Managing Homeland Security CJ 354 - Report Example

Managing Homeland Security CJ 354 You were recently selected as the Emergency Management Coordinator for a medium-sized Your position didnt exist in that city before you came along. You have been asked to submit a couple page write-ups for the citys quarterly newsletter to explain just what emergency management is and what the function of the coordinator is. Draft a two-page explanation of what it is that you will be doing for the fair citizens of your community. As the Emergency Management Coordinator in the above city, you have quickly learned that the police chief and the fire chief do not get along. Both believe their respective departments are at the top of the public safety food chain. Further, the two local hospitals are both privately owned-- one for profit and one non-profit, religiously owned. Heretofore, the city has had very little contact with the hospitals other than when the hospitals have had land-use requests. In short, you realize none of the key players in an emergency are talking to each other. What strategies might you pursue to change this? Explain thoroughly. The Emergency Management Coordinator (EMC) of the city is a new and challenging position that is basically tasked as the all-source and all-encompassing position that coordinates the city’s strategic, tactical and operational emergency management plans, facilities and resources. Since disasters and emergencies are part and parcel of our lives, it is important that the citizens are prepared in meeting these and mitigate the effects. The tasks of the EMC are five-fold namely: (1) organizing resources; (2) assessing risks; (3) developing an emergency management plan; (4) forming the City Emergency Response Team (CERT); and (5) implementing the plan and monitoring progress. Emergencies, disasters and calamities have already been identified by the City Council and these are based on the lists released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). These are divided into three: natural hazards, technological hazards and terrorism. Natural hazards comprise floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, thunderstorms and lightning, winter storms and extreme cold, extreme heat, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides and debris flow (mudslide), tsunamis, fires and wildfires. Technological hazards involve hazardous materials incidents, chemical emergencies and nuclear power plants emergencies. Terrorism handles threats from explosions, biological, chemical, nuclear and radiological dispersion. (Are You Ready? An In-Depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness, 2004)” The primary task though of the EMC is to create the CERT and police and fire departments will be the lead agencies in forming the team. The fire chief will manage natural and technological hazards while the police chief will threats of terrorism and criminal acts will be abated. Government and non-government organizations will also be involved and there would be various multi-media information campaigns once the emergency and disaster preparedness mechanism is in place. In this entire scheme, the medical community is also a great determining factor in mitigating and alleviating the problems caused by emergencies and disasters; thus, the two hospitals in the city will be contacted by the city government and their aid and assistance in planning the program will be invaluable. Before all of these plans are mobilized, the city council will be requested to enact the various resolutions to effectively enjoin everyone to be part of the city’s emergency management program. The emergency management program aims to (Local Emergency Management Planning Guide, 2004): Describe the legal basis for emergency management activities; Outline lines of authority and organizational relationships during emergency situations, and describes how actions will be coordinated; Include a concept of operations for responding to and recovering from emergency situations; Assign responsibility to organizations and individuals for carrying out specific emergency actions to protect lives and property; Identify personnel, equipment, facilities, supplies, and other resources available within the jurisdiction or by agreement with other jurisdictions for use during response and recovery operations; Outline procedures to request assistance from the State if local resources are insufficient to deal with an emergency situation; and Identify mitigation actions to reduce the threat posed by known hazards. Consider the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), its organization, and its strategic plans (which are available at www.dhs.gov). Write up a critique (pros and cons) of DHS as it is presently constituted. Is it organized properly for its missions? Are its missions appropriate and logically tied together? You may wish to use a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats), or you can craft your critique in some other way. As a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. homeland, the U.S. government enacted the Patriot Act of 2001 also known as Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001. The law specifies the American government’s response to terrorism through (Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, 2001): Enhanced domestic security against terrorism; Enhanced surveillance procedures; Abatement of international money laundering and anti-terrorist financing; Protection of the border; Removal of obstacles to investigating terrorism; Provision for victims of terrorism, public safety officers and their families; Increased information sharing for critical infrastructure protection; Strengthening the criminal laws against terrorism; and Improved intelligence. Complementing the Patriot Act is the formation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through House Resolution 5005 – Homeland Security Act of 2002. The primary mandate of the Department of Homeland Security or DHS is “to prevent terrorist attacks within and reduce the vulnerability to terrorism of the United States (Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, 2002).” As the focal point of the U.S. response to terrorism, the DHS absorbed some major government agencies in December 2004, it released the National Response Plan (NRP), “an all-discipline, all-hazards plan that establishes a single, comprehensive framework for the management of domestic incidents. It provides the structure and mechanisms for the coordination of Federal support to State, local, and tribal incident managers and for exercising direct Federal authorities and responsibilities. (DHS, 2004)” Like any new agency in its infancy, the birth pains are still apparent and whether the organization is effective or not is yet to be seen because the DHS has not gone through the “baptism of fire” that would test its mettle as the organization responsible for the U.S. homeland. The major flaw in its organization is the number of organizations and agencies under it with conflicting missions at times. On the plus side, the organization can meet any and all possible disasters because its composition contains various agencies with varied core competencies. In the event for instance of a problem in national transportation, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) can take the lead in the action. How effective indeed is the DHS? Time would probably tell whether the vision of the American leaders of the early 21st century in forming the department holds true or not. As the lead agency in implementing the Patriot Act, the DHS has enough teeth, money and manpower to get the job done – provided it gets rid of red tape and bureaucracy – of providing for a safer America. How has terrorism and the threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) impacted the field of emergency management and disaster planning in your opinion? Why do you think so? Do you believe that the threat of terrorism on a small or large scale should be an emergency managers primary concern over other types of disasters? Does it make a difference as to what type of community the emergency manager operates from? How so? Terrorism and the threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) already impacted emergency management and disaster planning primarily since these is already included in most federal, state and local emergency management plans. As in any planning endeavor, there are strategic, tactical and operational considerations, and emergency managers should and must incorporate the threats of terrorism and WMD in their plans. Considered as the “poor man’s weapons of war,” terrorism and WMD can also come in strategic, tactical and operational packages that all types of communities – large or small- should be prepared to meet these types of threats. In preparing the emergency management plan, the emergency manager must be able to incorporate his/her plan in the overall plan of the state and federal government in order to ensure effective implementation and mitigate the risk posed by terrorism and WMD. In the course, you have been introduced to the various responsibilities of different levels of government in the homeland security effort. What level of government do you believe should be primarily responsible for securing the homeland? In what ways is homeland security confounded by our federalist system (i.e. shared power by states and federal government)? With 50 state government, 3000+ county governments, 16000 township governments, 20000 municipal governments, and tens of thousands more special district governments (i.e. park districts, school districts, etc), is it even possible to have effective management and delivery of homeland security? How so? The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is more than enough to be responsible for protecting the homeland. Although it has a daunting task, the resources and manpower as well as the funds have been allotted to it to get the job done. Despite our federal system of government, the DHS must ensure that change management, social marketing and close coordination with and support of different state governments are done to get cooperation. The National Incident Management System and National Response Plan should be thoroughly implemented and cascaded in order to effectively manage and deliver the needs of homeland security despite the number of communities it has to service. Bibliography: Are you ready? An in-depth guide to citizen preparedness. (2004, December 30). [Online] Retrieved May 25, 2007 from the FEMA database on the Website: http://www.fema.gov/pdf/areyouready/areyouready_full.pdf Department of Homeland Security. National Incident Management System – March 1, 2004. Department of Homeland Security: Washington, D.C., 2004 Department of Homeland Security. National Response Plan – December 2004. Department of Homeland Security: Washington, D.C., 2004. Local emergency management planning guide. (2004, January). [Online] Retrieved May 25, 2007 from the Texas Department of Public Safety Division of Emergency Management database on the Website: ftp://ftp.txdps.state.tx.us/dem/plans/dem_10.pdf Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America. House Resolution 3162 –USA Patriot Act of 2001. Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, Washington, D.C., 2001. Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America. House Resolution 5005 –Homeland Security Act of 2002. Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, Washington, D.C., 2002. Read More

Time would probably tell whether the vision of the American leaders of the early 21st century in forming the department holds true or not. As the lead agency in implementing the Patriot Act, the DHS has enough teeth, money and manpower to get the job done – provided it gets rid of red tape and bureaucracy – of providing for a safer America. How has terrorism and the threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) impacted the field of emergency management and disaster planning in your opinion?

Why do you think so? Do you believe that the threat of terrorism on a small or large scale should be an emergency managers primary concern over other types of disasters? Does it make a difference as to what type of community the emergency manager operates from? How so? Terrorism and the threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) already impacted emergency management and disaster planning primarily since these is already included in most federal, state and local emergency management plans. As in any planning endeavor, there are strategic, tactical and operational considerations, and emergency managers should and must incorporate the threats of terrorism and WMD in their plans.

Considered as the “poor man’s weapons of war,” terrorism and WMD can also come in strategic, tactical and operational packages that all types of communities – large or small- should be prepared to meet these types of threats. In preparing the emergency management plan, the emergency manager must be able to incorporate his/her plan in the overall plan of the state and federal government in order to ensure effective implementation and mitigate the risk posed by terrorism and WMD. In the course, you have been introduced to the various responsibilities of different levels of government in the homeland security effort.

What level of government do you believe should be primarily responsible for securing the homeland? In what ways is homeland security confounded by our federalist system (i.e. shared power by states and federal government)? With 50 state government, 3000+ county governments, 16000 township governments, 20000 municipal governments, and tens of thousands more special district governments (i.e. park districts, school districts, etc), is it even possible to have effective management and delivery of homeland security? How so? The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is more than enough to be responsible for protecting the homeland.

Although it has a daunting task, the resources and manpower as well as the funds have been allotted to it to get the job done. Despite our federal system of government, the DHS must ensure that change management, social marketing and close coordination with and support of different state governments are done to get cooperation. The National Incident Management System and National Response Plan should be thoroughly implemented and cascaded in order to effectively manage and deliver the needs of homeland security despite the number of communities it has to service.

Bibliography: Are you ready? An in-depth guide to citizen preparedness. (2004, December 30). [Online] Retrieved May 25, 2007 from the FEMA database on the Website: http://www.fema.gov/pdf/areyouready/areyouready_full.pdf Department of Homeland Security. National Incident Management System – March 1, 2004. Department of Homeland Security: Washington, D.C., 2004 Department of Homeland Security. National Response Plan – December 2004. Department of Homeland Security: Washington, D.C., 2004. Local emergency management planning guide.

(2004, January). [Online] Retrieved May 25, 2007 from the Texas Department of Public Safety Division of Emergency Management database on the Website: ftp://ftp.txdps.state.tx.us/dem/plans/dem_10.pdf Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America. House Resolution 3162 –USA Patriot Act of 2001. Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, Washington, D.C., 2001. Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America.

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