Department Of Homeland Security Essay

The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, left a lasting impact on America, taking the lives of many and scaring others. On this day “ teams of hijackers from the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda seized control of four American airliners,”(Corbett et al., 2014) three of which would later crash, killing nearly 3,000 people. In the aftermath of the attacks, the United States government passed a series of laws and regulations designed to prevent future attacks and protect American citizens. While there has been some criticism of these measures, they have still indefinitely been more positive than negative to American society. The laws and regulations have improved national security, improved intelligence gathering, and promoted greater international

The increased security measures passed as a result of the terrorist attacks have brought about many benefits to public airports. One of the most significant changes brought about by these measures is the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. This agency was established by Congress in 2002 to help prevent terrorist attacks and respond to natural disasters (Homeland Security, Department of., 2018). The creation of the Department of Homeland Security gave law enforcement agencies greater powers to investigate and prevent terrorist activities. It has played a critical role in the integration of efforts between federal, state, and local agencies to improve national security, being “responsible for both defending against and responding to acts of terrorism in the United States”(Andryszewski, 2002, p. 51). The implementation of stricter security measures has made air travel safer and more secure. Passengers are now screened more thoroughly, and security personnel is better trained to detect and prevent potential threats (Security Screening | Transportation Security Administration,

More specifically, the Patriot Act and the CIA, which expanded the government's ability to collect intelligence on potential terrorist threats (Belanger et al., 2019). The Patriot Act is often seen as controversial, with some arguing that it infringes on civil liberties and violates the Fourth Amendment (Belanger et al.). However, it has also been credited with helping to prevent future terrorist attacks by providing law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to detect and disrupt potential threats. Intelligence gathering agencies such as the CIA have played a critical role in preventing future terrorist attacks by expanding their reign over set areas. Three months after the events of 9/11, “the CIA prevented a series of attacks planned by Al Qaeda terrorists on the U.S. embassy, U.S. military forces, and other Western targets in Singapore”(Labov,2003). After the screw of terrorist events, they began to take major actions such as expanding the Counterterrorist Center and recruiting spies with various language and cultural background knowledge. The methods CIA went about have allowed the United States various methods today to collect information on potential threats, such as monitoring phone calls and tracking financial transactions (Šimkevičiūtė, 2023). These efforts have helped to identify and disrupt numerous potential