There is plenty of expectation of individuals and agencies that are tasked with ensuring the protection of a country and its citizens. At least, there is a belief of primary safety and security ( Robinson et al., 2013 ). Meaning, there is an expectation that the country will be safe from both domestic- and foreign-initiated attacks. Thus, it follows that what the members of the homeland security team are doing is a revolutionary assignment. The chief threats facing the United States today may be considered of less concern in the future. Regardless, there are certain competencies that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its functionaries need to possess in order to deliver. They are the basic foundations of what enables the DHS system to be useful in any security context. This paper evaluates the capability of the DHS to provide homeland security and homeland defense.
Intelligence
In this context, intelligence is simply information shared and fitted into particular facts and situations in order to give proper meaning. Since the formation of Homeland Security, the agency has strived to maintain integration among government for the purpose of sharing information. The Homeland Security Act of 2002, for example, requires all government agencies involved with the country’s security to gather and exchange information with other similar organizations ( Randol, 2010 ). In other words, the Act pushes the government security agencies towards collaboration rather than isolation. As a result, Homeland Security is capable of utilizing information obtained from other bodies in the form of unanalyzed data and compiled reports in giving warnings of potential terrorist attacks, evaluating the risk of attack, and formulating strategies for counteractive actions at state and federal as well as local levels.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
DHS has improved considerably over the past fifteen years regarding the gathering and sharing of intelligence. In fact, most of the blame on the government concerning the September 11 attacks in the United States is the failure of intelligence. Most of the commissions which were formed immediately after the attacks many times pointed out the failure of the intelligence community to share information and work in cooperation with other security agencies in the country ( Randol, 2010 ). Since that time, the Department of Homeland Security has favored a more integrative approach, thus boosting its capability to protect the country against potential terrorist attacks.
Homeland Security created the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC) for the purpose of evaluating threats. This division was required to share information and collaborate with other agencies ( Randol, 2010 ). In other words, the TTIC, as a branch of Homeland Security, creates a framework that promotes the sharing of intelligence among security agencies in the United States. It is a center for analyzing terrorist-related data that is obtained both locally and overseas for the purpose of forming a detailed and elaborate threat picture. Additionally, TTIC has the responsibility of giving security risk analysis reports to the national leadership.
Border Security
The responsibility of securing the country’s borders represents one of the vital competencies of DHS. Notably, after the September 11 attacks, Border Patrol was incorporated into DHS, and its activities were expanded from merely managing illegal immigration to preventing terrorists and weapons from seeping into the country through the borders ( Robinson et al., 2013 ). The Secure Border Initiative (SBI) was formed to secure the United States borders and control the rate of undocumented immigration. This task involves covering thousands of miles throughout the United States borders, an endeavor that is quite difficult to compute given the size of the United States Geography. However, Homeland Security has shown a significant level of capability to secure the country’s borders by employing modern technology and aircraft gadgets.
While terrorism may not be the primary reason for undocumented immigration, it is arguably the most feasible method of entry for terrorists. Accordingly, Homeland Security has deployed more than ninety non-intrusive inspection equipment to identify would-be terrorist arms in any vehicle crossing the border ( Robinson et al., 2013; Lewis, 2014 ). Moreover, the agency has increased the number of sensing tools, drones, and remotely supervised cameras for the purpose of surveillance.
Public Health
Broadly speaking, public health is barely a concern of Homeland Security. However, Homeland Security may be involved in certain situations in a public health context ( Lewis, 2014 ). Terrorist attacks involving weapons of mass destruction and natural calamities are examples of scenarios whereby Homeland Security may be needed. Such situations have the tendency to lower public confidence and undermine national security. Thus, considering such outcomes, the Department of Homeland Security requires the capability to respond to or even prevent such events.
DHS completely embraces the connection between security and public health mission as well as operations. The agency also invests in this sector given that health is one the critical areas of its infrastructure ( Lewis, 2014 ). Since DHS works hand-in-hand with other parties in the area of public health, the agency is capable to a great extent to prevent and manage most attacks on public health.
Conclusions
This paper evaluates the capability of Homeland Security to carry out its responsibilities and mission effectively. It may be concluded from the discussion that DHS has shown its commitment and competency in key areas of security. The agency makes use of modern technology to ensure the safety of the population of the United States and prevent both local- and foreign-initiated terrorist attacks. The agency also collaborates with other organizations, mainly through sharing intelligence and resources to bring about a desirable outcome. It should be noted that Homeland Security, under the guidance of the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL), strives to protect civil rights and liberties while carrying out the responsibility of protecting the country and any complaints of violation are dealt with accordingly.
References
Lewis, T. G. (2014). Critical infrastructure protection in homeland security: defending a networked nation . John Wiley & Sons.
Randol, M. A. (2010). Homeland Security Intelligence: Perceptions, Statutory Definitions, and Approaches . DIANE Publishing.
Robinson, S. E., Liu, X., Stouten borough, J. W., & Vedlitz, A. (2013). Explaining popular trust in the department of homeland security. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory , 23 (3), 713-733.
