Free «The Department of Homeland Security» Essay Sample

The United States has struggled for the protection of its borders throughout its history. The biggest problem facing its security is the smuggling of weapons, drugs, and cash. The country is encompassed with more than 7,000 miles of borders that should be covered on a single day (Hagan, Castro, & Rodriguez, 2009). Since the land is quite big, it poses numerous challenges to law enforcement officers, who work tirelessly to provide environmental stewardship. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) protects small communities who live along the borders through the deployment of qualified personnel, technology, and the infrastructure. The agency fulfills its core value of responsible control by cooperating closely with neighboring countries, such as Canada and Mexico, as well as other federal, state, and territorial agencies within the U.S. (Hagan et al., 2009). Therefore, this paper will describe characteristics and behaviors, historical and past information, and the present or future needs of the DHS in following its core value of responsible stewardship.

Characteristics/Behaviors of the DHS

The DHS has various powers, which enable it to safeguard and improve the security of the U.S. It is tasked with monitoring immigration and customs operations, as well as border movement. The agency also deals with an emergency response to natural and man-made calamities, such as terrorist attacks and cybercrimes. Its leadership structure is unique. The President of the United States of America appoints the secretary who heads the Department of Homeland Security. Different units of the DHS are run by the deputy secretary. There are divisions of homeland security, which ensure that the issue of safety is maintained. The DHS has faced great criticism regarding its policies and operations, which are investigated by behavior detection officers (Hagan et al., 2009).

The DHS should show transparency in its activities to provide necessary protection to the state. However, criticism arises from the bureaucratic nature of its operations, resulting in their ineffectiveness. For instance, the terrorist attack of 9/11 was a challenge to the department (Wise, 2006). Other studies have also pointed out the waste of public resources and other flaws on the part of the agency. These behaviors have required disclosure from the Office of Audits of the Department. The Congress assigns the biggest blame to the management of the DHS, which increased the number of committees from 86 in 2004 to 104 in 2010 (Lewis, 2010). Its representatives were required to oversee the jurisdiction of homeland security. Nevertheless, several bureaucratic constraints should be reduced to increase the efficiency of the agency.

Past/Historical Information

The Homeland Security Act was approved in November 2002. As a result, the DHS became a stand-alone agency entitled to ensure the unity and coordination of the nation. Its doors were opened on March 1, 2003. Throughout its history, the Department of Homeland Security has strived to protect the security of the United States. After the September 11, 2001 attack, it created a comprehensive national strategy that would respond and safeguard the country from future terrorist attacks (Wise, 2006). The Department also appointed the first director of the Office of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, who was a Pennsylvania governor at that time. In 2002, the DHS created 22 federal agencies and departments, which were integrated and unified in the efficient maintenance of security. It also helped to reduce threats that the country faced by ensuring the provision of advanced strategies an technology. In 2015, other modifications were made, whereby a Second Stage Review (2SR) was initiated to evaluate policies, operations, and structures of the Department (Zuckerman, 2012). All these changes in the management of the DHS were created to uphold the core value of responsible stewardship.

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Present/Future Needs

The DHS has various requirements, which should be fulfilled for it to function efficiently. These include the present and future needs, which relate to the core value of responsible stewardship. Presently, the Department needs to establish a framework that will empower the local and state authorities to perform their disaster-response operations. The framework should guarantee the endorsement of intelligence-led policing, as well as the input of national strategies. As noted above, the management of the DHS has experienced challenges, which have affected the security of the nation. However, it should adopt an honest, fair, and realistic approach to the enforcement of immigration, which will discourage unlawful presence and illegal border crossings. In the future, the agency should overhaul the process of dispensing homeland security grants to promote resilience or preparedness. Many plans of the Department should comply with the authorized Patriot Act, which is among the effective counterterrorism tools. Intelligence frameworks and operations should also be initiated to increase the proficiency of law enforcement officers in combatting terrorism. The agency should rethink the strategy of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to provide adequate security to the aviation segment (West, 2012).

Conclusion

The Department of Homeland Security is a system, which operates in the U.S. The characteristics and behaviors of the agency discussed above have enabled it to perform its roles in the required manner. However, some behavioral issues affecting the management of the Department have weakened it, resulting in the advent of terrorist activities. Its past and historical information shows some significant events that have taken place, as well as activities that have led to the achievement of its core value and goals. The present and future needs determine actions that the Department needs to undertake in order to meet its responsibilities.