Detailed Analysis: Homeland Security Overview and Responsibilities

This report offers a comprehensive overview of the United States' Homeland Security, detailing its core duties and responsibilities, which include preventing terrorism and ensuring cyber security. It explores the nature of hazards, differentiating between natural, man-made, and technological threats, and examines the role of state governments in managing these risks. The report also delves into the concept of terrorism, distinguishing between domestic and foreign threats, and analyzes relevant state laws. It summarizes key findings and provides recommendations for enhancing security measures, such as improving cyber security and updating infrastructure. The report emphasizes the importance of the Department of Homeland Security in safeguarding citizens and maintaining national security.

Running head: AN OVERVIEW ON HOMELAND SECURITY.
AN OVERVIEW ON HOMELAND SECURITY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1AN OVERVIEW ON HOMELAND SECURITY
Executive Summary
The report aims to discuss the duties and responsibilities of the Homeland Security of the United
States. It discusses the meaning of hazards and the role of state governments in it. It also gives a
brief overview of terrorism and how it is being prevented. Lastly, it summarizes the essential
points of the report and gives certain recommendations on how to improve the security issues of
United States.

2AN OVERVIEW ON HOMELAND SECURITY
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................4
Duties and Responsibilities of the Homeland Security...............................................................4
Hazards........................................................................................................................................4
Terrorism.....................................................................................................................................5
State laws regarding Hazards.......................................................................................................5
State laws regarding Terrorism....................................................................................................5
Summary..........................................................................................................................................6
Recommendations............................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

3AN OVERVIEW ON HOMELAND SECURITY
Introduction
The report discusses the responsibilities and the objective of the homeland security of the
United States. It also analyzes about the various hazards that arises and how to overcome it by
providing certain recommendations. The Department of Homeland Security is a central agency,
which was created after the dreaded terrorist attacks. It protects the state from any harm caused
through acts of terrorism and it also provides cyber security among many other functions
(Sylves, 2019).
Discussion
Duties and Responsibilities of the Homeland Security
The department of homeland security was initially set up to prevent the gruesome acts of
terrorism, which was taking place in the United States, which was becoming a growing concern
for the people living there. The Department of Homeland Security covers the whole of United
States. The Homeland Security Council at the White House synchronizes the policies of the
Homeland Security in the United States. It is one of the third largest department in the United
States. The department of homeland security mainly addresses border and transportation
security, it aims to prevent terrorism, it also provides resilience to tragedies (White, 2016). The
main responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security is to protect its citizens from
terrorist activities, it also protects its citizens from cyber-crimes. The main aim or objective of
the Homeland Security of the U.S. is to protect the citizens from any kind of threat encroaching
upon the citizens (Petersen, 2013).

4AN OVERVIEW ON HOMELAND SECURITY
Hazards
Hazard is considered a risk, which increases the possibility of loss or damage. Man-made
and technological hazards are considered to be those hazards which are induced by human
activities. Natural hazards are those, which might have a negative impact on human beings.
These are inevitable accidents, which cannot be controlled or regulated. Homeland Security in
America had been created to ensure the safety of its citizens from any kind of threat. Thus, in
order to ensure safety to its citizens a department was set up. The homeland security in the year
2016 set up a risk assessment, which would characterize and identify the threats caused by
natural disasters (Montz, Tobin & Hagelman, 2017).
Terrorism
Terrorism is the act of unlawful violence, which effects the citizens of a nation with the
intention of causing an impact on the government. These are acts, which are committed by non-
state actors. The Homeland Security tries to detect explosives; it also tries to protect its
infrastructure by preventing cyber attack (Townshend, 2018).
Foreign Terrorism: These are acts committed by individuals who are connected with
foreign terrorist organizations.
Domestic Terrorism: These are acts committed by individuals of the state with extremist
ideologies with the intention of causing an impact on the government.
State laws regarding Hazards
The duties of the state are to monitor the circumstance and to determine whether federal
assistance is needed (Montz, Tobin & Hagelman, 2017). It also activates the emergency
operations center to provide assistance. If the disaster gets beyond control the governor issues

5AN OVERVIEW ON HOMELAND SECURITY
state emergency which activates various disaster preparedness plans. If the magnitude of a
tragedy is unknown, the state government informs concerned parties and take essential steps to
gather resources and inform the concerned authorities (Berkes, Lyles & Smith, 2014).
State laws regarding Terrorism
The state laws vary for individual states but they follow the Patriot Act, 2001 in general.
The U.S. Department of Justice is the regulating authority, which provides assistance in order to
prevent terrorism, but there are few states, which have made the terrorist activities to be state-
level felonies. The state ensures awareness of the potential threats that can be caused. Terrorist
activity poses a direct threat on the government. It is a gruesome act, which instills fear in the
minds of people. The state provides with victim compensation to the people who have been
effected by it and they additionally provide assistance to the people who have been injured due to
this cause (White, 2016).
Summary
Thus, from the above report, the following can be understood:
 The department of homeland security was created in order to prevent the gruesome acts
of terrorism and to ensure safety among its citizens.
 Protection and assistance was given to the citizens from any kind of threat, which would
affect the peace, and harmony of the state.
 Prevention of terrorism was necessary as it posed a threat on the government.
 The state governments played a significant role in controlling disasters.
 Terrorist activities are considered to be state-level felonies in several states of U.S.

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Recommendations
Based on the above report, it can be said that the Homeland Security has tried to prevent
terrorist activities and it had been effective but it needs to improve its cyber security and various
other infrastructure needs to be up to date. It needs to provide assistance to the state authorities
with better equipment to prevent such a gruesome act from happening in the future.

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References
Berke, P. R., Lyles, W., & Smith, G. (2014). Impacts of federal and state hazard mitigation
policies on local land use policy. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 34(1), 60-
76. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0739456X13517004
Montz, B. E., Tobin, G. A., & Hagelman, R. R. (2017). Natural hazards: explanation and
integration. Guilford Publications.
Petersen, K. L. (2013). The corporate security professional: A hybrid agent between corporate
and national security. Security journal, 26(3), 222-235.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/sj.2013.13
Sylves, R. T. (2019). Disaster policy and politics: Emergency management and homeland
security. CQ Press.
Townshend, C. (2018). Terrorism: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
White, J. R. (2016). Terrorism and homeland security. Cengage Learning.