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1 – 10 of over 2000
Book part
Publication date: 6 September 2021

Robert M. Lawler

Border security is a crucial part of the country’s broader homeland security efforts. It is a multifaceted and complex issue which attempts to accomplish two seemingly…

Abstract

Border security is a crucial part of the country’s broader homeland security efforts. It is a multifaceted and complex issue which attempts to accomplish two seemingly contradictory objectives – the prevention of people and goods from entering the country, while at the same time, facilitating lawful travel and trade. Although it is primarily a federal responsibility, securing the border crosses over multiple homeland security domains, as well jurisdictions. In recent years, numerous strategies and structures have been implemented to foster a whole-of-government approach to border security. This chapter presents border security in the larger context of homeland security. It examines the strategies and coordinating structures developed to create a secured border and an overview of the interaction of law enforcement agencies at the various jurisdictional levels. Although these structures create a robust network of mutually supportive agencies to effectuate border security, a major strategic challenge to securing the nation’s borders still persists.

Details

The Role of Law Enforcement in Emergency Management and Homeland Security
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-336-4

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 August 2012

Rahul Bhaskar, Bhushan Kapoor and Joseph Sherif

This paper aims to analyze provisions in the existing US laws and government directives for deployment, vigilance and persistence in managing homeland security.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to analyze provisions in the existing US laws and government directives for deployment, vigilance and persistence in managing homeland security.

Design/methodology/approach

Within about a year after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the US Congress passed various new laws and the executive branch of the government issued a series of directives to maintain domestic security. The approach of the study is to analyze the provisions of the laws and the directives with an aim of seeing how these will enable risk management considering that the resources are not unlimited.

Findings

The existing laws and directives enhance the ability of the USA to manage domestic incidents by establishing a single, comprehensive national incident management system. However, the major impediment to risk management is currently the lack of ability to share critical information among federal, state, local, tribal, public and private sector organizations. The government and private sectors should work together to form partnerships and to improve the flow of information. To make risk management processes truly effective, people need to be educated on their advantages and disadvantages so that they can use such tools appropriately to help them prioritize and allocate resources.

Originality/value

The paper advances research and strategies to manage homeland security and eliminate or at least reduce the risk of terrorist attacks.

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2009

Christopher G. Reddick and Howard A. Frank

Survey findings from Florida reveal that larger, higher risk communities perceive greater budgetary trade-offs, a view that supports in part the U.S. Department of Homeland

Abstract

Survey findings from Florida reveal that larger, higher risk communities perceive greater budgetary trade-offs, a view that supports in part the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s recently implemented strategy in distributing its grants. Per expectations, city managers with graduate education saw higher levels of readiness and lower threat risk than fire chiefs. Consistent with prior research, cities were reprogramming and using existing funds rather than new levies for homeland security initiatives. This finding was buttressed by results that recently enacted property tax limits and cuts in federal aid were seen as the greatest challenges to increased funding. Contrary to mainstream public administration writing, our respondents stated that restrained funding rather than intergovernmental coordination was the biggest issue they faced in meeting homeland security needs. Overall, our respondents saw a low risk of terror threat, a perception that may represent an accurate read of the operating environment or an implicit belief that higher levels of government will provide significant assistance in the event of a major terrorist attack or other conflagration.

Details

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, vol. 21 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1096-3367

Article
Publication date: 2 November 2012

Lonnie M. Schaible and James Sheffield

The events of September 11, 2001 forever changed policing with state and local law enforcement now playing a central role. In this new role many agencies have begun to re‐assess…

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Abstract

Purpose

The events of September 11, 2001 forever changed policing with state and local law enforcement now playing a central role. In this new role many agencies have begun to re‐assess how they best fulfil the demands of homeland security and provide traditional law enforcement. Intelligence‐led policing (ILP) has been advocated as one approach with the potential to confront both terrorism and traditional crime problems; however, the degree to which ILP has been widely embraced remains relatively unexamined. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate whether level of involvement with homeland security related intelligence subsequent to 9/11 has had a significant impact on interactions between state and federal agencies, and facilitated organizational change in state law enforcement agencies.

Design/methodology/approach

Using data collected from a survey of state law enforcement agencies, the paper examines whether involvement in homeland security and the allocation of resources toward intelligence have had an impact on organizational change consistent with ILP.

Findings

Findings suggest increased involvement in homeland security significantly increased interaction between some state and federal agencies and significantly impacted organizational functions of intelligence, grants, and planning. However, contrary to expectations, allocation of resources had little impact on levels of interaction between agencies or broader organizational functions.

Practical implications

Findings suggest that while advances are being made which are consistent with ILP, improvements could be made in the role of theory and evidence‐based practice in driving reforms. More thoughtful distribution of homeland security grants targeting organizational change may be useful in stimulating such efforts. The findings are instructional in how the contemporary context and emerging trends such as ILP are likely to affect organizational change. Specifically, they suggest that if ILP is a desired model for reform in policing, further incentives to pursue its objectives may be necessary.

Originality/value

Most studies of ILP focus on case studies of single agencies. There are no studies which explicitly examine the degree to which principles of ILP have been reflected in organizational change within a broad sample of agencies. The present paper assesses such changes within a national (US) sample of law enforcement agencies.

Details

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 35 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 February 2013

Sefer Yilmaz, Huseyin Ozgen and Recai Akyel

The main purpose of this study is to develop an understanding of how managerial methods can be used during the change process to direct employees' attitudes positively towards…

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Abstract

Purpose

The main purpose of this study is to develop an understanding of how managerial methods can be used during the change process to direct employees' attitudes positively towards change. This study also aims to provide considerable implications for the homeland security managers suitable for the applications on the area of homeland security. Paying requisite attention to the attitudes of employees towards change and careful selection of change management methods is considered critical for determining the ultimate success.

Design/methodology/approach

The data used in this study were obtained by the questionnaire survey method, analyzed by using a statistics software program, and main findings of the study were evaluated. The last section of this study has a discussion and a conclusion which includes specific evaluations and recommendations regarding the homeland security organizations and their practices in Turkey. Due to the large data set available, only the main findings are presented in this paper.

Findings

Findings suggest that the methods used, such as informing the employees about what is going on regarding change, consulting them and maintaining participation of the employees to the change process, have a positive impact on the attitudes of security managers towards change. This means that if an organization complies with the advice of the change literature asserting that the employees should be informed of, consulted and participate in the change from the outset of the process, the employees would probably commit themselves to change rather than resisting it.

Originality/value

The topic of this study is believed to be of vital importance in the area of homeland security organizations of Turkey and other countries in the context of change management for the sake of success in change initiatives. It is hoped that this study will make contributions to the existent literature in that it combines two disciplines, namely, change management and homeland security management, in just one case study. This combination would add considerable insights into the success and/or failure of the change initiatives launched in the organizations of homeland security generally and in Turkey specifically.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 26 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 6 September 2021

Eileen M. Decker, Matthew Morin and Eric M. Rosner

Cyber threats present constantly evolving and unique challenges to national security professionals at all levels of government. Public and private sector entities also face a…

Abstract

Cyber threats present constantly evolving and unique challenges to national security professionals at all levels of government. Public and private sector entities also face a constant stream of cyberattacks through varied methods by actors with myriad motivations. These threats are not expected to diminish in the near future. As a result, homeland security and national security professionals at all levels of government must understand the unique motivations and capabilities of malicious cyber actors in order to better protect against and respond to cyberattacks. This chapter outlines the most common cyberattacks; explains the motivations behind these attacks; and describes the federal, state, and local efforts to address these threats.

Details

The Role of Law Enforcement in Emergency Management and Homeland Security
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-336-4

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 July 2013

Kai S. Koong, Mohammad I. Merhi and Jun Sun

The purpose of this study is to find out whether efforts to improve the information security of government agencies and homeland information security have paid off and also…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to find out whether efforts to improve the information security of government agencies and homeland information security have paid off and also different incentives (internal/external) impact s on the improvement of information security of the government agencies?

Design/methodology/approach

This study examines the information security status of 24 federal agencies in the USA over the period 2002 through 2007 using latent growth modeling. The information security status of these agencies was tracked with the grades revealed in the Federal Computer Security Report Cards. In addition, the number of employees (internal threat incentives) and budgets incentives of federal agencies were gathered from the agencies and other governmental websites for the same period of time.

Findings

Results indicated that high critical‐information agencies even though they have an overall low performance in information security, they are performing better than the low critical‐information agencies regarding solving external threats. Results also revealed that whereas agencies have generally paid more attention to information security over the years, their performances are more pertinent to change in budget incentives than other incentives.

Research limitations/implications

The outcomes reported are confined to the data presented by the Federal Computer Security Report Cards. Another limitation is the number of employees that counts the total number of employees in the agencies whether they are related to the systems of the agencies or not. Finally, using a time‐lag analysis of budget to predict the current security score would be more straightforward, but this could not be applied in this study due to the insufficient sample size, as “the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform” no longer released the report cards after 2007.

Practical implications

The results should be of interest for the federal agencies that are included in this study, as well as for the organizations that are responsible for the information security of government agencies at different levels. Policy makers, IT managers, software developers and security specialists can also use the outcomes reported in this study for the better decision making that can enhance the information security in the public sector. The theoretical and methodological framework used in this study may also contribute to the current literature of homeland information security incentives and be helpful for future studies on its critical success factors.

Originality/value

This study examines fundamental issues that have not yet to be established. To our knowledge, this is the first study that assesses different incentives that have an effect on the Federal agencies' information security performance because of the lack of data in this domain. Also, the statistical techniques used to test the research propositions fit the objective of the study. Not only this, but the results found in this research assure the importance of one of the incentives that has been identified in the literature as a crucial element that affects the information security performance of the organizations.

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2012

Douglas A. Brook

There is a current argument that “national security” and “national defense” are no longer synonymous terms-that there is a new and broader definition for the activities that…

Abstract

There is a current argument that “national security” and “national defense” are no longer synonymous terms-that there is a new and broader definition for the activities that contribute to “the common defense.“ A whole of government approach is suggested as a means for integrating and coordinating national security policies and programs. To support this approach, recommendations have been made for an integrated national security budget. Focusing on the executive budget process, three approaches to an integrated national security budget are examined: organization-based, program-based and function-based. Though there are questions about the importance of budget structure and the effectiveness of program budgeting, a whole of government integrated unified national security budget could facilitate the fiscal trade-offs required between alternative means of pursuing national security objectives in the executive budget.

Details

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, vol. 24 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1096-3367

Book part
Publication date: 1 June 2004

Nancy M Dodge, Carlton J Whitehead and Brian J Gerber

The attacks of September 11th transformed homeland security into a central policy task for governments in the U.S., culminating in the creation of the Department of Homeland

Abstract

The attacks of September 11th transformed homeland security into a central policy task for governments in the U.S., culminating in the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Planning and preparation for counter terrorism were no longer secondary priorities. This article seeks to examine some of the salient organizational and management issues that could potentially facilitate or impair DHS’s successful integration of its varied 22 agencies, and its subsequent execution of its critical tasks associated with countering terrorism and bioterrorism. Characterizing this change as a type of punctuated equilibrium, this article closes by suggesting that a differentiated network structure offers a potentially powerful mechanism by which the DHS could proactively and effectively address many of these leadership, management and organizational challenges.

Details

Bioterrorism Preparedness, Attack and Response
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-268-9

Book part
Publication date: 6 September 2021

Mark R. Landahl and Stacy L. Muffet-Willett

This chapter examines lessons for response gleaned from 70 years of research on human and organizational behavior. These lessons for response are examined in the context of the…

Abstract

This chapter examines lessons for response gleaned from 70 years of research on human and organizational behavior. These lessons for response are examined in the context of the current homeland security policy environment for national preparedness. This chapter also focuses on implementation steps for current preparedness guidance by law enforcement agencies. It joins research knowledge and policy to inform law enforcement planners in the development of local strategic-, operational-, and tactical-level response plans.

Details

The Role of Law Enforcement in Emergency Management and Homeland Security
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-336-4

Keywords

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