Unit 1 Task one
History shows us that the average length of an empire through time is 250–300 years. In the year 2010, the United States became 234 years old (counting from July 4, 1776).
The United States has built walls of concrete and steel along the U.S.–Mexico border and mined the area of the wall with the latest technology of seismic alarms and surveillance equipment, including cameras, satellites, and unmanned aircraft. This is all in an attempt to stop the illegal flow of traffic into and out of the United States.
How much privacy and freedom are people willing to sacrifice in the name of security? Since the 1970s, technology has grown rapidly, moving the world into a technical dependence, creating a society dependent on technology for everything from cooking to national security. Along with that dependence, however, is an equally sizable payout—the loss of individual privacy and freedom.
Do the ethical and constitutional issues of the Bill of Rights take a secondary position to the overall picture of homeland security? It appears to some that many rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights are being endangered in the rush to create a totally secure homeland.
The primary motivation for the creation of the concept of homeland security was to detect, deter, and deny terrorist activity against the United States. With the rapidly growing dependence on technology and implementation of restrictions on the individual, can it be argued that the terrorists have won?
Primary Task Response:
Within the Discussion Board area, write 400–600 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas:
How much further can surveillance, detection, and inspection technologies advance?
What new efficient and practical additions, if any, can be implemented?
Has the United States become a modern-day Roman Empire, falling into decline?
Consider the economy, use of military technology on U.S. soil, surveillance of citizens, civil and human rights, and technological and military advancement of other nations.
Is technological dependence a serious issue for the world? Why or why not?
How much national security is sufficient?
Will people ever feel secure enough to stop implementation of advanced surveillance, detection, and inspection technologies on U.S. soil? Why or why not?
Is there an ideal balance of security and freedom? Explain.
What do you think is next with regard to further technological advancements and implementation as they relate to constitutional rights and regulatory legislation? Explain and support.
Unit 1 Task Two
Emergency management, homeland security, and criminal justice are all fields that may be approached academically but certainly have a large practitioner’s base. This means that while some social scientists may be intently studying phenomena and behaviors occurring within professions related to these areas of expertise, many professionals in these lines of work may or may not have academic degrees related specifically to what they do each day.
A third group, practitioner scholars, has combined an educational background with professional expertise and serves as a bridge between the two ends of the spectrum.
In your agency, the deputy uses old-fashioned techniques and does not necessarily embrace the idea that advanced degrees enhance an individual’s capabilities. However, a new chief has recently been appointed, and he believes education is tremendously valuable to crisis responders at any level. He also believes that theory and practice can be closely and successfully linked, even in daily operations.
You are considered a practitioner-scholar in your agency. Because of your remarkable education and demonstrated intellect, your manager has tasked you with drafting an information paper for your colleagues that explains how and why theory has a role in daily operations. You are informed you should also include arguments on the value of social science research and how such science can aid practitioners in performing their missions.
Primary Task Response:
Within the Discussion Board area, write 400–600 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas:
In your own words, why do you think research theory has a daily role in the fields of homeland security and emergency management? Explain.
How valuable do you feel the use of social science research is to homeland security and emergency management practitioners? Explain.
Specifically, how do you think social science research can aid practitioners in performing their missions? Explain.
Why do you think some practitioners are resistant to seeking out higher education? Explain.
Should practitioners be required to obtain certain levels of education? Why or why not?
What homeland security or emergency management related research, if any, have you recently examined? Summarize.
Do you feel that the results of the research contain valuable data to the fields? Why or why not?
If you have not recently examined any homeland security or emergency management related research, what type(s) of research are you most interested in studying throughout this course? Why?
Unit 1 Task 3
The Johnson county emergency manager, the city of Smith police chief, and the state of chaos director of homeland security are working together to plan for evacuations of citizens and their pets and livestock during wildfires, which are prevalent in their region each summer. During the last round of fires this past summer, several critical issues surfaced.
People were reluctant to leave pets and livestock behind, but it was critical that they evacuate quickly to save their own lives. Some people were caught sneaking back into the area to liberate their animals, and one woman was severely injured by returning to a closed area for a pet.
People often attempted to defend their own properties from fire with water hoses, fire repellents, and with makeshift earthen berms. Trying to force them to leave their land led to several confrontations and even a few arrests for physical altercations. These encounters also consumed precious time and resources.
Shelters that could be ready quickly had very limited space on short notice. More space could be arranged, but it often took 24 hours or longer to coordinate larger areas. None of the currently designated shelters permit pets.
Residents of vulnerable areas complained that they had little advance warning of an approaching fire. They received no word when an “all clear” was called.
Residents who were evacuated more than once are publicly demanding that local and state leadership take proactive preventative measures.
You are a planner within one of the three agencies listed in the scenario. In developing plans for crisis response, you have found the scientific method to be extremely effective, especially because it helps to identify empirical evidence that supports predicting behavior and prescribing policy. Based on the scenario, you must do the following:Assignment Guidelines
Develop three (3) separate research questions with regard to the wildfire information above.
In 1,000–1,250 words, address the following
For each research question, explain why the research question has merit and how it is tied to lessons learned from the past fire season.
Consider and present arguments for what real-world applicability answering each question could provide to your agency.
For each research question, develop three (3) separate hypotheses that could be tested.
For each hypothesis, identify the independent and dependent variables.
Explain why the causality between these variables goes in the direction you claim that it goes. (In other words, make clear why the variables cannot logically be reversed.)
Explain and defend what type(s) of evidence you might examine to test each hypothesis.
Ensure your research questions and hypotheses are specifically related to your agency or argue why and how questions and hypotheses appearing to be broad are in fact relevant for your agency’s own use.
For each hypothesis, outline for your agency ways in which potential findings from testing each hypothesis could be used in plans or policies your agency should produce before the next wildfire season (this should be estimated without knowing what your actual findings will be).
For example, say that you choose to test a hypothesis stating the following: “If a given fire is resolved during the darkness, there will be more looters in the evacuated area.”
To locate empirical evidence, you plan to examine crime statistics for reports of looting in areas hit by wildfires.
You will also check dates and times to see how soon after the fire the looting occurs.
Because it makes sense, you also will check whether more expensive homes are looted more often than lower income homes and look for patterns in these statistics.
Lastly, you decide to look at whether people with homes that are completely destroyed (versus partially destroyed or completely intact) report any evidence of looting.
If you test this hypothesis and find the evidence strongly supports the causality you claim (a fire’s resolution during darkness promotes looting), you might propose a plan or policy that provides increased security in the area until homeowners can return to and secure their property. You might further recommend a process for notifying people that they can return home.
If there does not seem to be any causality between darkness and the incidence of looting, but looting still occurs, your recommendations (as given above) might remain the same. Lastly, if you find looting after fires is rare or nonexistent, you might recommend the issue not be addressed anywhere in plans and policies so that security resources can be conserved, but anyone reading the policy will not be alerted to this leaner security status.
Compile your research questions, hypotheses, and responses into your final paper, and submit the file to your instructor.
All sources must be referenced using APA style.