Seattle Police Department is to provide a secure environment for its citizens. It is also responsible for investigating issues that occur within the Seattle city. The Seattle police department is also involved in road patrols and taking care of all the individuals that break the traffic rules. The various units that are involved in it ensure that the people who visit that town are safe and follow the rules that govern it. Their core values are also integrated in their mission statement. Their friendly nature enables them to perform their tasks and be accountable for their responsibilities. Case study The September 2001 attacks One of the terrorist attacks that all the agencies, local, state and the federal were involved was the September attacks of 2001 on the World trade center. The United States secret service was among the first agencies that were involved in aiding people who were involved in that tragic accident. The United States in collaboration with the New York Field offices were involved in evacuating people and assisting them. After the occurrence of that tragic accident, President George Bush signed the USA patriotic act, which enabled the United States secret service to investigate in to any matter that is committing Electronic Fraud. This brought agencies that were federal, state and local in to working together since the New York Electronic Crimes Task Force was formed that incorporated all members from different agencies. The National Guard of the United States was also involved in the September 11 attacks. Their core mission was changed to accommodate the policy that required that no guard man would serve more than one year that is if they were to be involved in active duty. The Seattle Police Department increased their patrols and any matter that was reported in relation to terrorism was taken seriously (Homeland Security-Homepage, 2012). October 2008 operations Moreover, another task that involved all the agencies responsible for homeland defense is the 2008 October operations. The operations, which occurred in 2008, involved the United States Secret Service and the collaboration of the local and state law enforcement agencies. The twenty-eight suspects who were arrested were charged for stealing money electronically leading to majority of the institutions making losses. This shows that the federal, state and local agencies that are involved in enforcing laws work together to ensure that the land of the laws are upheld. The Iraq War The war in Iraq saw many agencies that are involved in enforcing law go to Iraq to defend their country. The National Guard deployed some of their members to go to Iraq to assist in the war. Furthermore, there time in which they would stay mobilized was increased to not less than 2 years. In addition to that, members of the United States Secret Service were also deployed to assist in the war. Most of them who went there were to investigate and assist in capturing Osama Bin Laden, the man who is believed to be responsible for the September 2001 attacks. Conclusion Many agencies are deployed to protect us from terrorism attacks or any kind of situation facing us whether it is at the federal, state or local level. These agencies work together in the homeland defense. They make our country safe for all its citizen. In the federal level, an instance of an agency which is involved in protecting its citizen is the United States Secret Service. In the State level, the National Guard of the United States is involved in protecting its citizens. At the local level, the Seattle Police Department is a good example of an agency that enforces law and order. The September 2001 attacks and the war in Iraq is an instance of the where the agencies have come together for the good of the citizens. References Homeland Security-Homepage. (2012). Homeland Security-Homepage. Retrieved on 30th March 2012, http://www.dhs.gov/index.shtm Kelling, GL & Mary A. W ( 2002). Evolving Strategy of Policing: Case Studies of Strategic Change. National Institute of Justice. NCJ Langeluttig, A (1927). The Department of Justice of the United States. Johns Hopkins Press. Reese, S (2009), The U.S. Secret Service: An Examination and Analysis of Its Evolving Missions, Congressional Research Service. Reiss Jr & Albert J. (1992). Police Organization in the Twentieth Century. Crime and Justice 51. Seattle Police Department - Home Page. (2012). Retrieved on 30th March 2012, http://www.seattle.gov/spd/ The National Guard Bureau. (2012).What is the National Guard's mission? The National Guard Bureau. Retrieved on 30th March 2012, http://www.nationalguard.com/ Read More