Homeland Security and Preparedness, Response, Activities and Programs in Disaster Response or Disaster Recovery
The focus of this study is the homeland security issue as it relates to the preparedness of the U.S.A. government and citizens in response to the emergencies that may emerge.
The research question in this study is one that asks in light of the past disasters experienced by the United States such as the events of September 11, 2001, and Hurricane Katrina among others, are the emergency response agencies and the law enforcement agencies in a better position to handle disasters from preparation to response and ultimately recovery effectively in the event of disasters or terrorist attacks?
Significance
The significance of the research in this study is that the effectiveness of the preparedness of Homeland Security initiatives should be addressed as it is not possible to know where and when disaster will next strike and the consequences of such a disaster are great and require a great deal of intervention to regain normalcy in operation.
Research Hypothesis
The research hypothesis in this study is one stating that the law enforcement in the United States is today better equipped to handle terrorist attacks and any terrorist threat than it was prior to the events of September 11, 2011.
Literature Review
The work of Warwick (2009) entitled "Drug Drones" reports that an evaluation of unmanned aircraft in anti-drug operations took place in Central American with the U.S. Navy flying a leased Israel Aerospace Industries Heron from El Salvador for the purpose of detecting and identifying maritime targets. The 100 flight-hour demonstration was reported to be funded by the U.S. counter-narcoterrorism budget. The heron medium-altitude long-endurance UAS is equipped with the "vessel automatic identification system. (AIS)." (Warwick, 2009, p.1)
This is not the only tool that law enforcement is using in crime prevention and arrest initiatives of those threatening national security. The Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) is reported as a "unified watch list of known or appropriately suspected terrorists that can be used by every official sworn to protect the United States -- from border patrol and transportation officials to Federal agents and local police officers working their beats." (Bowman, 2007, p.5) Director of TSC, Donna Bucella reported during a FBI headquarters briefing that the list is "not a stagnant list. We add, modify, and delete every day. The information that flows into the TSC comes from the FBI (domestic terrorist information) and the National Counter Terrorism Center (International terrorist information) which gets information from more than a dozen intelligence agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, under the umbrella of the Director of National Intelligence." (Bowman, 2007, p.5)
Edwards (2012) reports that police are greatly dependent on "information and communication. In today's world, youthful offenders communicate, network, socialize, boast and reveal their conduct on the Web via e-mail, smart phones and Blackberries. Communication is carried into a new theater of real-time availability and simple methods." (p.19) It is reported that current communication systems require a small investment but the result is stated to be "tremendous dividends." (Edwards, 2012, p.19) Federal agencies are reported as being reliant on "their frontline law environment partners. When an environment exists that allows all officers to possess knowledge and use it to cooperate, communicate, and coordinate, premier results can develop." (Edwards, 2012, p.20)
Intelligence led policing (ILP) is cited as being a great help in the area of information improvement as well as in intelligence sharing. It is reported that the present push for "state and regional fusion centers and the development of Law Enforcement Online (LEO) is a real0time controlled-access communications and information-sharing data repository…" (Edwards, 2012, p.20) It is reported that ILP believes that the notion that rural officers should have "access to current technology, such as smart phones and Blackberries, as a real-time conduit for relating past data to current intelligence information. Rural sheriffs and police chiefs working together to create one central clearinghouse for information collection, analysis, and dissemination constitutes another ILP concept. Innovative policies, procedures, protocols, and structures require collaboration between sheriffs and chiefs for common interest, shared gains, notoriety, credit, and productive results." (Edwards, 2012, p.21)
Intelligence Led Policing is reported as being based on a three-step process as follows:
(1) The first step is the incorporation of the Intelligence Led Policing Model, which involves incorporation of the ILP model, which maintains, 'Intelligence-led policing is a business model and managerial philosophy where data analysis and criminal intelligence are pivotal to an objective decision-making framework that facilitates crime and problem reduction, disruption, and prevention through both...
Homeland Security Strategies The United Sates Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Strategic Plan outlines the Department's vision for homeland security as outlined in the Department's Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR). The plan is a unified, strategic framework for homeland security missions and goals. The Bottom-Up Review (BUR) compliments efforts to align DHS's programmatic activities and organizational structure to better serve the department's goals and missions. The plan enables the Department to
("Lynchburg Virginia Emergency Operations Plan," 2012) Elements of Disaster Response, Recovery, and Incident Command In the event of a disaster, the City Manager is appointed as the local spokesperson for all issues, events and the coordination of resources. They work directly with the Mayor and the City Council (who sit as an advisory board to the City Manager). In the event that there are any political issues, the Mayor will interact
National Incident Management System: NIMS has been designed with the sole purpose of integrating emergency practices on all levels of government. These practices include mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery and NIMS provides the single platform where all these practices would merge in order to better respond to national terrorist crises. The strengths of the program are: 1. It provides standards for organizational structures, processes and procedures 2. It also offers standards for planning,
On the other hand, the Department in itself was projected to deal with a large number of aspects surrounding homeland security. The arguments supporting the idea were focused on the principle that the citizens must be protected from foreign threats, such as terrorism, and they must be given the help needed to face the treacheries of nature. In aiming to accomplish the latter, the Federal Emergency Management Directorate was established.
Beginning in October of 2005, organizational arrangements for emergency management functions on a federal level were put into place, in the reorganization begun by Secretary Chertoff. Pros and Cons about the Homeland Security Program There are good things about the Homeland Security Program in the U.S. A list of positives would include the fact that some safeguards must be implemented in order to keep the country safe. Local and national law
They were mostly former soldiers from Iraq, called in to help with the relief ops. Those supporting the use of the National Guard in these types of actions point out that "the National Guard already has a significant emergency response capability and the Constitution of the United States establishes the authority to employ the National Guard in significant and leading domestic roles against terrorism." (Oates, 2002) on the other
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