Private Sector Homeland Security

On February 1, 2010, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued the first quadrennial review as a concerted national effort (“Bottom-up review report,” 2010). The review targeted at creating a safe and secure nation, and enhance their resilience against terrorism, and other hazards affecting the American lives, interested, and aspirations. During the second Quadrennial Homeland Security Review, they established five basic strategic priorities, which fell under five homeland missions to address threats and risks affecting the United States.  The areas emphasized include prevention of terrorism and enhancing security, secure and manage U.S. borders, enforce and administer the immigration laws, safeguard and secure cyberspace, and strengthen the national preparedness and resilience. Consistently we explore and present specific information on various ways in which the private sector can contribute towards the accomplishment of each of the mission areas moving forward.

Prevent Terrorism and Enhance Security

Terrorism has been a huge challenge for the United States. According to the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review, preventing terrorist attacks and enhancing security in the United States remains the cornerstone of homeland security. During the review, it was noted that although the terrorist threats have evolved, they still remain real and may have become harder to detect. Consequently, the country continues to face both domestic-based coming from people who are inspired by extremist ideologies to commit acts of terrorism and international-based attacks. For the United States, the domestic-based attacks are the hardest to detect and pose a serious threat to the nation. Thus given the nature of the threat, it is important to engage both the public and private sectors to help the Department of Homeland Security achieve its mission of preventing terrorism and enhancing security.

Terrorism is a society challenge that the private sector can play a significant role to curb and enhance security. Besides and as Hayes & Ebinger (2011) notes, terrorism often occurs outside the jurisdiction of state authorities and thus becomes a challenge for the government to address the issue alone. The private sector owns a majority share of the nation’s infrastructure, representing a point of vulnerability in which terrorists can inflict direct or indirect harm. Along with that, this fact shows the massive potential of the private sector in intelligence gathering. In light of this, the quadrennial homeland security review proposed that in order to effectively prevent terrorism, it is important to work with both the private and public sector. The proposal was informed by past events such as the Boston Marathon terrorist attack, the shooting at the Sikh temple in Winconsin 2012. According to the review, the most effective strategies to prevent terrorism and enhancing security is by deterring recruitment or individual radicalization, which can be possible if the government received such information. The review emphasized the importance of engaging the private sector through campaigns such as “if you see something, say something.” The campaign is designed to sensitize the private sector about remaining vigilant and reporting any suspicious activities they observe. Without spending a lot of money on it, the private sector can train their employees to identify basic signs of suspicious activity and inform them how to report what they have seem through the phone or internet. Another campaign is the “Business Partners Against Terrorism (BPAT),” that was designed by Sheriff Bradshaw with a mission of enabling business partners to exchange information that may lead to a potential terrorist (Stewart, 2018). The mission is not to have the group interrogate people, but to be observant of any out of the ordinary thing and report it to the authorities for further investigations. Instead of attempting to motivate a large number of people, a small group of business partners may take the initiative seriously and help the government in the fight against terrorism.

Secure and manage our boarders

Protecting the borders of the United States from illegal entry of people, weapon and drug smuggling, and contraband is an important aspect of the Department of Homeland Security. Over the years, the department has deployed exceptional levels of personnel, technology, and resources to guard the nation’s borders. The critical improvements have been made in the Southwest border and the Northern border, where Border Patrol has been strengthened, technology, and infrastructure to secure the maritime borders (“Securing and managing our borders,” 2017). The quadrennial Homeland review emphasized the importance inventing strategies that are smart, cost-effective, and conducted in a manner that would keep the borders safe and also acceptable to the American citizens. Consequently, it is important to note that the mission can only be successful if the government and private sector worked together. In this case, the private sector has been sensitized to report any suspicious activities to the United States Customs and Border Protection through a toll-free telephone number. The number to contact is provided for both local and international callers.  The private sector in the transportation business can secure and enhance security by maintaining security systems in their business. Things such as screening crew members, checking shipping containers, and sharing suspicious information they may find during their business can help improve the U.S. Border protection and enhance security.

Enforce and Administer our Immigration Laws

The Department of Homeland Security is focused on enforcing the United States immigration laws while streamlining and facilitating the legal immigration process for the 11.5 million people who have lived in the United States for more than 10 years (“The 2014 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review,” 2014). The department has already embarked on the identification of persons and removing criminal aliens who may be a threat to the American people, while still punishing employers who knowingly hire aliens and repeatedly break the law. Notably, too, this mission is closely related to the mission of securing national borders. The review proposes undertaking smart, effective, and efficient strategies to enforce and administer the nation’s immigration laws. On the other hand, the private sector can help in the accomplishment of this mission. More specifically, the private sector has a unique position as they represent a bigger percentage of employers as compared to the state. The private sector can help by denying immigrants the ability to secure an income, by denying them employment. Apart from that, they should inform the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by passing them the information that could be helped in tracking down and deporting immigrants.

Safeguard and Secure Cyberspace

As information technology integrates with physical infrastructure, there are increased risks with high-scale consequences that have the potential to disrupt or destroy the services delivery to the people. In several ways, a cyber threat has leveled the playing field and now presents a unique concern to the security of the United States cyberspace.  The quadrennial Homeland Review noted that the energy sectors, telecommunications, transportation, financial services among others are subject to sophisticated cyber threats. The DHS is responsible for coordinating efforts to counter cyber attacks and other risks and must, therefore, work with the public and private sector to safeguard and secure the nation’s cyberspace. Consequently, as Raduege (2013) notes, the private sector is as responsible as state authorities in safeguarding and securing the nation’s cyberspace. Virtually, a high volume of research and development that has enabled the development of effective firewalls, software programming, and even hardware comes from the private sector. Thus, the private sector, and especially companies such as Apple and Microsoft can partner with the government in developing software that is powerful and resilient to unauthorized intrusion and attack of viruses. Another way that the private sector can help in the fight against cyber security is by informing the government on criminal activities, which can assist the DHS in tracking down the criminals and preventing subsequent attacks. Along with that, the private sector should protect their IT infrastructures from cyber attacks by preventing unauthorized access and malicious attacks in form of viruses from cyber criminals.

Strengthen National Preparedness and Resilience

The United States is often exposed to several natural disasters that have had detrimental consequences on the nation and its people. Such include the likes of Hurricane Katrina that exposed how vulnerable the United States was to natural disasters (Daniels, Kettl, & Kunreuther, 2011). The Department of Homeland Security understands the importance of disaster preparedness and the ability to respond faster to the disasters when they happen. Ideally, natural disasters have several devastating effects on business operation and sustainability. Tropical disaster affects the agriculture and rural infrastructures such as transportation services, shelter, and safe drinking water among others. The key to reducing the risk of disaster is through mitigation. Consistently, the private sector has a role to play by specifically developing technologies and business models that enable early warning, resilient infrastructure, and risk pooling. More specially, the private sector could invest in technologies that link sensor networks to provide timely information about where the hazards are likely to hit. Such include systems such as IBM’s Smarter Cities programme that provides real-time information on the condition of the natural disaster, areas at risk, and emergency response assets (Cho, 2013). Businesses can also come up with financial models to help cities hit by the disasters manage the risks and when hit by the natural hazards manage the aftermath.

Ideally, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the federal agency defined by United States statue and responsible for homeland security. More specifically, the DHS is responsible for preventing terrorism and enhancing security, secures and manage U.S. borders, enforce and administer U.S. immigration laws, secure and strengthen cyberspace, and strengthen national preparedness and resilience to natural hazards. At the center of this, the private sector plays a critically significant role to accomplish or assist in achieving the five primary missions. Importantly noted, a great participation of the private sector in the five missions can significantly benefit the Department of Homeland Security and the entire United States. Consequently, while the partnership between DHS and the private sector has been in existence for only a short period, their room for growth as their collaboration intensifies. Their continued collaboration has the ability to make the United States safer and secure the country for the survival of the American people.

References

“Bottom-up review report.” (2010). Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved from: https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/bur_bottom_up_review.pdf

“Securing and managing borders.” Homeland Security. Retrieved from: https://www.dhs.gov/securing-and-managing-our-borders

Cho, A. (2013). Disaster resilience: the private sector has a vital role to play. The Guardian.Retrieved from:  https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/disaster-resilience-private-sector-role

Daniels, R. J., Kettl, D. F., Kunreuther, H., Project Muse., & National Symposium on Risk and Disasters. (2011). On risk and disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Hayes, J. K., & Ebinger, C. K. (2011). The private sector and the role of risk and responsibility in securing the nation’s infrastructure. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 8, (1), 1-27.

Raduege, H. D. Jr. (2013). The Public/Private Cooperation We Need on Cyber Security. Havard Business Review. Retrieved from: https://hbr.org/2013/06/the-publicprivate-cooperation

Stewart, C. (2016). Business Partners Against Terrorism: Information exchange designed to keep you safe. WPTV. Retrieved from: https://www.wptv.com/news/region-c-palm-beach-county/business-partners-against-terrorism-information-exchange-designed-to-keep-you-safe

“The 2014 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review.” (2014). Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved from: https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/2014-qhsr-final-508.pdf