Essay On Homeland Security

With the natural disasters happening during the 1960’s, the government was forced to pass legislation for the relief operations. Due to the unavailability of flood protection insurance in all the areas, the government was forced to start the measures to protect against future floods by passing the National Flood Insurance Act and introduced the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
During the Clinton administration, the Nunn-Lugar legislation was introduced to address the issues of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons that may lead to huge mass destructions. The Project Impact was launched to identify the risks of terror attacks and reduce the risks. The main aim of Project Impact was to establish communities that would integrate decisions about the risks and ensure a sustainable economy and quality life to its citizens.
Emergency management is different from the other four groups that fight against terrorism because emergency management involves mitigation programs in response to the disasters and makes sure to increase emphasis on terror activities by responding immediately. The goal of emergency management is to readily respond to a disaster, crisis or any type of emergency situation.
Cyber terrorism is defined as the misuse of the internet by the terrorist organizations to attack the computer networks, telecommunications and any such medium that causes havoc to the critical infrastructure of a country. It is important to prevent cyber terrorism because it may disrupt or lead to the shutdown of the critical infrastructure of the country, which in turn affects the economy of the country in an adverse way.
The three different forms of critical infrastructure are Emergency Services Sector, Energy Sector, Healthcare and Public Health Sector and many others. Critical infrastructure is defined as the assets, networks and other resources of the United States, whose destruction or disruption would have a vital effect on the national and economic security; and public safety. In order to reduce the vulnerabilities the government is establishing specific frameworks in order to locate and prioritize the critical infrastructure sectors and take measures to fill the loopholes in the existing system.
Mitigation is defined as a planned action to reduce or eliminate the risk to people and property, from hazards and their effects. It looks at long-term solutions to reduce the risks of terrorist activities. Mitigation involves the active participation of public and private sector participants, officials from the construction and building industry, business owners, insurance companies, politicians and many others. Preparedness is a state of readiness to immediately respond to the disasters. It involves planning, educating and preparing the people for all emergency situations.
The Presidential Declaration involves long-term federal recovery programs that are designed to assist the victims affected by the disasters. It involves the assessment of the damage followed by the agreement to provide state funds and resources in the disaster prone areas. The different types of Presidential declarations after a disaster are Major Disaster Declaration, emergency declaration, and catastrophe declaration. The response process involves the local police, fire and emergency personnel and the medical personnel.
The media plays a prominent role in effectively providing timely disaster information to the public and helps to act rapidly to tackle the situation. The timely information from the media helps to respond quickly to the emergency situation and facilitate response operations. The objective of future research to improve news media risk communication is to ensure accurate reporting so that the emergency management organization can plan immediate actions to reduce the loss of life and property.
The Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE), the National Center for the Study of Preparedness and Catastrophic Event Response (PACER), The National Center for Border Security and Immigration (NCBSI) are a few examples of the Homeland Security Centers of Excellence. The goal of the Homeland Security Centers of Excellence is to conduct multidisciplinary homeland security research and education and generate ideas for new technologies and critical knowledge to address both short and long-term needs.
The role of the Chief of Emergency Management is to respond to the incidents, both natural and man-made and take necessary actions in order to safeguard the individuals and public officials in the city, or town affected by the incidents. The Chief of Emergency Management must plan for emergencies, respond timely and effectively to disasters and conduct recovery actions promptly.