The role of the private sector in US security

Since time immemorial, the United States has prioritized the safety of its inhabitants. The military and the police department spearheaded these security initiatives. The Department of Homeland Security was established in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, which killed thousands of people. Furthermore, the federal government implemented policies that were intended to bring the private sector into the national security equation. These steps were intended to counter future terrorist strikes. These private security firms were expected to carry out some of the missions listed below.

Private firms have a critical role in combating terrorism and protecting the safety of Americans. There are several ways in which this can be achieved, and they include the following:

First, through networking: this can happen if the participants in both the public and private sector come together in meetings to discuss the threats posed by the terrorist groups and the best ways of curbing these vulnerabilities. The come-together can help in raising appropriate policies of protecting both people and property. The private-public meeting can elicit valuable exchanges on the constraints, motivations, pressures, and also potential solutions to terrorism menace (Cunningham, 2003).

Secondly, sharing of information: the success of any security policy is the exchange of critical information which aids in mitigating security threats at all social levels. Therefore, the private group can pass valuable information concerning the planning, financing, and execution of an attack and the government mercenaries can respond by using all means to counter the impending attack (Cunningham, 2003). Information sharing involves deployment of resources, protection of infrastructure, and planning for serious responses. The cooperation between the two sides will be successful in safeguarding people and property if information flow mutually shared (Cunningham, 2003).

Thirdly, prevention of crime: the preparation by the private entities to counter is one way of preventing terrorism. It is easy to understand the link between terrorism and crime. Terrorists in most cases commit smaller crimes while planning for mega attacks. For instance, terrorists may trespass into private property (Cunningham, 2003). Initially, the security agencies could just bar them from reaccessing the property. But they should do more. They can prevent them from taking photographs of the building and key infrastructure and also report immediately to national government security authorities (Cunningham, 2003). By doing these, they will probably stop an attack at early stages of planning.

Fourthly, the state and the private sector can share resources. In many instances, both sides have some degree of expertise which the other party lacks, and if they work together, both the government and the private sector can accomplish the mission of fighting terrorism efficiently and at a cheaper cost (Cunningham, 2003).

Fifthly, training: there is a clear association between lending of expertise and training. Training is another method through which the private sector and the government security agencies work together. Both sides can host speakers with experience on topics of common interest, which might prove beneficial to private security and law enforcement, thus widening the knowledge base in the war against terrorism (Cunningham, 2003).

Sixth, the industry can participate in formulating legislations relevant to both sides in the strive against terrorism. Besides, private entities should assist legislators at national, state, and local levels comprehend how some pieces of legislation impact, help or impair the operations of homeland security (Cunningham, 2003).

Finally, the private sector can assist the security agencies in the area of operations. For command staffs, investigators, and line-level officials can get a lot of assistance from non-governmental security machinery. Besides, private institutions can assist the government in analysing the nature of planning by terrorists, computer crimes, complex financial fraud committed terrorist associations (Cunningham, 2003).

Mission 2: Secure and Manage our Borders

The private sector in collaboration with DHS has made important strides in beefing up border security in the Southwest part of the U.S. This has been made possible through the employment of modern technology, adequate resources and enough number of human resources. According to reports, the border has currently staffed more than it has been in the past 87 years. The number of security agents rose from around 10,000 in 2004 to more than 20,700 now (Ackleson, 2005). Working through the Southwest border policy, the DHS in collaboration with the private institutions have doubled the number of personnel assigned to work with border enforcement forces, increased number of intelligent border technocrats with instructions of tracking violence groups. Besides, the liaison of the private sector with DHs has ensured 100% screening of shipments heading to the south for cash, drugs, and weapons (Ackleson, 2005).

All follow-up evaluations reveal that all the efforts both from the private sector and the DHS have earned fruits. The border patrons have reduced illegal immigrants by 36% for two years and less than one-third than what they used to be at the pick (Ackleson, 2005). The capture of illegal currency, weapons, and drugs has significantly increased across the border. The collaboration of the private and DHS have reached historic levels since the September 11 attack (Ackleson, 2005).

Mission 3: Enforce and Administer our Immigration Laws

The private institutions required to enforce immigration laws include non-government officials tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that immigration legislations are followed to the letter. These persons include school heads, landlords, employers, etc.

The employers: the employment field is the most effective private immigration laws enforcer. The driving force of this regulation is to block the pull factor of employment which draws undocumented immigrants into the American territory. The employers risk a prison sentence, fines, revocation of operating licenses, and cancellation of contracts if they fail to properly check the legal status of the immigration documents of their staffs (Pham, 2007).

Housing: the housing sector is the second active field in enforcing immigration laws. This requirement means that to access accommodation in the U.S; an immigrant must produce valid documents. The objective of this piece of legislation was intended to make life harder for people who enter the U.S illegally (Pham, 2007). Therefore, the undocumented immigrants are compelled to leave because of complicated lives and scare away those planning to sneak into the U.S territory. In effect, all landlords work hard to ensure that their tenants are lawful residents of the United States (Pham, 2007).

Transportation: it is against the laws of the U.S for any person to assist illegal immigrants in moving within the country when knowingly or disregarding the constitutional requirements of knowing the identity of people you are transporting. Besides, the transportation service providers have a legal obligation of determining the validity of the documents of the people they carry (Pham, 2007). The penalties for violating this law include a prison sentence of up to five years, a fine or both. If the crime is committed for business gains, the term of imprisonment can go up to a decade. Also, if the illegal immigrant injures or causes bodily harm, the sentence can rise to 20 years. The penalty can go up to life imprisonment if the alien kills a person (Pham, 2007).

In addition to the above areas of private enforce, the government looks forward to enforcing the immigration laws in these areas: health care, education, and charitable services.

Mission 4: safeguard and secure cyberspace

Private information technology (IT) companies are important in realizing national cybersecurity goals. Prominent firms have previously and will continue to partner with the public sector to provide critical information, and in unison address, IT issues with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) (Hansen & Nissenbaum, 2015). For instance, the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) is a body that informs the public on cybersecurity challenges and educates the users of computers on the best way to protect themselves against electronic threats and attacks. To accomplish its mission public-private collaboration is very crucial to NCSA (Hansen & Nissenbaum, 2015). The membership of NCSA comprises of members from several national companies, Visa, Facebook, Bank of America, Google, Microsoft, Lockheed Martin, Cisco Systems, and AT&T services, Inc. (Hansen & Nissenbaum, 2015). Showing the collaboration between the federal government and NSCA, the DHS and the White House sponsored the most noticeable NCSA policy dubbed the National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) in 2010. The working together of the government and NCSA is the best example of the public, private alliance at work in the field of cyber security (Hansen & Nissenbaum, 2015).

Besides, a recent act of hacking further demonstrates the collaboration of the private and public sectors in fighting cybersecurity crimes. Google publicly revealed that some persons in China illegally opened personal email accounts of several key government officers in June 2011. The phishing method was allegedly used to fraudulently get the user’s details through fake emails requesting for passwords, usernames, and other related information. Google alerted the FBI about the act. The DHS, as well as the White House National Security Council, worked with Google to determine the possible effects of the action (Pearson, 2011). Having the knowledge of this threats and attacks provides a greater understanding of cyber security risks to private and public sector institutions. As this event shows, the cooperation of the private and public sector as well as interchanging information are paramount in operational cyber security.

Mission 5: Strengthen National Preparedness and Resilience

The private sector will potentially feel the greatest impact of any natural or human-made calamity. Any plans from the governing authorities which do not consider the input of the industry will possibly fail. This can be evidenced from the previous major disasters which have struck the U.S in some few decades ago whether it is a fire, flood, terrorist attack, a hurricane, or an earthquake (Aitsi-Selmi et al., 2015). The role of the private sector is fundamental in response planning for disasters because it operates and owns the vast majority of local, state and federal government resources and essential infrastructure. This section focuses on the tremendous role of the private sector in planning, preparedness, and reaction. Understanding the following private/public partnership requires the following:

First, the private sector must take into account the welfare of its employees in the workplace. Besides, emergency executives must flawlessly work with organizations which offer security services, health care, transportation, networks, communication, water, power and many other needs upon which recovery and response rely (Aitsi-Selmi et al., 2015). Secondly, private enterprises must prepare for continuity of business operations and safeguarding of information. Thirdly, they must be keen on recovery from disaster shocks and responses that impact their facilities and infrastructure (Aitsi-Selmi et al., 2015).

Fourthly, the private sector must work together with emergency provider agencies before a disaster occurs to establish the assistance which may be required and how they can be offered (Aitsi-Selmi et al., 2015). Fifth, drilling emergency responses before a calamity strikes. Sixth, where necessary, the private firms need to establish mutual assistance and aid to provide specific answers. Lastly, private companies may volunteer to offer public awareness and emergency aid during the recovery period (Aitsi-Selmi et al., 2015).

Conclusion

Since time immemorial the United States has taken the security of her citizens seriously. These security efforts were championed by the military and the police department. The Department of Homeland Security was born after the September 11 attack which left thousands of people dead. Besides, the federal government instituted some policies which were to bring the private sector into the national security equation. These efforts were meant to counter potential terrorist attacks in the future. These private security entities were supposed to accomplish some of the missions analysed above.

References

Ackleson, J. (2005). Border security technologies: Local and regional implications. Review of policy research, 22(2), 137-155.

Aitsi-Selmi, A., Egawa, S., Sasaki, H., Wannous, C., & Murray, V. (2015). The Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction: Renewing the global commitment to people’s resilience, health, and well-being. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 6(2), 164-176.

Cunningham, C. (2003). “U.S. Private Security Trends.” Presentation at the Conference on Policing and Security Around the World. February 19–22, 2003.

Hansen, L., & Nissenbaum, H. (2015). Digital disaster, cyber security, and the Copenhagen School. International studies quarterly, 53(4), 1155-1175.

Pearson, I. L. (2011). Smart grid cyber security for Europe. Energy Policy, 39(9), 5211-5218.

Pham, H. (2007). The private enforcement of immigration laws. Geo. LJ, 96, 777.