Homeland Security To Be Restructured: Chertoff Aims to Address Criticism

Spencer S. Hsu and Sara Kehaulani Goo, Washington Post, July 13, 2005; Page A01

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff will announce a major restructuring of his 180,000-employee department today, changing how the two-year-old agency handles intelligence, sets policy and manages key law enforcement operations in response to criticism that domestic security remains unfocused and poorly coordinated.
Chertoff will realign agencies that secure the nation's skies and police its borders, replace or reassign the duties of three of five undersecretaries, and emphasize missions such as increasing national preparedness and screening people and cargo before they enter the nation, congressional and department officials said.
Many Americans will notice no immediate impact from the changes. But analysts said the revision could help the department better accomplish fundamental tasks such as protecting computer and financial networks, guiding local preparedness efforts, processing threat information, and identifying key private-sector vulnerabilities.