DHS secretary Janet Napolitano has issued five "action directives" aimed at shoring up protection, instructing offices and agencies to gather information, review existing strategies and programs, and to yield briefings and reports.
The directives cover critical infrastructure protection, risk analysis, state and local intelligence sharing, transportation security, and state, local and tribal integration.
Among the questions posed by the directives are how to enhance private sector participation and how to enhance risk management as the basis of decision-making.
Napolitano, the former governor of Arizona, told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee recently that DHS needs to be better integrated. She pledged to "work to create a unified vision for this agency," and cited the risk of "parochial lines" of communication and the "failure to communicate."
She said that the action directives are "designed to begin a review, evaluation and dialogue between the various functions of this department and me," and reiterated that one of her top priorities is to "create a common culture."
The department’s plan to consolidate its some 70 buildings in a new location in Washington D.C., currently the dormant and sprawling St. Elizabeth’s Hospital campus could help. The plan has been approved by the National Capital Planning Commission.
"A unified headquarters, which would bring together many of the department’s components into a single facility and allow employees to work more efficiently and interactively is a critical cornerstone of the efforts to improve management," said the chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn.
