To counter domestic terror threats and the targeted attacks the Department of Homeland Security lays down strategies that constitute the strategic prevention model. The DHS strategic prevention model outlines what the department is doing to prevent terror attacks that can cause loss of lives and destruction of the properties of American citizens. In this paper I will look on these strategies in detail.
The Department of Homeland Security is aware of how terror threats and targeted violence is evolving. Protecting the American borders is not enough to counter terrorism acts. This is because terrorists do not use land only to get access of American citizens and infrastructure. They also use air, marine and technology to reach on American soil. Radicalization of American citizens has become an area where terrorists are gaining roots, as citizens can be radicalized using materials that circulates on the internet and especially on the social sites and chat groups (The Department of Homeland Security, 2020).
The DHS through the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3) has a local framework that is used to help individuals and communities to prevent terror activities and targeted violence. This initiative creates awareness in communities about radicalization process and it its connection with terrorism. The general public is given insights so that none is radicalized unknowingly. Radicalization is the process of making an individual believe terror acts are justifiable or are committed by people who are on the right (DHS, 2019). By engaging the communities, the DHS enables citizens to know where to get help in case of radicalization and be able to speak out when they detect any suspicious development in any of its member. The DHS has a national campaign dubbed “If you see something say something” and the people who volunteer to give information of suspicious activities are rewarded for it.
The DHS office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties has Community Awareness Briefing (CAB), which is a program that educates members of the public on terrorism issues. The program utilizes case studies of the past or stopped planned attacks. The program targets community and religious organizations, public safety officials, mental health providers and school safety teams. This program acts as a catalyst that creates terrorism and targeted violence awareness and helps communities to prevent terror attacks in their environments. This is achieved through identifying threat environments, behavior indicators, risk factors and the process of reporting an identified terrorist. This is because lone wolfs have become the major threat to domestic safety and can be stopped by the people around them (DHS, 2021).
The CP3 engages international and national agencies that have shown interest in the prevention of terrorism. This include both formal agencies like the Five Country Ministerial, Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism and the White House Security Council, and other stakeholders in Federal and the private sector. These agencies collaborate in information’s sharing to combat terrorism activities (DHS, 2021). These agencies also play a great role in blocking terror related contents such as videos and publications on the internet.
The DHS has Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant Program. These funds are given to the state, local, non-profit organizations and higher education institutions that develop capabilities of preventing terror attacks. For example, in 2020 the congress approved $10 million as grants to support entities that are on the frontline of developing mechanisms of preventing possible attacks (DHS, 2021).
The National Prevention Framework by FEMA is another model that helps in preventing terror threats. This framework encourages intelligence information sharing between the security agencies like the DHS, the CIA and the FBI. The model also provides the guidelines of searches and screening. This entails scanning the people entering the American soil, whether they are on the list of listed individuals and if they are carrying weapons or equipment’s that are a threat to the safety of American citizens (DHS, 2016). The screen process is done at the entry points like in airports, maritime ports, border points and in public transport systems.
In conclusion, were it not the measures the security agencies have put in place and interagency collaboration the enemies of the United States could have overpowered U.S. When the prevention model is up to date the security agencies are in a better position to detect and stop the attack on time. The responsible security agencies need to keep learning on new ways that terrorist groups and individuals are discovering. By doing so, targeted attacks and terrorism will be under the control of the government and America will be a safe place for its citizen.
