HLS201: Introduction to Homeland Security

Overview

While most Americans associate the Department of Homeland Security with terrorism and the terrorist threat, DHS is actually responsible for the preparation for, the prevention of, the mitigation of, and the response to a much wider portfolio of hazards. In this two week lesson we will further examine the evolving definition of a “hazard” and the increased emphasis on establishing an “all-hazard” approach to combating those threats. 

Mitigation, prevention, and preparedness constitute three important prongs of our emergency management cycle with response and recovery completing the sequence. We will further examine the pre-event components and phases of disaster management during this lesson.

Since the 9/11 attack, DHS has created preparedness guidelines that provide support for developing and maintaining critical homeland security and emergency management capabilities for state and local governments. We will discuss these mitigation and preparedness programs in depth. 

Lesson Objectives

At the end of this lesson, students will be able to do the following:

• Better understand the definitions of mitigation, preparedness, and prevention.
• Discuss the major differences between traditional hazards (hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, hazardous material incidents) and the relatively new hazards associated with terrorism.

Lesson Readings & Activities

By the end of this lesson, make sure you have completed the readings and activities found in the Course Schedule.

Hazards

Bullock, Haddow, and Coppola (2013, p.58) use the National Governors Association's definition of a hazard:

Traditional Hazards vs. Terrorist-Related Hazards

Terrorism has introduced an expanded set of hazards, often referred to by the acronym CBRNE (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive). These hazards must now be planned for in concert with traditional natural and man-made hazards. The main differences between traditional hazards and terrorist related hazards are as follows:

1. More is known about traditional hazards because of years of research, actual occurrence, and first-hand experience. Local and state first responders, emergency managers, and the public have learned how to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from a whole host of recurring natural disasters including floods, earthquakes, forest fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, and new man-made accidents such as hazardous material spills. Specialized equipment, training protocols, and practice in conjunction with revised construction standards and community planning events have certainly been updated, in many instances in reaction to events (e.g., Hurricane Katrina).
2. Terrorism in the United States has been a relatively recent phenomenon whereby individuals, organizations, or even nation states attempt to cause as much death and destruction as possible by finding weaknesses in local, state, or national security and emergency management procedures. The objective of terrorist violence is to ferment fear, panic, and distrust in government organizations with the hope of destabilizing civil society so as to advance their political, ideology, or religious agendas.

Reference

Bullock, J. A., Hoddow, G. D., & Coppola, D. P. (2013). Introduction to homeland security (4th ed.). Waltham, MA: Elsevier, Inc.

Mitigation/Prevention and Preparedness

Mitigation/Prevention

Mitigation efforts include all activities directed toward the prevention or reduction of risk associated with an all potential hazards. Mitigation activities include the analysis of two key components of risk, namely

1. the likelihood of an incident, and
2. the consequences of an incident. 

Through the systematic reduction of either of these two key components of risk, the potential destruction caused by either man-made or natural disasters can be significantly reduced. Since mankind has not yet learned how to prevent natural disasters such as floods or hurricanes, most mitigation efforts for these types of disasters are related to construction techniques. In the case of man-made disasters, including terrorism or accidents, mitigation efforts are directed toward both the prevention of incidents and the consequence management of incidents that do occur. For example, the massive reorganization of the federal government directed by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 created DHS, which was tasked with a multitude of prevention activities to include airline passenger screening, tighter border control, and immigration processes.

Preparedness

Simply put, preparedness activities include all those pre-disaster planning and readiness activities that will enable a rapid, efficient, and effective response to any disaster, crisis, or any other type of emergency situation. Preparedness activities include

• education,
• training,
• the development of standardized procedures, and
• the conducting of practice exercises, pre-positioning and stockpiling of equipment. 

These efforts are focused toward post-incident management and the minimization of destruction and loss of life.

Presidential Policy Directive 8: National Preparedness

Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 8 was released in March 2011 with the goal of strengthening the security and resilience of the United States through systematic preparedness for the threats that pose the greatest risk to the security of the nation.

PPD-8 defines five mission areas: prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery, and mandates the development of a series of policy and planning documents to explain and guide the nation’s approach to ensuring and enhancing national preparedness. PPD-8 states that national preparedness is the shared responsibility of our whole community. Every member contributes, including individuals, communities, the private and nonprofit sectors, faith-based organizations, and federal, state, and local governments. DHS describes our security and resilience posture through the core capabilities necessary to deal with great risks and utilizes an integrated and layered approach of a foundation. 

Strategic National Risk Assessment

In accordance with PPD-8, and in coordination with federal departments and agencies, a Strategic National Risk Assessment (SNRA) was conducted. The results of the assessment indicate that a wide range of threats and hazards pose a significant risk to the nation, affirming the need for an all-hazards, capability-based approach to preparedness planning. 

There is no doubt that the nation has made many positive strides toward improving preparedness for the full range of hazards at all levels of government and across all segments of our society. National preparedness has improved not only for the countless threats posed by those who wish to bring harm to the American homeland, but also for the many natural and technological hazards that face the nation’s communities.  

Reference

US Department of Homeland Security. (September, 2011). National Preparedness Goal. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from www.fema.gov/pdf/prepared/npg.pdf

National Preparedness Report: Key Findings

PPD-8 not only required a National Preparedness Goal, but also mandated a National Preparedness Report (NPR). The first NPR was released in March 2011 and is updated periodically. The most recent report was released in March 2013. As the NPR coordinator, FEMA worked with a variety of stakeholders to develop the NPR. FEMA collaborated with a host of federal interagency partners to identify quantitative and qualitative performance and assessment data for each of the core capabilities. In addition, FEMA integrated data from the 2011 State Preparedness Reports (SPRs), which are statewide self-assessments of core capability levels submitted by all 56 states and territories through a standardized survey.

Reference

US Department of Homeland Security. (March, 2013). National Preparedness Report. Retrieved July 8, 2013 from http://www.fema.gov/national-preparedness-report.