This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject , potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral.(November 2022) |
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Agency overview | |
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Preceding agency |
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Jurisdiction | United States of America |
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Agency executives |
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Parent department | U.S. Department of Homeland Security |
Website | https://www.dhs.gov/office-homeland-security-situational-awareness |
The Office of Situational Awareness (OSA), formerly Office of Operations Coordination, is a component of the headquarters of the United States Department of Homeland Security. OSA is responsible for ensuring timely and robust information sharing within and external to the Department.
Primarily through the National Operations Center, the Office is a key touchpoint for coordinating operational issues with federal, state, tribal, local governments Homeland Security Advisors, law enforcement partners, and private sector critical infrastructure operators, and international partners. In accordance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive 8 (Annex I), OSA is facilitating a Federal interagency planning effort to address various national contingencies. The Office is headed by RADM (Ret.) Christopher Tomney.
Originally the Office of Operations Coordination, the Office of Homeland Security Situational Awareness was established in 2005 with the stated purpose of increasing the Department of Homeland Security's ability to prepare for, prevent, and respond to terrorist attacks and other emergencies and improve coordination and efficiency of operations. [1]
Today, the Office of Homeland Security Situational Awareness has the stated mission of providing situational awareness, a common operating picture, and decision support for the Homeland Security Enterprise on threats, hazards, and events impacting the homeland. Its responsibilities include: [2]
Information is shared and fused on a daily basis by the two halves of the Office, the "Intelligence Side" and the "Law Enforcement Side". The two halves function in tandem. The Intelligence watch floor gathers intelligence and decides how it contributes to the current threats in a given area. The Law Enforcement Side tracks law enforcement activities across the country that may have a terrorist nexus. This information from the two halves accurately depicts the nation's threat environment at any moment.
Through the National Operations Center, the Office provides real-time situational awareness and monitoring of the homeland, coordinates incidents and response activities, and, in conjunction with the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, issues advisories and bulletins concerning threats to homeland security, as well as specific protective measures. The NOC coordinates information sharing to help deter, detect, and prevent terrorist acts and to manage domestic incidents. Information on domestic incident management is shared with Emergency Operations Centers at all levels through the Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN). [2]
The OSA Integration Division contains the Enhanced Awareness Section, the Engagement & Information Exchange Section, and the Resilience Section. [2]
The OSA Mission Support Division contains the Budget & Acquisitions Section, the Technology & Logistics Section, and the Workforce Support Section. [2]
The DHS National Operations Center (NOC) operates at all times and serves as the primary, national-level hub for situational awareness, a common operating picture, information fusion, information sharing, and executive communications. [3] The NOC is responsible for:
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cyber security, and disaster prevention and management.
The Federal Protective Service (FPS) is a federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It is also "the federal agency charged with protecting and delivering integrated law enforcement and security services to facilities owned or leased by the General Services Administration (GSA)"—over 9,000 buildings—and their occupants.
The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) was a team under the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the Department of Homeland Security.
The National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) is a division of the Office of Cyber Security & Communications, within the United States Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Formed from the Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office, the National Infrastructure Protection Center, the Federal Computer Incident Response Center, and the National Communications System, NCSD opened on June 6, 2003.
The Homeland Security Act (HSA) of 2002, was introduced in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and subsequent mailings of anthrax spores. The HSA was cosponsored by 118 members of Congress. The act passed the U.S. Senate by a vote of 90–9, with one Senator not voting. It was signed into law by President George W. Bush in November 2002.
In the United States, fusion centers are designed to promote information sharing at the federal level between agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Justice, and state, local, and tribal law enforcement. As of February 2018, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recognized 79 fusion centers. Fusion centers may also be affiliated with an emergency operations center that responds in the event of a disaster.
The Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement and Intelligence is a subcommittee within the House Homeland Security Committee. The Subcommittee's focuses are:
The counter-terrorism page primarily deals with special police or military organizations that carry out arrest or direct combat with terrorists. This page deals with the other aspects of counter-terrorism:
The Oklahoma Office of Homeland Security (OKOHS) is an agency of the Oklahoma state government that is responsible for reducing the state's vulnerability to acts of terrorism and for minimizing and recovering the damage caused by terrorist attacks. OKOHS is a division of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety.
The Joint Regional Information Exchange System (JRIES) began in December 2002 as an all-source intelligence / information sharing system, designed initially as a grassroots pilot system to connect the California Anti-Terrorism Information Center, the New York Police Department, and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).
The Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) is the civilian national intelligence component of the United States Department of Homeland Security and one of two statutory members of the United States Intelligence Community (IC) within DHS, the other being Coast Guard Intelligence. It is the only member of the IC tasked with providing intelligence to state, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) governments, and private sector entities, and developing national intelligence products from information collected by SLTT entities.
In the United States, border security includes the protection of ports, airports, and the country's 3,017-mile (4,855 km) land border with Canada and 1,933-mile (3,111 km) border with Mexico.
The California Governor's Office of Emergency Services is a California cabinet-level office responsible for overseeing and coordinating emergency preparedness, response, recovery and homeland security activities within the state. The agency was created by AB 38 (2008), superseding both the Office of Emergency Services (OES) and Office of Homeland Security (OHS).
Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) is a program in the United States established in 2003 and was designated to incorporate all projects that provide funding to local, state, and Federal government agencies by the Department of Homeland Security. The purpose of the grants is to purchase surveillance equipment, weapons, and advanced training for law enforcement personnel in order to heighten security. The HSGP helps fulfill one of the core missions of the Department of Homeland Security by enhancing the country's ability to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from potential attacks and other hazards. The HSGP is one of the main mechanisms in funding the creation and maintenance of national preparedness, which refers to the establishment of plans, procedures, policies, training, and equipment at the Federal, State, and local level that is needed to maximize the ability to prevent, respond to, and recover from major events such as terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies. The HSGP's creation stemmed from the consolidation of six original projects that were previously funded by the Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness. The HSGP now encompasses five projects in the program: State Homeland Security Program, Urban Areas Security Initiative, Operation Stonegarden, Metropolitan Medical Response System Program, and Citizen Corps Program. During the 2010 fiscal year, the Department of Homeland Security will spend $1,786,359,956 on the Homeland Security Grant Program.
The Information Sharing Environment (ISE) was established by the United States Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. Under Section 1016 of IRTPA, the Program Manager for the Information Sharing Environment (PM-ISE) was granted government wide authority to plan for, oversee the implementation of, and manage the ISE.
A Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response team, sometimes Visible Intermodal Protection and Response (VIPR) is a Transportation Security Administration program. Various government sources have differing descriptions of VIPR's exact mission. It is specifically authorized by
which says that the program is to "augment the security of any mode of transportation at any location within the United States". Authority for the program is under the Secretary of Homeland Security. The program falls under TSA's Office of Law Enforcement/Federal Air Marshal Service. TSA OLE/FAMS shares responsibility for the program with the Office of Security Operations and Transportation Sector Network Management.The WMD Intelligence and Information Sharing Act of 2013 is a bill that would "amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish weapons of mass destruction intelligence and information sharing functions of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis of the Department of Homeland Security and to require dissemination of information analyzed by the Department to entities with responsibilities relating to homeland security." This intelligence gathering would include not only chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats, but also the analysis of potential threats to public health or U.S. agriculture. The bill passed the United States House of Representatives during the 113th United States Congress and was referred to the United States Senate.
The National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2013 is a bill that would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct cybersecurity activities on behalf of the federal government and would codify the role of DHS in preventing and responding to cybersecurity incidents involving the Information Technology (IT) systems of federal civilian agencies and critical infrastructure in the United States.
Intelligence sharing is "the ability to exchange intelligence, information, data, or knowledge among Federal, state, local or private-sector entities as appropriate." Intelligence sharing also involves intergovernmental bilateral or multilateral agreements and through international organizations. Intelligence sharing is meant to facilitate the use of actionable intelligence to a broader range of decision-makers.
DHS media monitoring services is a proposed United States Department of Homeland Security database to keep track of 290,000 global news sources and media influencers to monitor sentiment.