Local Homeland Security Agencies

The Department of Homeland Security was created in 2003 by consolidating agencies as diverse as the U.S. Secret Service to the U.S. Coast Guard, all said 22 federal agencies employing 220,000 people formed the new agency. The first real test of the Department of Homeland Security came just two years later when Hurricane Katrina stuck land. The lead agency for the disaster was the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which, by many accounts, arrived too late with too little. Over two years later and still the citizens of New Orleans are still trying to recover from the disaster. The response efforts to Hurricane Katrina brought to the forefront shortcomings such as lack of emergency communications, poor computer integration (system interoperability) and information sharing. These were all problems experienced during the Hurricane Katrina response but a recent New York Times article points out that these problems continue to permeate not just FEMA by the whole of the Department of Homeland Security.


The DHS disputes these charges and points out the insurmountable challenges of merging so many divergent agencies with dissimilar missions to meet the challenges of protecting the homeland. The realization of the complexities of these tasks is reflected in how the DHS is modifying recommendations in the 9/11 Commission Report. For example, the DHS recently changed its goal from inspecting 100 percent of all shipping containers arriving at U.S. ports to more random screening based on new technology to identify suspicious containers. The original goal had proved unachievable due to cost and time. Shipping containers illustrate one of the tendencies of homeland security to invest in emerging technology whenever faced with an insurmountable challenge. Another example is the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) adding more and more technology to passenger screening yet only recently has additional screening or airport employees and aircrew been brought up. The Airline Pilot’s Association is against additional screening of pilot’s and aircrew flying as passengers citing the extensive background checks that airline aircrews already undergo. The association feels additional screening will add more delays with little increase in overall security. While the pilot’s association is concerned about their members, the issue brings up an important point. Technology being employed by TSA, regardless of the sophistication, is still only at the screening area. Terrorists, in theory, are still able to arrive at the airport BEFORE any technology can be used to detect their presence or the presence of any weapons. Security is already at a disadvantage if a terrorist, or anyone determined to commit violence, arrives at the airport without any prior warning. TSA should not be put into the position of being the first line of defense; they should be part of a continuum of security that begins with law enforcement and the local community. Reliance on high-tech solutions does not always add that human element needed to get advance warning of hostile intent by a formerly unknown operative.

Technology can be effectively used to overcome shortfalls such as insufficient manpower or time, however the reliance on technology has become the default setting for implementing homeland security especially at the local level. DHS grants last year totaled $1.7 billion to local homeland security programs in 2007. However, the majority of these grants are for purchases of technology and not for the more enduring programs such as training.

DHS grants are broken into five programs to be used in a regional approach to strengthening homeland security. Grant funding priorities include reducing risks of improvised explosive devices and radiological, chemical and biological weapons. They emphasize interoperable communications, information sharing and citizen preparedness. HSGP fiscal year 2007 funding totals were:

State Homeland Security Program (SHSP)- $509.3 million

Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program (LETPP)- $363.8 million

Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI)- $746.9 million

Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS)- $32.0 million

Citizen Corps Program (CCP)- $14.6 million

With the exception of the last category, DHS grants are applied to big-ticket items (such as new decontamination equipment, emergency medical response units, or equipment for detecting weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The problem with these grants is that assumes another attack along the lines of 9/11 by an outside organization such as Al Qaida. The technology purchased by these grants is of little use to a small community that may never face an Al Qaida planned attack but could very easily face a disaster created by a disgruntled employee at the local chemical manufacturing plant or food processing plant. The motivations may differ but the results are the same. Local homeland security agencies, along with their communities, need to have the ability to train and improve their interoperability. While technology does offer some opportunities for improvement in this area, it still comes down to people developing and maintaining the networks formed best by training and working together. The DHS grants force communities to create scenarios requiring high-end technology to justify the amount of the grant. In reality, the local homeland security agency would be better served by focusing on the Universal Task List (UTL), which has more irrelevance to many communities rather that trying to prevent the next attack from Al Qaida. This does not mean smaller communities may not be faced with discovering an active terrorist cell in their community, only that there are far more likely situations facing communities that aren’t related to terrorism but would require some of the same skill sets.

Technology, regardless of how advanced, has a limited life cycle, which may be shortened by the arrival of newer technology or by tactics that render the technology obsolete. Smaller communities may have state-of-the-art equipment today but find themselves unable to maintain it over the course of years. The other problem with technology is the need to continually train on the technology. Depending on the technology and its applicability to normal requirements, the equipment may get relegated to being used once a year or less. Immediately following the events of 9/11, Air National Guard bases received high-tech equipment for passive detection of threats to the base. The equipment was procured under emergency funding and sent out to the bases. Much of the technology sat dormant however since there was no funding available to set the equipment up. Similar gaps may occur in local communities that purchase high-tech items only to find out the cost of setting it up or maintaining is goes beyond the scope of the DHS grant.

Training tends to get short-changed in most grants due to the perception of training as a “soft skill”. Unlike equipment or personnel, training is harder to measure and account for in audits. It is difficult to establish a measure of effectiveness for training conducted through a grant. There is no empirical way to know for certain whether or not the training actually occurred or whether the students actually learned anything. Unfortunately, training personnel has a more enduring impact than technology and properly trained personnel build their own strategies flexible enough to deal with ever-changing threats facing the local community. Going into the seventh year since the attack on 9/11 the homeland may have more equipment to detect potential terrorists but it does not appear that local homeland security agencies are anymore capable when it comes to interoperability. Those enamored of technology will point out the numerous software applications out there to help improve interoperability and the latest routers to handling data from multiple agencies. What are missing in all of this are still the basics. The people of these agencies have to feel comfortable with one another and develop the necessary networks THEN the appropriate technology can be applied to streamline the flow of information. Even in the 21st Century, it still starts with a handshake and business card.