Terrorism and Homeland Security

Homeland security

By: Larry K. Gaines & Victor E. Kappeler

Unit #1, Chapters 1-4, Question #1

The governments approach to homeland security (HS) has endured many changes since 9/11. The definition of homeland security can be defined and interpreted differently based on who you ask. There are both advantages and disadvantages to having the nation’s emergency management agencies under a single organization. The department of homeland security (DHS) has six critical mission areas from which it operates. Since the formation of the department of homeland security, many agencies have been stripped of their independence and now fall under the department of homeland security.

Homeland security is a broad term that can take on many different definitions depending on the person and their understanding of the term. When thinking of homeland security, most peoples first thought is terrorism. However, homeland security is so much more than just that. Since 9/11, homeland security has broadened its responsibilities to include all catastrophic events, for example: earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, fires, etc. One of the main missions of homeland security is to protect critical infrastructure and key assets, such as: transportation systems-airports/subways/train stations, government facilities, energy, etc (Gaines & Kappeler, 2012, p. 57). My own personal definition of homeland security, based on the book Homeland Security, is the protection of our people and infrastructures from within our nation’s borders. Homeland securities job is to protect the citizens of our nation from a multitude of events ranging from acts of terrorism, including both international and domestic threats along with natural disasters. Homeland security also includes protecting critical infrastructure assets, which are broken down into three primary categories, including: human, physical and cyber. Human assets are the gathering of large groups of people for various reasons, such as: social...