Managing Homeland Security - Term Paper Example

Managing Homeland Security Homeland Security: The growth of terrorism and terrorist upheavals all throughout the world has alarmed the world nations and this turbulent condition has forced countries to reconsider their homeland security measures and tactics. The peace and security of its citizens is the primary concern of every country and any attempts that cause threat to the lives or peaceful living of its people, whether it be from forces within the country or outside, are to be identified and eradicated. The September 11 World Trade Centre attack has underlined the fact that any country is susceptible to terrorist attack. Therefore, the only possible solution is a stable and effective crisis management system within the country, which is good enough to meet any such challenges to the county’s peace and security. In United States, security measures have taken a new accelerated turn since the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. The disaster was a great blow to American pride as the most powerful military power in the world and this necessitated the need for a flawless Homeland Security Policy .It resulted in the formation of the Homeland Security Act 2002, which ultimately led to the formation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The importance of the department is evident from this:” The President proposes to create a new Department of Homeland Security, the most significant transformation of the U.S. government in over half-century by largely transforming and realigning the current confusing patchwork of government activities into a single department whose primary mission is to protect our homeland. The creation of a Department of Homeland Security is one more key step in the President’s national strategy for homeland security." -From the Department of Homeland Security June 2002 - George W. Bush. (Hurricane Season Starts, Preparation Key. 2007).). The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the third largest government agency in the state, which spends almost an anticipated budget of $40 billion dollar and keeps more than 180,000 employees under it. The aims and objectives of the Department are clearly defined in the GAO Report on Homeland Security: “It said homeland security encompasses those activities that are focused on combating terrorism and occur within the United States and its territories. Such activities include efforts to detect, deter, protect against, and, if needed, respond to terrorist attacks.” (A GAO Report on Homeland Security, p. 6). The duties and responsibilities of several former agencies were transferred as that of the immigration enforcement services (Immigration and Naturalization Services, INS). One of the major tasks the Department has to undertake was to coordinate the entire scattered security units into a single entity, thereby strengthening the entire security network within the nation. The National Strategy for Homeland Security and the Homeland Security Act of 2002 served to mobilize and organize the nation to secure the homeland from terrorist attacks. It was also necessary for the government to get public support for this mission as a focused effort from the entire society was needed to make this mission a success. The Department of Homeland Security ensured that the vast national network of organizations and institutions involved in efforts to secure the nation are functioning effectively and all their efforts are properly guided and regulated. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employs more than 180,000 men and women and the Department developed its own high-level strategic plan to provide them sufficient trainning. The Homeland security specializes in various disciplines which include law enforcement, border security, biological research, computer security and disaster mitigation. Further DHS also sees into non-Homeland Security activities. The Strategies of DHS are as follows: Awareness Programs: The first and foremost thing was to create awareness in the people regarding threats to the national security, and prepare them to face any such threats. The strategy included identifying and understanding the sources of various threats, assessing the security lapses and subsequent impacts, and providing timely information to the homeland security partners and the American public. Preventive measures: The Department also emphasized on preventive measures to detect, dissuade, and diminish threats to the homeland. Protective measures: The protective measures include safeguarding the people and their freedoms, protecting the property and the economy of the Nation from acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies. Response: Measures were also undertaken to gather the citizens’ response to acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies and to evaluate whether the strategies of the government appeal to the public.. Recovery Measures: Recovery strategies were formulated to pacify and meet the needs of the aftereffects of any attacks on the nation. For this purpose, various bodies were established at the national, state, local, and private sector levels to restore services and rebuild communities after acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies. Service: The Department of Homeland Security also tried to serve the public effectively by facilitating lawful trade, travel, and immigration. Organizational Excellence: The government valued its people as the most important resource of the nation and special attention was given to a culture that promotes a common national identity, mutual respect, responsibility (Hurricane Season Starts, Preparation Key, 2007). Homeland Security leverages resources within federal, state, and local governments, coordinating the transition of multiple agencies and programs into a single, integrated agency focused on protecting the American people and their homeland. More than 87,000 different governmental jurisdictions at the federal, state, and local level have homeland security responsibilities. The comprehensive national strategy seeks to develop a complementary system connecting all levels of government without duplicating effort. Homeland Security is truly a “national mission.” A new emphasis on homeland security activities was maintained, such as implementation of existing homeland security activities or increased coordination with other government agencies or the private sector. Government organizational changes are also contributing to the new emphasis, including creation of the Office of Homeland Security, the Transportation Security Administration, and the integration of many homeland security functions into the new Department of Homeland Security. Laws The major Laws that come under Homeland Security Policy are as follows; Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act of 2002 (SAFETY Act). Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act of 2002 (SAFETY Act) provides critical incentives for the development and deployment of anti-terrorism technologies by providing liability protections for providers. National Environmental Policy Act. The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) is the Federal governments charter for protecting the nations environment. It states that the Government and other agencies in the country should take into account the environmental impacts of their actions before taking any major actions. Procedures for Handling Protected Critical Infrastructure Information: These procedures amended Homeland Security Regulations, establishing uniform procedures to implement the Critical Infrastructure Information Act of 2002. The National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) provides a coordinated approach to critical infrastructure and key resource protection roles and responsibilities for federal, state, local, tribal, and private sector security partners. Managing Homeland Security: Recently, rarely has the government taken such a large and complex step by establishing the Department of Homeland Security for an urgent or singular cause of protecting the country. “The government now has a unique opportunity to transform a desperate group of agencies with multiple missions, values and culture into a strong and effective cabinet department whose goal will be to, among other things, protect US borders, improve intelligence and information-sharing activities, and prevent and respond to potential terrorist acts.” (Major Management Challenges…p.2). Building and effective department requires consistent and sustained leadership from top management. In addition, to ensure success DHS should focus on; a comprehensive transformation process, a strong partnership, management capacity, and performance, objective and an oversight structure. A comprehensive transformation process would be possible by studying from other organizations, their planning strategies and best practices Effort should be made to implement plans and activities to achieve the set goals of DHS as it “has a key role to play in implementing the national strategy, which provides a definition of homeland security…” (Major Management Challenges…p.8). Management should focus on top managerial activities and the key set of principles and priorities are to be judiciously decided. An implementation team who will help them achieve the set goals should manage the transformation process. A good communication strategy is crucial in public sector where policy making and program management demand transparency. Employee involvement is also a critical aspect the transformation process: “It strengthens the transformation process by including frontline perspective and experiences.” (Major management Challenges…p.11). More formal co-ordination is required for attaining the goal of homeland security. As a result agencies are concentrating on centralizing communication and decision making, and establishing task forces to fill the gap. Federal agencies have also taken step to assist the state and local governments especially in areas covering emergency management. Most agencies have expanded their homeland security activities ever since the September 11, 2001 attack. In addition to revitalizing existing missions, some agencies have assumed new homeland security activities. For example, “the USA Patriot Act has expanded the responsibilities of Treasury’s Office of Enforcement, empowering it to use financial institutions’ transaction data to investigate a country suspected of supporting terrorist financing.” (Homeland Security: Management Challenges Facing Federal Leadership. p. 15). DHS have both homeland security and non-homeland security missions and it is necessary to balance both types of mission. The legislation requires DHS to ensure that agencies that function not directly related to homeland security are not diminished or neglected. Creating an effective structure that is sensitive to balancing the needs of homeland security and non-homeland security functions will be critical to the success of the new department. For example, “the legislation creating DHS will transfer certain public health emergency preparedness programs from various federal agencies as well as transfer the control of, but not the operation of, certain other public health assistance programs to the new department.” (Homeland Security: Management Challenges Facing Federal Leadership. p.23). The strategy also discusses the importance of developing comprehensive national threat, risk, and vulnerability assessments to identify homeland security needs:” In defining homeland security needs and objectives, the national strategy describes the nation’s vulnerabilities, the means of attack, and the terrorist organizations that potentially pose threats to the United States.” (Homeland Security: Management Challenges Facing Federal Leadership. p. 37). The risk assessments are discussed within the context of other national strategies, such as the National Security Strategy where the national strategy highlights the necessity of intergovernmental and private sector partnerships, such as increasing the capabilities of the FBI and increasing the security of international shipping containers. Implementing this strategy is a significant challenge; it should include definitions of measurable objectives, clarifications of responsibilities among federal agencies and other entities, long-term budget priorities and accountability. Performance expectations are set through its strategic objectives, which are further defined by critical mission areas under each objective. These strategic objectives would benefit from having targeted performance levels. Moreover, implementation of the national strategy will depend on clarifying federal agency and nonfederal partner responsibilities as well as performance objectives. The national strategy initiatives rely on DHS leadership, to clarify the roles of various agencies. The strategy could designate a federal lead agency with the power to initiate any steps under the department, even for those initiatives that call for crosscutting coordination. Nonfederal partner responsibilities will also be important. Many of the national strategy’s initiatives rely on the efforts of nonfederal entities. However, only a few strategy initiatives directly address nonfederal performance expectations and related accountability. Conclusion: Since terrorism is an international issue the Government has to seek international support, and the international community should isolate countries or communities that promote terrorist activities. The nation’s efforts to strengthen homeland security will require extensive commitments and perseverance to ensure their effectiveness and sustainability. The "National Strategy for Homeland Security" and the Homeland Security Act of 2002 mobilized the nation to secure the homeland from terrorist attacks. The Departments 180,000 employees focus on preventing, preparing for, and responding to disaster. Strengthening FEMA, reviewing state and local emergency plans and disaster communications, conducting training and exercises, and promoting individual and business preparedness are building more effective emergency preparedness and response capabilities. Federal, state, local, international officials and first responders join with private sector and nonprofit organizations in disaster simulation exercises. A fundamental role of the government is to protect the country from both foreign and domestic threats. The government must be able to prevent and deter attacks as well as detect impending danger before attacks or incidents occur. Although it may not be possible to detect, prevent, or deter every attack, steps can be taken to manage the risk posed by the threats to homeland security. Works Cited A GAO report on “The Homeland Security: Management Challenges facing Federal Leadership.” (Dec. 2002). DIANE Publishing. GAO is United States General Accounting Office. A GAO Report on Major Management Challenges and Program Risk. Department Of Homeland Security. (Jan. 2003). DIANE Publishing. Homeland Security: Management challenges facing Federal Leadership. A GAO report. (Dec. 2002). DIANE Publishing. Hurricane Season Starts, Preparation Key. (1 June 2007). Homeland Security. Retrieved May 6, 2007, from http://www.dhs.gov/index.shtm Read More