This letter is made to the department in response to a request for information
There have been multiple shootings and acts of terrorism in various sections of the country recently. Incidents like the Vegas massacres have instilled dread in the American people while showcasing the country’s weaknesses. Both American citizens and other foreign-born people living in the United States have perpetuated these incidents, including the majority of recent shootings and terror attacks on the general public and local businesses. It is imperative that the American public receive the necessary protection from the dangers of these criminals and terrorists who have made it their mission to cause insecurity in the country. The importance for business owners and their clients to have a safe environment to conduct their operations needs to be made a reality since not only will it boost the economy but also improve the lives of the American citizens. While the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is concerned with ensuring that the United States (U.S) is safe for its citizens, the private sector also needs to play a crucial role in providing the same is achieved.
According to Morabito and Greenberg (2005)
The private sector owns and protects about 85 percent of the infrastructure in the U.S. This statistic shows the importance that the private sector has on the economy of the country, and the need to keep the borders of the nation safe. The attacks on the twin towers during the 9/11 attacks gave a clear picture of the devastation that terror could cause to the country. Statistics by Templeton and Lumley (2002) on the 9/11 attacks indicate that 2,823 deaths were recorded and an estimated loss of $21 billion incurred on property losses and insurance costs, which had a significant effect on the economy of the nation. The results of terrorism are devastating, and these concerns are equally shared among the private sector bodies especially the local businesses, thus, the recommendation to involve these entities in protecting the homeland. Corporations such as FastMove Taxis Company is bound to agonize the effects of threats to the homeland since it is engaged in a critical infrastructure sector, the Transport systems sector.
The transport systems sector plays a crucial role in the country
It provides jobs for many Americans, provides transport services for people and goods, and boosts the economy by tax remuneration. The importance of the transport systems sector is the capability to move people from one place to another in the country, which is an essential requirement for any growing nation (Greene & Plotkin, 2011). Despite the transport systems sector having its specific roles, it also needs to be involved in the protection of the homeland due to the relative magnitude it has in the country. Businesses such as FastMove Taxis have a sizeable number of vehicles that provide transport services and can be of assistance to the DHS in its efforts to protect the homeland. Help to the DHS can be in the form of engaging individual businesses in the transportation systems sector to be involved in finding ways to protect the homeland by fostering dialogue among these companies and the DHS. Dialogue is to have a constant communication platform to assist in awareness creation to prevent crime and terror attacks to the society and helping each other in the event of these attacks taking place.
The transport systems sector has the responsibility of improving the security
And the resilience of the nation’s transport infrastructure continually, to protect the businesses in the industry as well as ensure the security and the safety of most of the transportation service users (Reggiani, 2013). Safeguarding the passengers using transportation means whether, by train, flight or vehicles is vital, since these movements are within the freedoms of the constitution and they result in improving the economy of the country by creating employment and providing income for the service providers. Equally, the transport systems sector is essential since it allows for a lifeline in the society and assists in emergency response and recovery operations when disasters take place in the community. The vast transport systems network provides the law enforcers with a useful platform to invest their efforts in creating relationships aimed at information sharing and protecting the American citizens from harm. The private sector companies in the transport systems sector often conduct risk assessments, develop strategic plans, implement risk management programs and conduct training and exercises for threat prevention.
The transport systems sector also needs to collaborate with the DHS
In the efforts to wade off any threats to the homeland. Collaboration between the law enforcement and the private companies in the transport systems sector is essential since the work of protecting the nation cannot be done alone because neither entity has sufficient resources to tackle threats posed to the U.S (Morabito & Greenberg, 2005). Collaboration between the transport systems sector and the DHS is a productive effort that serves to benefit both parties. The transport systems have influence in all parts of the country and the information on potential threats can be relayed to government’s law enforcement agencies with ease. Individuals who commit terror attacks also use the transport system and in some instances target those operations due to a large number of everyday users either transporting goods or utilizing the services. Suspicious vehicles and persons using the transport infrastructure should be reported to the available authorities for purposes of safety. Collaboration also requires that information on possible threats to the sector that the DHS gathers needs to be shared with the transport systems sector to warn the targeted businesses and avoid casualties and destruction of property.
The transport systems sector also needs to create meaningful partnerships
With the DHS and other law enforcing agencies for purposes of sharing of resources. The law enforcers need to have their agents stationed undercover in some of the active and vulnerable areas in the society, who could pose as staff in many areas of the transport systems sector that cuts across the whole of the country. Alternatively, the DHS could also provide several strategic employees in the transport systems sector with education and training on how to handle situations involving threats to the homeland by having liaisons in the transport sector; the law enforcers have an effective means of information collection within the critical infrastructure sector. Such partnerships aid the country in protecting itself against attacks since various skilled persons in the society can stop terrorists and other crimes before they happen and in the event, it is happening can act fast to reduce the casualty count. Partnerships also provide ease in response time during disasters, an efficient communication platform, and a dependable and consistent tool for data, information, and intelligence sharing between the private sector and the law enforcing agencies (Chen et al., 2013).
The nature of these relationships between the transport systems sector
And the law enforcement agencies most of the time experiences several challenges. According to Barry and Bannister (2014), the barriers to information sharing between the private sector and the government law enforcement agencies, arise from mistrust and misinformation. While others in the society provide misleading information on crimes and threats to the homeland, others lack the faith that something or an action will be taken addressing their concerns. These challenges of mistrust are responsible for most of the threats to the homeland executed by persons of interest whose background would have been investigated and the culprits apprehended. While misinformation leads the law enforcers into wrongful convictions, wastage of time, and depleting the resources provided to the law enforcing agencies by the government. Misinformation is also a hindrance to the transport systems sector since it creates mistrust with the law enforcement agencies who sometimes fail to respond due to inconsistent information and a history of false information by particular businesses. False information also creates doubts in the investigation since some information are given for purposes of prejudice and business competitions which make some companies become blacklisted falsely and resources wasted in investigating their dealings.
The transport system specific plans identifies that the threat to the transport infrastructure
Is vital to be managed due to the critical nature of the infrastructure and its importance to the nation. The transport system specific plan is used as a planning tool for the critical infrastructure owners and operators, the state, local, regional, national agencies that are focused on the common goal of strengthening and securing the resilience of the transport infrastructure. Top of the agenda is to manage the security risks to the physical, human and cyber elements of the critical transport infrastructure. The realization of such prospective policies and regulations to the private sector and especially the transport systems sector will benefit the nation in its efforts to fight terrorism and threats to the homeland. Transport specific plans assist the government in having a collaborative framework between the transport sector and the law enforcing agencies including the DHS to collaborate and protect the country against external and internal threats to the American citizen.
In conclusion, the need for a safe America is second to none
Therefore, both the private sector and the DHS play a crucial role in the realization of border security and internal threat nullification to protect the American citizen. Private businesses suffer the most in the event of attacks to the motherland, and it is of note that the society and the economy are equally affected since these companies make up 85% of the economy. The transport systems sector is among the critical infrastructure sectors in the U.S and it imperative to safeguard it from threats, which may affect the essential networks of transport of the country. There is the need for collaboration and partnerships between law enforcing agencies and the transport systems sector, to enable sharing of information and communication to prevent terror attacks to the country. Despite the challenges of mistrust and misinformation affecting the efforts to share information, there needs to practical solutions to address the issues to reduce the vulnerability of attack to the transport systems sector. Promotion of best practices in the private sector and efficient use of transport system specific pans will improve the security of the homeland if efficiently utilized.
References
Barry, E., & Bannister, F. (2014). Barriers to open data release: A view from the top. Information Polity, 19(1, 2), 129-152.
Chen, J., Chen, T. H. Y., Vertinsky, I., Yumagulova, L., & Park, C. (2013). Public–private partnerships for the development of disaster resilient communities. Journal of contingencies and crisis management, 21(3), 130-143.
Greene, D. L., & Plotkin, S. E. (2011). Reducing greenhouse gas emission from US transportation. Arlington: Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
Morabito, A., & Greenberg, S. (2005). Engaging the private sector to promote homeland security: law enforcement-private security partnerships. US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance.
Reggiani, A. (2013). Network resilience for transport security: Some methodological considerations. Transport Policy, 28, 63-68.
Templeton, T., & Lumley, T. (2002). Statistics from 9/11 and the aftermath. the Guardian. Retrieved 23 November 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/aug/18/usa.terrorism.
