Term Paper on "Port Security"

Term Paper 4 pages (1044 words) Sources: 1

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Port Security

JayEtta Hecker, the administrator of physical infrastructure matters provides a briefing on the challenges facing port security. He provides a testimony before the national security subcommittee, the international relations house committee and the veterans subcommittee. The main areas of discussion are on the critical factors that are likely to hinder the enhancement of seaport security. He starts by acknowledging the fact that concerns have been shifted towards airport security (Vesky, 2008). The government has not done enough in ensuring that the sea ports are secure and do not provide an avenue for entrance of terrorists and hazardous substances into the mainland. He also outlines that addressing the security threats has been complicated by the fact that most of the stakeholders have conflicting interests. Conflicting interests from government agencies at state, federal, and local levels have made decision making a difficult task hence leaving most of the ports including Tampa, vulnerable to attacks.

Hecter's testimony focuses on the vulnerabilities of seaports, the challenges that hinder the implementation of security and the initiatives that the various government agencies have adopted to ensure that port security is enhanced. He draws his comments from reports prepared on combating terrorism from September 11, 2001. The research on seaport security was conducted in various states in the United States reflecting risk and geographical dispersion. The seaports visited include Tampa, South Carolina, Boston, Hawaii, California, Massachusetts, Washington, Tacoma and Honolulu (Vesky, 2008). He states that the information on the initiatives by the government agencies were obtained from the coast guard headquarters, the marine association and the American Association of Ports authorities.

According to Hecter's findings, most ports are vulnerable to attacks because of their sizes. Most ports are found in areas that can be easily accessible by land and water; they are located in urban centers that are often very busy. Although some ports have developed and the authorities can easily work to improve their security, most of them are vast, and have a number of businesses intertwined with unguarded access points. Most people desire secure ports and working environment. However, this is not easy to achieve since the country relies on fast movement of commodities from one point to another. Inspection of goods is a critical task since it will have a negative impact on the economy (Vesky, 2008).

Since the September 11, the private division stakeholders, state and federal agencies have really tried in addressing the challenge of vulnerability. For instance, the Coast guard has been used as the authority assessing and addressing any arising security concerns. The immigration, naturalization and the custom services outlined plans of screening those coming to the United States, and addressing matters on container security (Vesky, 2008).

Additionally, Hector urges that consolidation of the federal agencies will offer a long-term solution to the security challenges. However, this move faces some challenges that may obstruct its effective execution. The main challenges are implementing the standards that define the factors that should be implemented to safeguard port security (Vesky, 2008). Secondly, the authorities may not be in a position to estimate the finances required and how the resources will be obtained. From… READ MORE

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