Homeland security what does it mean

Jurisdictions do not all face the same threats or risks. Florida has hurricanes. Montana has wildfires. Ohio has floods. Arkansas has tornadoes. The northwest has earthquakes.

The Great Lake states have severe winter storms. New York City, Washington D. C, and other major urban areas risk more terrorist attacks. Each county in the United States has unique experiences with particular hazards. If we suspend the need for a single national definition, homeland security can be different things to different jurisdictions. This construction can justify using resources provided under the homeland security umbrella for local preparedness priorities.

Then we look at what the grant guidelines say we need to do. We call that dual use. Homeland security thus refers to how jurisdictions actually behave rather than how a policy or strategy says they should behave. From a public choice perspective, one would expect that officials and citizens in local jurisdictions have the greatest incentive to prepare for incidents that have frequently happened to them and are likely to happen again, whether terrorism, natural or man-made disaster.

A definition that expresses this view might read: Homeland security means something different in each jurisdiction. It is a locally directed effort to prevent and prepare for incidents most likely to threaten the safety and security of its citizens.

This perspective seems also to mirror emergency management. One author describes the importance of tailoring emergency planning to the uniqueness of each jurisdiction:. Emergency planning normally begins with the identification of the disasters that have occurred in a community in the recent past.

These are the known and, generally, the most probable hazards. Planners may then focus on the disasters that have occurred in the distant past by going through newspaper archives, history books, and other documents and by interviewing long-time residents.

What are the likely incidents that threaten the safety and security of local jurisdictions? One illustrative way to answer the question is to look at major incidents that have occurred in states. A Federal Emergency Management Agency database categorizes four types of disasters.

Figure 1. Table 1. Frequency of Disaster Types: September 11, through December 31, If homeland security is a part of a doctrine that plans for the most probable incidents, most of the country can safely ignore terrorism as a threat. Figure 2 illustrates how a localized view of homeland security — the representative hazard displayed here is terrorism — can provide an experienced-based, jurisdiction specific homeland security definition.

That focus draws attention to the possibility, if not desirability, of doctrine. At another level, all hazards means planning for the emergencies each community has actually experienced or is likely to experience. This focus draws attention to the uniqueness of disasters to individual communities. All disasters may have some things in common. But for the citizens who go through a disaster, each disaster is unique. In that respect, the security of their most specific and significant homeland — their community — will also be unique.

Ecosystems have outliers, entities struggling to find a niche and survive. Tailoring the definition of homeland security for an individual jurisdiction is one end of a continuum. At the other end is a definition that focuses on hazards that affect everyone in the nation. Some significant perils are neglected. His threat list includes the impact on future generations of:. To this could be added concerns about inadequate health care, drug-resistant disease, food security, open borders, mass immigration, cyber security, pandemics, foreign ownership of U.

A definition from this perspective says homeland security could be about practically anything. What is the worst that could happen to our national security if the planet actually is warming, if nondiscretionary parts of the federal budget continue to increase, if infrastructure continues to deteriorate, it energy costs continue to rise? Homeland security is a national effort to prevent or mitigate any social trend or threat that can disrupt the long-term stability of the American way of life.

It is unreasonable to expect homeland security or the Department of Homeland Security to make a shift like this anytime soon. But environments change. Immigration, border and port security could be integrated into other organizations. In theory, the nation could see a once behemoth DHS outlive its initial purpose.

A fanciful idea, doubtlessly; but what if? Sixty years after the National Security Act we again have a distinction between defense and security.

Some people believe the divide creates problems. Sixty years after the National Security Act, why maintain a separation between defense and security? Fusing security and defense has deep roots in U. Rader describes homeland defense before the Revolution. Lacking the resources to support fulltime soldiers, they met their defense needs with less costly militia. Garamone describes how defending the American homeland from external and internal threats has been the first priority of the military since the Republic began.

Lowenberg reviews the evolution of these early efforts to protect the homeland from perceived threats. Constitution and by the constitutions and statutes of the several states and territories. One could argue that from an historical perspective, homeland security and homeland defense have, until this century, been essentially the same activity. William Safire, author of what stands as the best description of the origins and uses of the term homeland security, suggests why the formal split between homeland defense and homeland security happened.

In the Quadrennial Defense Review mandated by Congress, a defense panel was set up to rethink military strategy up to Almost one month after the Sept. Why was security substituted for defense? A rationale was set forward that security was the umbrella term, incorporating local and national public-health preparedness for attack, the defense of the nation offered by the armed services, plus the intelligence and internal security activities of the C.

Potential jurisdictional confusion is one explanation. Another reason is to avoid pressure to share some of the Department of Defense budget an estimated billion dollars in with the Department of Homeland Security whose budget was less than one-tenth the DoD budget. For some purposes, the Department of Homeland Security is already part of the national security structure. In SEC. It is a stretch to say this means Congress wants homeland defense and security to be merged.

Viewing homeland security as part of the national security apparatus does not imply eliminating state and local public safety involvement, at least for the less-than-catastrophic concerns. But after Hurricane Katrina some elected officials argued that the military should play a much more aggressive role in homeland security, particularly in response activities. The Department of Defense however seems unambiguous about the strategic role it wants to assume in homeland security.

According to its homeland security doctrine, there is a clear difference between homeland defense and homeland security:. To preserve the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States, the Nation must have a homeland that is secure from threats and violence, including terrorism. HS at the national level has a specific focus on terrorist threats. Attempts to alter this doctrine will likely meet resistance from defense interests.

But future attacks inside the United States or other catastrophes like Katrina may give more impetus to efforts to formally integrate homeland security and defense. One might claim that in a time of need, homeland security and defense already are integrated.

The same military doctrine that separates the two activities allows also for the military to assume a domestic homeland security role:.

DOD is prepared to conduct homeland defense missions whenever the President, exercising his constitutional authority as Commander in Chief, authorizes military actions. From the perspective sketched in this section, homeland security means preventing and responding to anything that threatens national security. The president of the United States gets to say what that is. Shortly after a. In a few moments, police surrounded them. The man was arrested, taken to a facility, held for five days, questioned nonstop without access to an attorney, and then released without any action taken against him.

This incident happened over twenty years ago, in Northern Ireland. One might have briefly thought this happened in the United States. Some people believe this describes what homeland security could be. For other people, this is homeland security. Some people believe homeland security may be a greater threat to the country than terrorism.

For this part of the ecosystem: Homeland security is a symbol used to justify government efforts to curtail civil liberties. Although safety measures have long been in place for U. By , the Department of Homeland Security DHS was established, and criminal justice programs started yielding specialized degrees in homeland security to prepare professionals.

Homeland security is a mission-driven career field. Professionals are laser-focused on protecting the nation and its people from national threats such as terrorism, natural disaster and public health crises. Within the DHS — a cabinet of the U. Working in homeland security, you'll consider potential threats related to your agency and develop security measures to prevent them from happening.

For example, if you work in customs and border protection, you may frequently collaborate with carrier companies to inspect shipping containers.

To create an efficient clearance process, you'll want to ensure proper procedures are in place, such as background checks and careful vetting, according to Rich. You may also work with private sector organizations to develop appropriate safety measures, whether it be securing potentially dangerous chemicals or implementing infrastructure security strategies at well-known landmarks. You'll create response plans and procedures, too, so you're ready to act should an emergency transpire.

While everyone working in homeland security helps to keep the nation and its people safe, careers can vary quite a bit. You can join homeland security efforts with a number of professional experiences and academic backgrounds. You may also carry out investigations, lead safety training, protect national leaders or work in immigration, depending on the path you take. As an intelligence analyst, you'll collect data through a variety of sources, including fieldwork, and work closely with law enforcement because all missions and investigations rely on pertinent information, according to Rich.

Abbreviation : DHS. We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms. Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. January, Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B. Clara Erskine Clement. Music-Study in Germany Amy Fay.