Homeland Security and Public Health: A Critical Integration

• Author: Michael Rip,Jeremy G. Carter
• DOI: 10.1177/0887403412452425
• Published date: 01 September 2013
• Date: 01 September 2013
• Subject Matter: Articles

Criminal Justice Policy Review

24(5) 573 –600

© 2012 SAGE Publications

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DOI: 10.1177/0887403412452425

cjp.sagepub.com

452425CJP24510.1177/0887403412452425C

arter and RipCriminal Justice Policy Review

1School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University Purdue University–Indianapolis, USA

2Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

Corresponding Author:

Jeremy G. Carter, Assistant Professor, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University

Purdue University–Indianapolis, 801 W. Michigan Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.

Email: jeremy.carter@unf.ed

Homeland Security and

Public Health: A Critical

Integration

Jeremy G. Carter1 and Michael Rip2

Abstract

In the wake of a series of tragic events impacting public health in the United States,

the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention and the Department of Homeland Security have attempted to facilitate

information sharing across public health and homeland security organizations. Data

collected as part of a national assessment of law enforcement and homeland security

information sharing, funded by the National Institute of Justice, indicate such efforts

to date have been helpful in establishing a foundation for information sharing, yet

fall short of creating mechanisms by which tangible information sharing can occur.

Recent initiatives to remedy this shortcoming are presented and recommendations

for further success are discussed.

Keywords

preparedness, homeland security, public health, prevention, information sharing

Terminology such as homeland security, intelligence-led policing, preparedness, and

risk management have become consistent in the criminal justice lexicon in the wake of

the attacks of September 11, 2001. As these policy applications continue to be concep-

tualized in the academic literature as well as in practice, the integration of the public

health sector has just recently begun to emerge as the next supporting pillar in the pre-

paredness structure. Recent initiatives primarily driven by the Department of Home-

land Security (DHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have

Article

574 Criminal Justice Policy Review 24(5)

begun to outline the need to establish two-way communication channels and integrated

policy initiatives between law enforcement and public health organizations in order to

enhance threat prevention and preparedness efforts. Such initiatives have been absent

from discussions in the criminal justice discipline. Indeed, policy and regulatory initia-

tives are being developed with virtually no research (or theoretical) foundation.

Mechanisms for gathering and sharing information1 have been operationalized

within both homeland security and public health. Despite such mechanisms being in

place, there remains an information sharing disconnect between homeland security

and public health. This article seeks to provide an analysis of these initiatives, in order

to assess and provide guidance to integrate public health and homeland security poli-

cies and capabilities. Data from a recent National Institute of Justice study on fusion

center information sharing across the United States is presented here and illustrates an

existence of such collaborations among stakeholders yet also a lack of tangible infor-

mation sharing. This article will provide an analysis of the types of information gath-

ered for both homeland security and public health and how this information can be

integrated together using the information fusion center approach.

Statement of Purpose

Since September 11, 2011, a significant amount of progress has been made to improve

information collection and sharing in both the public health and homeland security

sectors in their own rights. Approximately 5 years ago, both sectors recognized the

importance of creating an information sharing capability that would connect one to

the other. To date, there have been substantial efforts to successfully integrate public

health information into homeland security prevention and preparedness efforts. In

short, these efforts have established an operating environment in which both public

health and homeland security have begun to develop working relationships, yet a lack

of tangible information sharing remains. It is argued that efforts to improve informa-

tion sharing under the guidance of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

(USHHS), which has a different operational view of information sharing, have not

been successful in integrating homeland security efforts. Recently, efforts guided by

the DHS have provided actionable steps to integrate public health information. The

present article provides a legislative, regulatory, and policy discussion followed by a

national empirical assessment to illustrate the present information sharing environment

among public health and homeland security. Recommendations for further opera-

tional success are provided. Areas for academic evaluation are identified.

A Note on Homeland Security

For purposes of this article, the term “homeland security” refers to the capabilities of

state and local law enforcement agencies, capabilities of state and major urban area

fusion centers, as well as the integrated initiatives from the DHS as their prevention