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Breadth of Responsibilities
All of the DHS responsibilities relate back to the primary jurisdiction and mission responsibilities listed above. Information sharing and analysis, prevention and protection, preparedness and response, research, commerce and trade, travel security, and immigration all are functions of keeping our country safe from terrorists and responding to both manmade and natural disasters.
The auxiliary functions of the department such as the Secret Service, U.S. Coast Guard, FEMA, Immigration and Customs, the Transportation Security Administration, and the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) all add to the breadth of DHS functionality, and fall under the primary mission statement of the department. Even the OIG, which is responsible for auditing the internal functioning of DHS including fraud and abuse indirectly operates as a function of ensuring this primary mission is carried out effectively.
Is the DHS Effectively Organized?
After a couple of re-organizations over the years, yes, it is, in the sense that all of the agencies and departments within DHS have functionality that relates to the primary mission.
However, it is clear that the department continues to evolve from its original small and narrow beginnings as a response to 9/11. And as the global situation changes, so will the primary tasks of this department....
It simply has not reached full "maturity" yet.
Considerations have been made from time to include agencies such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the FBI in the DHS. However, the primary missions of each of these departments are distinct and separate from DHS. Though the FBI and ATF may be involved in the criminal aspects of terrorism or man-made disaster situations, their focus is primarily domestic and international crime. Besides that, the functionality of these agencies would add even more breadth to the DHS mission which could spread it even thinner than it is. It would also decrease the effectiveness of DHS' mission.
Two changes would make DHS more effective. The first is to reduce congressional oversight to perhaps two standing committees -- Senate and House -- and allow the DHS to function without 86 committees looking over its shoulder. It is unnecessary, burdensome, and detrimental to the efficient functioning of the department. And, second, create a position between directorates and the Secretary. This position would be in charge of DHS Operations -- the VP vs. The CEO -- and would be responsible for high-level department-wide operational integration of all DHS components. The mission of DHS is too diversified and every-changing not to have the position that every major corporation, and even the President has in his Chief-of-Staff.
Many states, such as Virginia, are training private security officers in order to ensure smooth cooperation and coordination between security companies without police powers and the police and sheriff's departments. In Washington D.C., the municipal police department requires private security officers to be licensed as "special police" officers in order to legally search or arrest people. Cooperation can reach significant proportions, as in the case of the Minneapolis Police
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The management of large organizations is a very crucial issue, whether they are government-related or not (Argyris, 1993; Argyris & Schon, 1978; Broom, Jackson, Harris, & Vogelsang-Coombs, n.d.; Brown & Brudney, 2003; Hatry, 1999; Haynes, 1999). Often, however, the government does not seem to realize that it must manage itself in the same way that a business would in certain aspects if it is to succeed and therefore it
In addition to this, the transportation security administration, customs and boarder protection department, citizenship and immigration services, immigration and customs enforcement, secret service, federal emergency management, and coast guard are part of the Department of Homeland Security (Department of Homeland Security 2008). This organizational structure, while certainly extensive, is rather complex. Although the department has undergone serious transformations since its creation, the Washington Post called it "hampered by severe
Beginning in October of 2005, organizational arrangements for emergency management functions on a federal level were put into place, in the reorganization begun by Secretary Chertoff. Pros and Cons about the Homeland Security Program There are good things about the Homeland Security Program in the U.S. A list of positives would include the fact that some safeguards must be implemented in order to keep the country safe. Local and national law
Homeland Security / Constitutional Issues Civil Liberties: These are fundamental freedoms interpreted by policymakers and courts over the years or assured by the Constitutional Bill of Rights (Pearcy, 2003-2016). Bill of Rights: This is an official statement of American citizens' fundamental rights, integrated into the U.S. Constitution in the form of ten Amendments, as well as into the constitutions of all states (Bill of rights, n.d.). Thought Police: This denotes a cluster of