Pros And Cons Of Government Preparedness

It was a chilly Friday morning at Sandy Hook Elementary School; students eager to learn. Around 9:30 am, teachers heard gun fire in the hallway. Immediately, the teachers scattered to get their children to safety. The teachers, pushing them into the bathroom, shoving them in closets, or even hiding them in cabinets. Still, if someone was to enter the room, they would do their best for them not to be able to get to the children.

More and more authorities continue to be taken away and have been spread across many agencies within DHS. “FEMA no longer manages a comprehensive emergency management program of mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery and the agency function that President Carter and the Governors envisioned in 1979 no longer exists” (FEMA, 2013). The sole focus has turned to terrorism disaster preparedness and FEMA has become somewhat dismantled and lost its ability to provide the command and control that it had prior to the move to DHS. This will prove to be a major flaw and will again, show the failure of FEMA in the next occurrence of natural disaster the United States faces. There are other agencies within the DHS that need to be scrutinized as

We have learned that it is not possible to prevent terrorist attacks, completely. [5]. Although, DHS, Homeland Security and the many agencies that have come together nationally and worldwide to end terrorism, work to mitigate threat of terrorism, in response and defense, there may never be a 100% certainty that an attack will not happen. And, it is important to understand that threats to the security of the nation do not stop at just

9/11, Criminal Justice Agencies and Homeland Security Thirteen years, two months and eight days have passed since September 11. Still, the remnants of a terrorist attack on the Twin Towers lingers among the public’s mind. Security has been beefed up with extreme standards, stressing the safety of the American public from eminent attacks. This has also created a boost in awareness to suspicious activities and personnel. To some, the ignorance is stronger than most because of the belief that the actions committed on 9/11 were meaningless, that it didn’t change a thing in American society.

Many schools are considering applying a controversial initiative which is arming teachers because of the fact that school shootings have been happening more often since Columbine. According to the Washington Post ,“...mass public shootings are on the rise, and schools are now viewed as vulnerable targets. One of the deadliest in history claimed 28 lives, including 20 children, after Adam Lanza opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012” (Wang). This shooting was the first mass shooting to really make parents consider their children's safety in public schools and have left some wondering what actions can be taken to prevent these shooting Yanan Wang shows the worry in her recent Washington Post article saying, “These

How do we prepare? That’s the question on everyone’s mind and everyone has a different opinion on what the nation should start with. However, instead of coming up with new ideas on how to better protect

Introduction This informational interview was conducted with Dr. Pamela Aaltonen, a Homeland Security instructor at Purdue University, and active member at the Tippecanoe Board of Health. Her role here is to frame issues in the concept of Homeland security and emergency management. Dr. Aaltonen holds a key role in Homeland Security, as many disasters contain human health issues, such as mass causalities, pandemic outbreaks, and sanitary issues following natural disasters. Dr. Aaltonen’s flavor of Homeland Security differs from the work that I normally see, but as displayed during the interview, Homeland Security is a multi-disciplinary field that requires cooperation across all fields.

The Division includes the Office of Emergency Management, the Office of Preparedness, and the Office of Prevention and Security (State of Colorado, 2015). Its mission, vision, and values are to "prevent, protect, mitigate, respond and recover from all-hazards" through the development of a comprehensive Strategic Plan in synchronization with the DHS (State of Colorado, 2015, p.1). The State of Colorado has its own unique concerns it must address. Colorado Concerns and Threats Critical

According to President Ronald Reagan, the 40th U.S. President (1981-1989), the gov-ernment should be highly accountable to its citizens, particularly when it comes to the spending of tax dollars. Reagan clearly expresses a critical perspective towards the role of the United States government in that excessive spending has been a significant problem. Reagan upholds a perspective of a classical liberalist in the way he criticizes the nature of the welfare state – one that is flawed when citizens lack incentive to work hard in achieving self-sufficiency and rely heavily on government support. That is, Reagan openly states a concern regarding fiscal and monetary policies where the government is spending possibly more than

Hurricane Katrina shift the position of the Department of Homeland Security from making natural disasters an equally as important as terrorism. This even showed that disaster planning requires a great deal of collaboration. The Department of Homeland Security who swallowed up FEMA where not quick to react to Hurricane Katrina because all their focus was spend on planning for a prevent terrorist attacks. The failure of the disaster response system resulted in over 1,200 lives lost in Louisiana and Mississippi. FEMA failed to work closely with its State and local counterparts and communications between these partners and the public were strained at best.

A catastrophic incident could result in sustained national impacts over a prolonged period of time; almost immediately exceeds resources normally available to state, local, tribal, and private-sector in the impacted area; and significantly interrupts government operations and emergency services to such an extent that national security will be threatened. (Reilly & Markenson, 2011, p.274) Analyze and explain real-life examples of disasters that overwhelmed a community, and its local resources. Evaluate and describe why an emergency management plan can fail.

It is a commonly known fact that “Uncertainty heightens fear.” The fear of the unknown, where or when or how the terrorists would strike next did permanent damage to the heart of america. Each attack was specifically planned to target symbols of American security and pride. In this way, the terrorists figured, they could force American into a mentality of constant fear, crippling their actions and influencing their decisions. Although a shadow of fear lingered over the United States for many years after the attacks, the sturdy american people fought their way back to a feeling of security and peace.

Given the robust nature of the homeland security system in the United States, the abilities to forecast and meet challenges that are presented to the nation will continue to be met. For all of the incidents that are prevented or dealt with in an acceptable manner, the incident that is most talked about is the one that slipped through the cracks. In order to prevent this from happening the homeland security machine needs to continue to be a well oiled machine that continually evolves and adapts to the changing

1) Government may intervene in a market in order to try and restore economic efficiency. One of the ways the government intervention can help overcome market failure is through the introduction of a price floors and price ceilings. If prices are seen to be too high, price ceiling or a maximum price could be imposed on a market in order to moderate the price of the product. This policy is often used when there are concerns that consumers cannot afford an essential product, such as groceries. The effect of a maximum price could create a shortage as it could lead to demand exceeding supply for that particular good.

Allender, Rector & Warner (2013) expounded disaster preparedness which involves a greater responsibility to the public by sharing timely and relevant information which may be utilized in disaster response; moreover, a responsibility as an advocate to stay safe and healthy in times of