Analyzing Threats, Terrorism, and Hazard Risks

(Colorado Citizens Concerned)

By Snake Blocker, Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas

 

The legal basis of current DHS Jurisdiction, mission, and responsibilities

The legal basis of current DHS jurisdiction, mission, and responsibilities will be covered first. DHS stands for Department of Homeland Security. DHS is part of the United States government, and it is an internal agency. DHS is responsible for keeping the United States citizens safe. To do this. DHS must pay close attention to the borders around the United States. DHS has a role to monitor and control the borders and prevent border crossing. DHS must enforce laws and policies regarding immigration and illegal crossings. DHS must also respond to natural disasters and natural catastrophes. DHS must protect the US citizens from terrorist attacks, both foreign and domestic. The borders around the United States are not just on land but also on the surrounding waters and airspace. Monitoring of those traveling and moving commerce are a huge responsibility of the DHS. DHS protection allows for a striving tourist market and businesses. Integrity is key for all employees of DHS to have, given we are dealing with the highest level of security for the nation. DHS must also react to domestic emergencies. DHS must investigate and respond to acts of threats and terrorism, as well as to enforce policies and laws regarding those that break immigration laws. The United States policymakers and congressional commissions realized there were multiple gaps that needed to be addressed among the intelligence community. There was a need for a Fusion Center and intelligence sharing among various agencies (LII, 2023).

The legal definition of hazards, including man-made or technological and naturally occurring hazards

     The legal definition of hazards is objects that have the potential to damage human life. Objects are interchangeable with agents. When a hazard is from a direct result of human intervention then it is called a man-made (or woman-made) hazard. Humans are not perfect; therefore, the human element opens up the possibilities of neglect and incompetence, which can lead to catastrophes. Human error can create billions of dollars in damage. Examples could be a person throwing a cigarette out their car window and an entire forest being destroyed. A captain of a ship can miscalculates a route and sink an oil transport vessel.  Errors in technology can also lead to disaster. A user may make a mistake and push the wrong controls and a ship may ram the pier. A technological hazard involves such dangers. Technology can miscalculate a flight pattern and a pilot might not notice they are flying into a precipice. Technology can also be hacked. Industry and technology have created a lot of pollution. Large power plants can let off radiation. Manufacturing plants and transport vessels and trucks can spill chemicals. The United States experiences natural hazards each season, as the landmass is vast and there are various terrains, plus we have coastlines, fault lines, and a few volcanos. Natural hazards can lead to natural disasters coming from earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, hurricanes, excessive snow, hail, and rain, as well as floods and fires (CDHS, 2023).

Legal definitions of terrorism, both domestic and foreign

     The legal definition for terrorism can come in the form of violence or threat of violence against a group of people. Terrorism aims to intimidate, panic, scare, or induce dread in a population. Terrorism reacts with violence towards a group based on differences in religion, political party, moral codes, national origins, demographics, past rivalries/family feuds, language, and/or skin tone. There are two categories of terrorism. One is local/domestic terrorism and the other is international or global terrorism. Domestic terrorism occurs inside one’s boundaries or borders. These can be physical borders or mapped out (imaginary borders).  Domestic terrorism can come from one group within the same borders of another group[s]. International terrorism can be a violent act upon a group that is supported by a group overseas. An example would be someone from Mexico crossing the border and committed terrorism in Texas before fleeing back to Mexico and being supported by El Capo’s drug cartel.

Review of Colorado law and statues as they apply to hazards and terrorism.

Colorado defines terrorism as an unlawful act that is dangerous to people, and which is intended to intimidate or coerce a group of people and/or a government or its subsets. The result from a terrorist would be to furthering the terrorist’s political agenda. The state of Colorado has a department called the Colorado Information Analysis Center (CIAC). CIAC serves as a link for receiving, analyzing, and sharing threat-related information among private and public sectors, groups, and affiliates. CIAC’s priority is terrorist prevention. As a Fusion Center, CIAC’s goal is the decrease or eliminate terrorist hazards, by being a centralized resource of data collections and share that information with certain private sectors, state departments and federal stakeholders. The CIAC Fusion Center is a multi-agency, multidisciplinary network that is part of the Department of Public Safety. CIAC’s mission is to protect Colorado citizens and prevent potential acts of terrorism. CAIC is one of many fusion centers in the United State network of fusion centers. CAIC also falls under the umbrella of United States Department of Homeland Security. CAIC coordinates its information gathered via the Information Gathering and Analysis.  Next, CIAC will handle the receipt, the review, the analysis and handle the dissemination. Once all involved parties have the information, homeland security intelligence will add it to the correct file. CIAC is the one-stop-shop for information, which can be shared among the private sector, county, state, tribal (if available in the area), state and federal partners, with the goal to prevent major terrorist crimes, threats, and other acts of terrorism. They help prevent hazards and terrorist acts via its best practices. CIAC submits reports to law enforcement, as well as other groups, as needed, in a timely manner. CIAC shares information about criminal acts and threats that may relate to other acts or threats of terrorism in the FBI database (FBI, 2023). For international terrorist leads, CIAC could share with Immigration too, as needed (ICE, 2023).

Summary

     In conclusion, the state of Colorado helps with counter terrorist measures via CIAC and its ability to analyze and share information to the National fusion center and helps link crimes and criminals, as well as threats and terrorist. There was also a need for DHS to gain control over the safety and security of the United States borders, transportation system and certain other infrastructures. DHS was a key agency taking over responsibility for conducting laboratory testing, as well as technology development. The purpose of this was to increase the ability to detect threats and prevent security threats. It was beneficial for DHS to take on the responsibility for disaster response management by merging with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA, 2023).

Recommendation

     My recommendation would be to have one criminal data system and one terrorist leads system that all agencies can update in real time. I recommend all large cities have an education center like The Cell in Denver to educate the public on how to be proactive and look for warning signs of suspicious items or activities (The Cell, 2023). 

References

The Cell. (2023). Counterterrorism Education Learning Lab. Retrieved from,

-https://thecell.org

Colorado Division of Homeland Security (CDHS). (2023). Retrieved from,

-https://dhsem.colorado.gov/info-center/readycolorado/colorado-hazard-information/terrorism

Denver International Airport Police (DIAP). (2023). Retrieved from,

-https://www.countyoffice.org/denver-international-airport-police-substation-denver-co-ad0/ 

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). (2023). What We Investigate. Retrieved from,

-https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/terrorism

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA, 2023). Retrieved from,

https://www.fema.gov

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). (2023). Retrieved from,

-https://www.ice.gov/careers

Legal Information Institute (LII). (2023). Homeland Security Act of 2002. Retrieved from,

-https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/homeland_security_act_of_2002