Homeland Security Exercise Program Research Paper

Homeland Security Exercise Program - Research Paper Example They provide infrastructure security and analysis of the information. This consists of identifying and assessing both current and future threats to our homeland, 4. Homeland Security also focuses on prevention of terrorists, detection, and being prepared to respond, protect, and recover from any activity. This work is not only at a Federal level but also at the State and Local levels of government. While Homeland Security is most often thought of as a government responsibility it is also the responsibility of the private sector to work with Federal, State, and local government agencies, owner/operators of business, nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, nongovernmental organizations and other infrastructure stakeholders such as trade associations. The Federal government controls the guidelines and policies that affect the planning, development, design, implementation, exercise and evaluation of an emergency readiness program, However, its up to each state to assess its own n eeds and develop an exercise and evaluation program. ... o gives financial and direct support designed to assist the state and local governments with design and implementation of a state level program to evaluate and enhance its domestic preparedness. Exercises are used for training, practice prevention, dealing with vulnerability reduction, response time, and the recovery capabilities in a risk free setting. They are also used to evaluate and improve performance. Exercises are also a way to show community awareness in preparing for disastrous events. The State Homeland Security Strategy development process begins with the evaluation phase. This is when the states and local governments implement their own vulnerability, risk and needs evaluations. The knowledge that they gain during this evaluation period allows the development of plans and procedures. The plans and procedures are developed further into planning for equipment, training and exercise requirements. The results of this analysis are used to form the State Homeland Security Stra tegy. Strategy requires that the states conduct a vulnerability, risk and needs assessment. These assessments are formed at the state and local levels using what strategy the states adopt. There are also guidelines that they must follow in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in development of State Homeland Security Strategies in responding to, for example, a terrorism incident. The evaluation is prepared by the State’s planning team. The evaluation stipulates the goals for emphasizing prevention, response and recovery capabilities. It also gives specific objectives and steps for carrying out the planning, training, equipment and resources necessary to reach the goals. These guidelines also include an agricultural