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 prioritize frontline operations while maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of the tax payer's money allocated to the Department. The department has five key missions namely: securing the United States from terrorist threats and enhancing security; securing the country's borders; enforcing immigration laws; securing cyberspace; and building resilience to disasters (DHS, 2013). The Department has also made an undertaking to provide essential support to national and economic security, as outlined in the FY 2012-2016, as it matures. This paper gives an overview of the DHS's Strategic Plan for Fiscal Year 2012-2016. It also highlights major relevant points related to economic social, and/or legal implications, or the impacts due to lack of attention paid to economic, social, and/or legal implications. Finally, the paper discusses how the issue of DHS Strategic Plan relates Saint Leo core values of excellence and integrity.
Overview of the DHS Strategic Plan mission and performance measures
The DHS first mission is to prevent terrorism and increase the national security. Protecting United States from terrorism is their core commitment. As such, their counterterrorism responsibilities focus on preventing terrorists' attacks; preventing unauthorized acquisition, importation, movement, or use of chemical, biological, and nuclear materials and capabilities within the United States borders; and reducing threats to and vulnerability of main infrastructure, resources, high profile leaders as well as significant events with many people from terrorist attacks (DHS, 2012). Because threats facing United States have continued to change over time, DHS has come up with various strategies to defend the country against dynamic threats (Office of the Homeland Security, 2002). To achieve this, the Department has realized that it is imperative to understand the threat. In this regard the Department collects, gathers, analyze, and appropriately share intelligence on current and emerging threats. It also undertakes to deter, detect, and disrupt operations by terrorists and other malicious acts they would want to achieve (DHS, 2012). The department has also strived hard to ensure would be targets of the terrorists are well protected. Finally, the Department in a bid to prevent terrorism and enhance security seeks to prevent and deter domestic violent extremism and the radicalization process that contributes to it (DHS, 2012). All these are done through community engagement.
In a bid to curtail illegal possession and/or use of chemical, radiological, nuclear or biological materials, DHS strives to find out emerging threats, control access to CBRN, control movement of CBRN as well as their hostile use. The Department seeks to manage risks to critical infrastructure, key leaders, and events by understanding and prioritizing risks to critical infrastructure, protecting critical infrastructure, making critical infrastructure resilient, and protecting governmental leaders, facilities, and special events. The first mission has got its performance measures that are associated with gauging results for preventing terrorism and enhancing security (DHS, 2012). The performance measures have planned targets for FY 2012, 2013, and 2016.
The DHS second mission is to secure and manage America's borders. The borders here imply land, air, and sea. The borders are to be secured from illegal entry of people, weapons, drugs, and other contraband. Border security and management focuses on effectively securing U.S. air, land, and sea borders; safeguarding and streamlining lawful trade and travel; and disrupting and dismantling transnational criminal and terrorist organizations (DHS, 2012). Regarding making air, land, and sea secure, the Department has made an undertaking to prevent illegal entry of people, weapons, drugs, contraband, and dangerous goods and prevent illegal export and exit. The department secures key nodes and conveyances and manages the risk of people and goods in transit to safeguard lawful trade and travel. The DHS disrupts illicit pathways as well as identifying, disrupting, and dismantling transnational criminal and terrorist organizations (DHS, 2012).
Mission two also has performance measures like percent of noticed regular aircraft attacks ably handled along the U.S. borders, amount of currency seized on exit from United States, percent of maritime facilities in compliance with security regulations, and percent of imports compliant with applicable U.S. laws, to mention but a few. These performance measures have planned targets (DHS, 2012).
The DHS third mission...
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