Office of Homeland Security
An Overview
The Federal Office of Homeland Security often gets confused with FEMA. This happens on national, state and local level with some frequency. Part of this is due to the government reorganization that took place in the wake of the events of September 11th.
The new Office of Homeland Security was created in 2002. It combined some existing and new agencies into one federal department. This was done to provide more continuity and efficiency to the mission of protecting the country. This is reflected in the agencies vision statement: “Preserving our freedoms, protecting America…we secure our homeland.”
The Office of Homeland Security oversees and coordinates: the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, and FEMA. In addition, it oversees a new agency combining the U.S. Border Patrol, Customs and Immigration and the newly created Transportation Safety Administration (T.S.A.). FEMA was included as it has been the country’s disaster planning, response and recovery coordination and grant funding agency.
At a state level, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety changed the name and mission of the Department of Emergency Management to Homeland Security and Emergency Management. The agency continues to serve its emergency management duties, partially funding the Joint Analysis Center and the ICEFISHZ program.
Locally, most counties are still using the term “emergency management office” but a few have added the words” homeland security” to reflect one of the new missions of our country’s safety, even at a local level.