DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 2001

Department of Homeland Security 2001



Department of Homeland Security 2001

Introduction

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created in 2003 to coordinate the previously fragmented security apparatus of the United States. It has improved domestic intelligence and border safety, but it also has been criticized for infringing on civil liberties (Clemetson, 2003).

After receiving congressional approval in 2002, the DHS began operation in January 2003 as the 15th cabinet department. Its creation represented the most radical overhaul of the U.S. government since the 1940s. The DHS brought together the Secret Service, Customs Service, Immigration and Naturalization Service, and Coast Guard, among other agencies (Gillette, 2005). With more than 180,000 employees, the new department was intended to eliminate duplication of effort and authority and to enforce the adoption of common standards among previously disparate security services.

Discussion

On March 1, 2003, the final step of merging 22 federal departments, offices, and agencies and nearly 170,000 employees into the super-department known as the Department of Homeland Security was taken. The government entities moved to the main divisions of the Department of Homeland Security included the Justice Department's Immigration and Naturalization Services and the Office of Domestic Preparedness, the Secret Service and Customs Service from the Department of the Treasury, and the Transportation and Security Administration and the Coast Guard from the Transportation Department (Gottfried, 2006). The inauguration of the new department was met with a combination of high expectations and some pessimism.

The pessimism centered on three major areas: the ability to successfully manage such a mammoth organization; the potential for rivalries with existing national intelligence-gathering agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and the department's ability to accomplish its goals with the amount budgeted for its first year of function—$33 billion (Hamre, 2002). Regardless of differing opinions on the department's future prospects, few could argue that the birth of the Department of Homeland Security represented the most ambitious consolidation of federal agencies since the joining of the War and Navy Departments to create the Defense Department during the Truman administration in 1947.

To pursue its primary objectives, the department was organized into four divisions: (1) Emergency Preparedness and Response, (2) Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection, (3) Border and Transportation Security, and (4) Science and Technology (Litan, 2002).

Functions

The DHS has three main priorities: to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, to reduce America's vulnerability to terrorism, and to minimize the damage from attacks that do occur. In the event of a crisis or disaster, the DHS is expected to ensure the continuity of government operations and essential functions (Office of Homeland Security, 2002). The DHS partners with state, local, and tribal governments and the private sector to strengthen the nation's ability to respond to emergency situations such as terrorist attacks or natural disasters.

The DHS is responsible for coordinating access to information about potential terrorist threats (Shenon, 2002). It also identifies and assesses the vulnerability of critical infrastructure and key assets within the United ...