Risk Management In Homeland Security

As we move into a new era were a more robust and urgent homeland security program is needed, it is important to talk about how officials are managing all of the risk. There are a multitude of threats; from terrorism, where tactics are all the more unconventional an unpredictable, to climate change, with extreme weather conditions causing severe droughts or other catastrophic storms. The risk accepted by federal officials must be weighed and prioritized in a manner that is conducive to the longevity of the nation but also eliminates political or other personal agenda. To ensure a standardized approach the Department of Homeland Security adopted a risk management. The following will look at defining what risk management is as well as an example of how it is being incorporated within the homeland security enterprise and how doing so is of benefit.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Risk Lexicon (2010) states that “risk is a key organizing principle for homeland security strategies, programs, efforts, and activities” (p. 1). This means that risk management is a decision making tool that allows for the DHS to intelligently and efficiently make planning choices based on threat level priorities. Some of the choices that are made using risk management are where to allocate both physical and financial resources, types of training initiatives for a specific threat, technological initiatives and strategic planning for risk mitigation and asset defense.

The first step in risk management is to identify any and all threats. This is done by researchers and analyst. Until someone is smart enough to invent a

When it comes to the protection and mitigating of any structure or organization risk analysis and vulnerability assessments must be conducts so as to know what’s to be protected, the threats manmade or natural disaster, ranking the potential of threat as well as the probability. In terms of critical infrastructure the risk analysis and vulnerability assessment has guidelines from Homeland Security Presidential Directive Number 7(HSPD-7).

The ability of the Department of Homeland Security to effectively manage risk is vital to national security. Risk in general, is something that is permanent but because this is known, strategies can be used to mitigate situations as they present themselves. Government managers must manage risk in a complex environment taking into consideration the diverse missions and multiple objectives of public agencies (Hardy, 2014). The role of risk management within the homeland security enterprise was managed by best and worst case scenario planning. This is something that is inevitable as we are faced within a definite variety of threats. One way to grade or rank threats is through worst-case analysis. As this analysis can be used for worst-case scenarios the federal government cannot leave out lower ranking situations (Roberts, 2007). Since the Department of Homeland Security is charged with managing risk within the enterprise, a basic equation is used to help figure out different variables and how they would be affected.

Risk management is beneficial for the Department of Homeland Defense (DHS). Not only for the DHS, but for just about any situation needing a further analysis. How can an individual understand risks if homework is not accomplished beforehand? Risk can be associated with just about any situation. The focus will be to better understand the benefits of a risk management program as applied to homeland security operations. Also, the perception, influence, and balancing of risk elements, and how it can be applied in determining the level of risk.

office of the president has come up with three main strategies to respond to disasters and protect the critical infrastructure in the USA. The President has charged the National Strategy for Homeland Security (NSHS) with the responsibility to address the vulnerabilities that involve more than one sector or needs the responsiveness of more than one agency. The advanced strategy calls for interconnectivity and complementarity of homeland security systems. The second approach involves the National Strategy for the Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructures, and Key Assets (NSPPCIKA) identifies

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has developed and implemented many practices for managing both natural and man-made disasters. Emergency managers play an important role in ensuring these practices are fulfilled entirely and all disasters are handled efficiently and effectively. Through the development of plans emergency managers work to reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management does not avert or eliminate the threats but instead focuses on decreasing the impact of disasters. Issuance of the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 (HSPD-5) has forced Homeland Security to manage domestic incidents better and they have done so through the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The NIMS system offers a reliable nationwide model to assist “Federal, State, tribal and local governments, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector to work together to prevent,

City, state, and federal emergency management personnel across the United States encounter threats and hazards daily. Those threats and hazards can vary in intensity between low and high levels of danger with different severities of impacts on the citizens in affected areas. Sometimes threat and hazards can be detected before they strike. Those early warning periods allow emergency managers to enact preventive measures or prepare responsive plans and resources in order to stop or lessen the impacts of the threats and hazards on the community. In order to assist city and state emergency agencies with creating the foundations to draft, plan, and execute preventive and responsive emergency plans, The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (D.H.S.)

Most private sector corporations use a risk management process aimed at preventing a drop in demands for their product, hence the loss of money. Our government uses an approach aimed at preventing disasters both man-made and natural. Initially, the sole purpose of homeland security was to prevent terrorist attacks. Terrorist groups have evolved over time and so has DHS to meet the challenges of today that include disasters such as hurricane Katrina. However, terrorist groups do continue to plot against us and therefore the prevention of terrorism remains atop the priority list.

The risk management plays an important role within the Homeland Security enterprise, because can help to organize the tasks and prepare better each organization to respond effectively in the event of terrorist attack or natural disaster (CRS 2007). Since the 9/11 terror attacks, preparation and response to terrorist attacks has changed thanks to the federal government’s attitude to distributing funds to states and local governments (CRS 2007). To better comprehend the current approach to each phase of the grant program development, it’s important to understand its origin (CRS 2007). While the nation was begin to understand the importance of homeland security, the development of the grant program and the risk management methodologies was happening at the same time (CRS

The principals of identifying risks, assessing risks, and managing risks are used throughout the homeland security enterprise to mitigate risks posed to the public, critical infrastructure, and ultimately national security. According to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) (2010) Quadreannial Homeland Security Review Report, “homeland security is about

Risk management is the term applied to a logical and systematic method of establishing the context, identifying, analyzing, evaluating, treating, monitoring and communicating risks associated with any activity, function or process in a way that will enable organizations to minimize losses and maximize opportunities. (Lecture notes)Risk Management is also described as 'all the things you need to do to make the future sufficiently certain'. (The NZ Society for Risk Management, 2001)

Good security management requires risk management to mitigate or reduce risk to an acceptable level within an organization. Security management’s objective is to protect the company and its assets. A proper risk analysis will identify the company’s major assets, threats that put those assets at risk, and estimate the possible damage and loss a company may endure if any of the threats were to become real. With a good risk analysis, management can determine the type of budget they want to set to mitigate threats. Risk analysis justifies the cost of the countermeasures against the threats and determines the benefit or worth of security

The reader will become familiarised with the term risk and it definitions from specifically the ISO 31000 standard of risk management and also the definition of risk from the criminology crime triangle. Which one of these two definitions that are the most suitable for usage within the security industry will be discussed and evaluated. How and why consequence is important when assessing risk priorities and determining where to allocate resources will be examined and answered.