National Security, Fight Against Terror And The Police Ethics - Research Paper Example

National Security, Fight Against Terror And The Police Ethics Abstract With the heightened concern regarding the invasion of the international terrorist groups in the US, taking adequate measures towards protecting the nationals has become a major and crucial responsibility for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In this regard, the activities and ranges of security related functions of the DHS tend to involve local agencies and state as well as federal governments in order to ensure the safety of each individual within the nation. However, due to the increasing involvement of the smugglers and other terrorist groups with the DHS staff has notably raised challenges to the government to maintain peace within the US. With considerable focus on the activities performed by DHS employees, the report has revealed different issues and recent facts which signify the deficiency of the department to protect Americans from a diverse range of conspicuous crimes. The observation of different research articles and governmental reports concerning the involvement of the DHS employees with different smuggling and terrorist groups, have also been considered in the discussion. Moreover, the discussion of this report has also reflected on various activities of the DHS employees that were recognized to bring significant unrests within the US communities. Contextually, the increasing practices of unethical activities associated with bribery, corruption and confidentiality of the DHS employees have also been taken into account throughout the report. Adequate importance towards ethical conducts associated with different security related roles and responsibilities of homeland security professionals have also been provided in this report, in order to improve the current performances of the DHS employees. The suggested ethical principles in this discussion can further enable the DHS employees to effectively deal with corruption and other unethical practices and ensure adequate security towards defending citizens from any terrorism risks. I. Introduction The international terrorism has long been witnessed as one of the major threats for the US citizens. The continuous threats from the international terrorism groups have become a major and critical concerning factor, which provided drastic affects to the national economy. In the aftermath of one of the most devastating historic international terrorism in September 11, 2001, the country had faced strong effects on its political, economic along with industrial environments. The drastic and adverse effects of international terrorism can be characterized into various types; however, the major consequences can be identified as the loss of economy and human capital (injury/life) which are the major concerning factors of US affected by the international terrorism activities (Stewart & Muller, n.d.). The primary purpose of the report is to signify the importance of ethics in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) when defending the American nationals from diverse range of conspicuous crimes. The significance of understanding the fundamental ethical standards, which can enable the country to inhibit the invasions of the international terrorism, have also been considered in the discussion of this report. The discussion of this report will also encompass the varied number of ethical issues on corruption involving DHS employees, which fundamentally include smuggling and bribery in different forms within the nation. Additionally, the issues concerning confidentiality in terms of military policy operations along with intelligence strategies, which have been allegedly accessed by different global terrorist groups through the assistance of DHS employees, have also been taken into account in this report. Finally, the role and significance of ethics playing a crucial role for the DHS to inhibit the growing threats of the international terrorism within the nation, has also covered within the discussion of this report. II. The Perception of the US Citizens for Federal Government The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was founded with the enactment of the US Homeland Security Act, 2002 which was enacted as under the federal law since the 25th day of November 2002. The department has been structured by 22 different components from diverse governmental agencies and was actively operated since 1st March of 2003. Although, the functions of DHS include a wide range of activities performed by the federal government, the department also encompasses several roles of the Department of Justice along with state, defense and transportation agencies (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2013; Painter, 2011). The operations of the DHS also hoist significant issues concerning the safety of the US populations from different external threats such as international terrorism, smuggling along with unabated hostile activities. Consequentially, the unethical operations performed within DHS have significantly raised ambiguities regarding human safety within the nation. Apparently, the disclosures of unethical practices allegedly performed by the DHS employees have created significant challenges for the federal government, ensuring adequate safety of the civilizations. In this regard, the following discussion will reveal the conspicuous crime as well as misconduct of the DHS employees that significantly fail to ensure protective environment within the US (Edwards, 2012). A. Committing Conspicuous Crime and Misconduct of the DHS members and Employees When conducting its various practices within the US, DHS has been witnessed to create significant issues associated with ensuring appropriate shield to the civilizations from the risk of international terrorism. According to various research articles, it has been identified that the operations performed by the DHS involves considerable adverse practices due to the lack of moral understanding and unethical behavioral aspects of its employees. In relation to the governmental report, the Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs) are highly focused on involving DHS employees in corruption (Mora, 2012). The DHS employees have often been alleged to get involved in the practice of smuggling from other neighbor countries to US and likewise, play a role to encourage international terrorism or other hostility acts. Owing to the stated concern, the illegal practices of the DHS employees are recorded to be frequently conducted due to the cash bribes, sexual favors along with other gratuities (Edwards, 2012). B. Fundamental Ethical Standards to be considered to Inhibit Terror Invasions The immoral practices often reported within the DHS can create vulnerable environment for the US by inhibiting the essentials in securing the nationals. In order to proactively contribute towards the protection of the US civilians and the economic performance of the nation, the integration of adequate ethical standards can be regarded as one of the imperative elements in this context. In this regard, the DHS should be highly focused on recognizing ethical fundamentals in order to reduce the potential risks which might be generated due to the bribery acts. After the economic and political depression caused due to the invasion of terrorism activities on 9/11, an effective and well-built set of ethical principles have become essential which can increase the potential loyalty of the DHS employees and help the nation from various terrorist attacks. III. Various Ethical Issues of DHS in the Recent Years In relation to the code of ethics prevailing in the operational processes of DHS, it can be identified that several principles and acts have been implemented to maintain adequate dedication while protecting nations from external threats. Moreover, the ethical standards of the department also ensure to strictly prohibit illegal immigration and other smuggling activities. However, the recent practices and operational processes of the DHS depict a range of fraudulent and bribery practices which creates substantial uncertainties for the US citizens’ security. Correspondingly, the following discussion of the report elaborates on few recent cases associated with different fraudulent and unethical activities allegedly performed by the DHS staff. A. Issues Concerning the Corruption and Involvement of the DHS Staff According to the present day context, there has been a large number of bribery acts reported to be performed by the DHS workers which have been created various hostilities within the US. The issues concerning the involvement of DHS employees in corruption can be characterized in two major segments namely smuggling and bribery acts in different forms as discussed hereunder. 1. Smuggling a. Alien Smuggling: It has been observed from various cases that the DHS employees working in the US border regions often involve in smuggling people from other countries. The smuggled people from different countries are generally allocated in different working environments including prostitution and hazardous along with extremely low waged jobs. It might so happen that being in the border force and acquainted with the permission to control immigration activities, the DHS employees get persuaded towards satisfying their personal desires, compromising with their moral duties. For instance, in investigated cases where DHS employees have been alleged to perform such illegal acts, the underlying motives were observed to involve monetary benefits, sexual favors or other gratuities (Los Angeles Times, 2005). b. Delivery of Sub-standard Goods: The workers of the DHS have also been reported to practice illegal operations, which further were alleged to enable the external suppliers to deliver their low-quality goods within the US that were by law, disqualified to be imported. In relation to the recent scenario of the US market, it has been observed that the customers are significantly affected by the goods that are delivered by the unauthorized suppliers from the different overseas countries. Contextually, the low quality imports of the goods that are supplied by the unauthorized global suppliers have been causing an adverse effect on the consumer health and on the industry prospects of the nation on the whole, which is one of the major ethical issues raised by DHS’s unethical behaviors (Department of Justice, 2013). c. Illegal Drugs: The procurement of illegal drugs from the different neighboring countries can be considered as another major ethical issue in this regard. The DHS employees have been witnessed to involve in different illegal drug procurement activities. Contextually, the recent scenario concerning the involvement of DHS workers in illegal drugs procurement has revealed that the smugglers have become more sensitive and alert to perform their various illicit functions. The smugglers from the US and other neighboring countries have significantly influenced the DHS employees to provide adequate support in smuggling illegal drugs for their personal gain (Edwards, 2012). 2. Bribery Acts in Different Forms a. Cash In relation to the present day scenario, the DHS employees have been found as involved in different bribery acts and criminal offences with the smugglers by smuggling undocumented aliens, illegal drugs and weapons among others. The bribery or such criminal activities performed by the smugglers have often been observed to involve DHS employees in return of a substantial amount of cash (CalCoastNews, 2013). b. Sexual Favors Rendering sexual favors have also been identified as one of the most encouraging elements which play a significant role in motivating the DHS workers to engage in different unethical activities. In this context, the international terrorist groups or foreign smugglers tend to offer various types of sexual favors to the DHS workers which further gives them a reason to smuggle undocumented aliens, weapons along with drugs and other vulnerable goods which can create significant hostility within the different states of the US (Edwards, 2012). c. Other Gratuities Considering other gratuities, it is often recognized that the DHS employees have further involved in different unethical practices which can encourage unabated issues within the US. In this regard, employee misconducts, misuse of departmental resources along with hostile behavioral and attitude related concerns have also been increasing complexities to the federal government by defending potential unrests within the nation. Moreover, different fraudulent conducts including Visa fraud and undocumented smuggling of the aliens have been highly observed in the recent homeland security services of the departments (Sapper, 2012). B. Issues associated with Confidentiality Confidentiality of the country information or taking adequate measure towards concealing national information can be regarded as one of the major initiatives which can defend the country from various uninvited insurgencies. Moreover, an effective and adequate measure on strengthening confidentiality of the departmental information can further facilitate the eradication of different challenges associated with the crisis circumstances. In this regard, the DHS workers, within the US, have also been witnessed to involve in various fraudulent practices in terms of disclosing departmental information (Edwards, 2012). Few of the major concerning areas which have faced challenges due to the ineffective confidentiality protection strategies of the DHS workers, have been discussed in the following. 1. Military Policies and Operations a. Disclosing Military Information Disclosing vital information concerning military policies, strategies along with operational functions can severely weaken the security measures of a nation. Moreover, it can enable the international terrorism groups to adequately create significant insurgencies within the country. In this regard, a few numbers of DHS employers were accused to perform fraudulent acts of falsifying visas, permits along with other immigration documents in terms of smuggling expatriates to the nation. The investigation report of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) has further revealed significant information associated with visa fraud activities on April 2008 (Edwards, 2012). b. Revealing Military Operational Tactics In relation to the various observations concerning the confidentiality measures of military information, the information related to procurement of different types of ammunitions by the DHS are frequently witnessed. In this context, the information concerning procurement of ammos or revealing operational tactics of the DHS militaries can weaken the security related measures of the department and create significant challenges for the US citizens (Edwards, 2012). 2. Intelligence Communities a. Conspiracy Development with International Terrorist Groups The extensive encouragement through providing cash, sexual favors along with other gratuities of the smugglers have motivated the DHS employees to practice different fraudulent and unethical operations. In this context, it has been found from the various investigation reports that a few numbers of DHS workers have been involved with different global terrorist groups to obtain huge amount of cash and facilities. Moreover, the governmental report has also revealed that a few members of DHS were also engaged in bribery for disclosing different sensitive policy enforcement information to different anti-social groups (Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, 2012). b. Accessibility of the Sensitive Information to the Terrorist Groups Providing antisocial groups with accessibility to the sensitive enforcement information, which must be protected by DHS, can certainly put every citizen in danger. In this regard, the involvement and practicing bribery acts by the DHS staff can significantly jeopardize the nations and turn it into different insurgent activities. In accordance with the investigative reports published by the federal government, it has also been observed that various fraudulent activities of the DHS staff associated with fraud mails sent to unknown users have inevitably caused problematic circumstances within the nation. Moreover, few of the workers of the department were also accused to provide accessibility of the governmental information and military policy enforcements to the smugglers and other rival militant groups unethically (Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, 2012). III. Role and Importance of Ethics in Keeping the Safety of the US Ethics can play a crucial role in building a strong security infrastructure for a nation. An effective practice of ethics within the homeland security department of the US can ensure the protection of different fraudulent activities and defend the nation from different external threats, especially related with terrorism. In the context of DHS, the organization tends to incorporate adequate measure in order to empower its security system. However, the increasing number of smuggling activities as well as corruption within the DHS workers signifies a greater challenge for the federal government to ensure adequate security of the US citizens (Campbell, 2005). A. Proper Training of the Ethical Standards The appropriate training and development program associated with ethical standards can ensure the improvement of moral conscience among the employees with regard to their various roles and responsibilities, not only as a security professional but also as a citizen of the US. In this context, DHS should highly prioritize the integration of continuous training and development process of its employees in order to build strong commitment within the workforce towards the organizational mission and objectives (Dunlop, n.d.). However, in the current scenario, it can be apparently observed that the organization has somewhat failed to deliver adequate safety to the Americans due to its ineffectiveness in training process which in turn lacks in generating moral conscience amid the workforce. Even though the ethical guidelines and standards of the DHS signify strong principles that ensure to protect Americans from different external threats, the organization has failed to implement the policies effectively which has in turn hindered the moral views of its workforce. Moreover, the ethical standards of the organization also tend to improve the morale and behavioral aspects of each individual by providing with adequate security to the civilians. Therefore, a continuous training and development program can improve the morale of the employees associated with DHS and committed towards avoiding unethical practices. The continuous ethical training functions can also ensure the reduction of extensive number of bribery along with corruption related acts of the employees (American Psychological Association, 2005). B. Building Trust of the People Contextually, the integration of adequate ethical principles can enable the DHS to build a strong relationship with the US civilization. Moreover, the practice can also ensure to facilitate the department in terms of gaining trust of the population. In this regard, the department should strategically prioritize the integration of ethics within the diverse range of functions performed by the employees in different stipulated job roles. The operational and administrative functions of the DHS should also highly focus on identifying its different issues associated with corruption and confidentiality. The identification process of the various bribery and misconduct issues in a transparent way can further enable the organization to improve its relationship within the communities (Petkovic & Jonker, 2007; Irwin, 2002). Contextually, the strategy of identifying corruption and confidentiality issues can assist the DHS to build adequate trust and reliability within the US citizens. The department, in this regard, must take immediate and strong measures in order to address different corruptive and bribery activities within the department which can further enable the organization to increase its efficiency of providing adequate security to the nation developing its employee engagement and stakeholder engagement substantially (Bal, 2013). IV. Conclusion With reference to the above discussion, it can be stated that the provision of providing adequate security to the citizens is one of the major and imperative decisions for the governments. In relation to the present operational performance of the DHS, it is often observed that the security of the nation is facing different constraints and threats from the international terrorist groups which are further, unexpectedly, resourced partially by DHS employees. The increasing numbers of bribe acts, corruption along with confidential related issues of the DHS workers significantly indicate considerable risks for the communities to face different brutal effects from the external threats. The discussion has also revealed various recent practices of the DHS concerning the involvement of its employees in different unethical practices, namely bribery, corruption and confidentiality. Moreover, it has also been identified from the governmental reports that the greater involvement of the DTOs with the DHS staff has been increasing the number of various frauds and corruptions within the nation. The employees of the organizations have been further observed as strongly influenced by the extensive monetary and gratuity related offers of the DTOs in terms of smuggling aliens, weapons, drugs and other vulnerable goods which in turn create different insurgencies within the diverse US communities. It is under these circumstances that effective ethical practices of DHS employees can play an imperative role to reduce the amount of different unethical practices and ensure the maintenance of adequate security of the US communities. In this regard, an effective and continuous training process of improving DHS employee morale shall be an utmost decision which can enable the organization to build a strong shield towards the external threats. Additionally, the practice of continuous training and development of the employees’ ethical conducts can further facilitate the DHS to address different issues and gain trust of the citizens within the US. 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