The 9/11 commission clearly identified a problem with communication between the Intelligence Community and State and Local Law Enforcement which resulted in a new edict (from the IRTPA) of Information Sharing yet clearance levels and accesses quickly became an issue in disseminating information to those with a need to know. To help bridge this gap, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 was passed to crate the DHS by bringing 22 under its umbrella with a primary mission of protecting the homeland from terrorism (Blum, 2010). To do so, DHS’s key mission is to collect, analyze, and disseminate key/related information and share it with the IC and nontraditional partners (state/local governments as well as the private sector) (Blum, 2010). Likewise, …show more content…
All these activities seem like a step in the right direction; however, according to Baggett and Collins, there isn’t any overarching architecture to support such information sharing or to create and maintain relationships with those needing the information – specifically the private sector (2010). Basically, the system should incorporate processes and procedures for ensuring the appropriate entities receive information pertinent to them at the appropriate classification levels. Likewise, Werther suggests fusion center analysts, limited in number, are responsible for sifting through a ton of information that could slow down the process (Werther, 2010). I thought Collins idea to create “sector” specialists was a good concept but I believe they should be recruited from the state, local, tribal, and private sectors DHS is trying to reach in order to bring with them knowledge of what the entity is lacking and how their operations work. As for an RFI process, this is an age old process that would, in my opinion, delay the receipt of information. Just like all these other entities, state and local Law Enforcement have a need for intelligence that should be shared and could be done with dedicated analysts and automated systems designed to help filter out unnecessary information. The system should pull from other police databases and should be fed with intelligence that could assist in solving, predicting or preventing criminal
September 11, 2001 was a day that everyone who was old enough to remember will remember for the rest of their lives. I was in the fourth grade when the World Trade Centers were crashed into. I remember our principal coming on the intercom and saying that we were not allowed to turn our televisions on. I did not understand the magnitude of the situation until I got home and my parents explained it to me. I remember that every plane I saw over my head scared me and I was afraid that a plane was going to be crashed into my home or school. The general population reaction to the attack was that of hysteria and worry. People were afraid of flying. People also feared that this was only the precursor to an even bigger attack that was being planned on the United States. The public wanted someone to blame for the incident and they wanted to know why the government had not prevented the attack if they had been given intelligence that an attack might happen. The years leading up to this terrible day in history were full of tough decisions. No one can say that the government was not interested in terrorism at all. They had small departments in the FBI and CIA that looked at and interpreted terrorism related intelligence. The decisions the government had to make changed the United States forever. There was not one factor that defined how the government dealt with terrorism collectively. The government had to take into account not only the actions to take against
“Prior to September 11th intelligence agencies and law enforcement failed to communicate with each other about terrorist hijackers… This lack of communications had its roots deep in the culture of government… Fortunately, in the Patriot Act, congress began to tear down the walls that cut off communication between intelligence and law enforcement officials” (Gerdes 36)
Prior to 9/11 the security of the United States was “across more than 40 federal agencies and an estimated 2,000 separate Congressional appropriations accounts”. (DHS History Office ,2017, p.4). This was a huge issue when it came to sharing intelligence. This was perhaps one of the many reasons that the terrorist of 9/11 were so successful. Shortly after 9/11, the United States found its self in need of an all-encompassing organization that shared information under one roof that enabled better protection of its infrastructure and its people at home, not just abroad. Shortly over a year later, in November 2002, Congress passed the “Homeland Security Act” (DHS.gov, 2017, para.2). With the creation of homeland security came conflict
The devastating events of 9/11 provided a forewarning to our country concerning the dangers of terrorism. However, it has created a particularly greater impact on the duties and standards expected of law enforcement agencies on all levels (local, state, and national). Law enforcement has begun implementing new tactics in an effort to prevent future terrorist attacks from threatening our national security. One aspect of policing in which terrorism has brought about is the process of information sharing between all levels of law enforcement. Our nation has also witnessed a change from traditional policing to that of a militarized one. Furthermore, after the incidents of September 11th, the
2). Domestic terrorism is usually committed by citizens of the United States, and documentation of terrorist activities on American soil have dated back to the 1950s. The 1970s heighten domestic terrorism by a “rash of skyjacking”, that is, taking a commercial airline hostage (Sauter & Carafano, 2012). Skyjacking incidents compelled the FBI and CIA to develop undercover strategies to enforce terrorist groups; however, these tactics lead to civil right violations. The federal agencies covert tactics and aggressive intelligence collection, “prompted congressional hearings and led to dramatic restrictions on domestic intelligence operations, including the creation of a bureaucratic wall between intelligence gathering and law enforcement” (Sauter & Carafano, 2012, p. 25). The “wall” that was previously stated halted information sharing between the intelligence community and local law enforcement. Communication and information sharing prevents redundancy in high priority investigations, and it could also provide first responders advance notice in life threatening
This paper will discuss how certain factors should be analyzed for both written and visual sources in consideration of use as a historical work. It will address the following major points when contemplating using a particular source while researching a topic. When to analyzing a written or visual document, a historian must analyze the author of the document. Historians must also realize that authors make certain choices when creating either visual or written sources, and this serves as another point of analysis. The general public may see written documents or visual sources (photographs in particular) as free of bias, but these documents often convey a particular point of view.
Today there is information sharing between agencies at the local and national levels; resources and staff are shared, bringing together individuals from various law enforcement and criminal justice agencies, FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Critics in the favor of keeping the wall have mainly focused on privacy grounds but have not paid serious attention to the impact the Wall might have on the national security. Despite strong evidence from the 9/11 report that the wall has contributed to the intelligence failure that resulted in the 9/11 attacks. The need to remove the wall is crucial to the public safety. The 9/11 report suggested that since the criminal investigators were not aware of the status or the content of intelligence investigations, they did not know what significance to attach to the targets of criminal investigations. To illustrate the fact, the report pointed out the following: Two of the September 11 hijackers resided with an FBI informant. However, the FBI’s law enforcement personnel were not aware of the
The Department of Homeland Security is liable for establishing the safety and defense of the U.S. from terrorism and natural disasters. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on America by terrorists, Department of Homeland Security’s main concern has been on federal measures to prevent terrorism attacks and handle other crisis situations. When the Department of Homeland Security was created it had four goals: to diminish America’s vulnerability to terrorism by securing the borders, minimizing the damage and speed the recovery from attacks that happen to occur, to develop technologies devices to detect terrorism and to share all intelligence gathered from all federal agencies (Haulley, 2006). These four
On September 11, 2001 America was blindsided with 4 terrorist attacks from Islamic group, al Qaeda this is what is known as one of the most tragic event this country has faced. This horrific day could have been prevented if the government and special forces would have followed the patterns and been more open minded about terrorism. This is why the commission report took place so we can be prepared for anything that comes any one that tries to attack.
The “need to know” system is an outdated and inefficient way of sharing information, both within a single agency and when it comes to interagency cooperation. The “need to share” system is a much more logical way to go about disseminating intelligence of all variations. The “need to share” system theoretically mandates the interagency sharing of information that is pertinent to national security , and operational success, thus paving the way for much more efficient operations between the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as well as other federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. If I were in charge of the DHS I would put into effect a long term interagency liaison program, that would be aimed at the sharing
In the past sixteen years the United States has seen significant changes to the national policies that protect the population and its critical infrastructure. Two main agencies that arose from the 911 Attacks were the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Homeland Defense (HLD). These two agencies are responsible for protecting countless potential terrorist targets, millions of citizens, and the thousands of miles of U.S boarders. How can two government agencies protect so many assets? This paper will explore the two agencies and identify key roles, responsibilities, resources, and operations. It will highlight the efforts shared between the two agencies and provide the authors own definition of the DHS. Lastly, this paper will identify our nation’s critical infrastructure and how it intertwines with the DHS and HLD, by discussing the resources needed to operate successfully.
The report of the "Strategies to improve the Department of Homeland Security, United States" has been presented to President of the United States of America by Director of National Intelligence, in accordance with Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA) of 2004 (Office of the Director of National Intelligence 2012). This report reflects the important steps that can be taken to improve the intelligence of Department of Homeland Security. This report will help the Department of Homeland Security to improve the functions of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) required by the department.
Since the attacks on September 11th, 2001, intelligence activities has been one of the most controversial issues facing this country with one of the most controversial being the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Created in November of 2002 and concepted just two weeks after the attacks, the DHS focuses in five goals; prevent terrorism and enhance security, secure and manage the borders, enforce and administer immigration laws, safeguard and secure cyberspace,
On september 11,2001, terrorist attacked new york.On this day about 3,000 people died and there was about 400 police and firefighters were serving to help protect the people.This day was one of the scariest. Since this day there have been dozens of terrorist attacks.People all over the world were surprised that this had happened. Everyone was trying there best to help out and keep everyone calm. In different countries people stood shoulder to shoulder to help out.