To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. PHOTO: DAVID BRODY FOR HSTODAY Napolitano’s DHS A Vision and a Focus By M I C K E Y M C C A R T E R , W A S H I N G T O N C O R R E S P O N D E N T Janet Napolitano testifies at her confirmation hearing on Jan. 15, 2009. AS A POLITICIAN, TOM RIDGE, THE FIRST HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY AND FORMER GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA, WORKED HIS CONNECTIONS TO BRING THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (DHS) TOGETHER. MICHAEL CHERTOFF , AS A FORMER JUDGE AND LAWYER, REFINED RULES, REGULATIONS AND PROCEDURES AT THE DEPARTMENT AS ITS SECOND SECRETARY. BUT SECRETARY JANET NAPOLITANO, AS A FORMER GOVERNOR, BRINGS A VISION OF HOW THE DEPARTMENT SHOULD DO ITS WORK. Napolitano came into her job with a keen interest in the mechanics of the homeland security discipline. Informed by her time as a border state governor, she is pursuing a “bottoms-up” approach to building homeland security capacity. She is looking to state and local governments to supply expertise in handling disasters, immigration, training and other matters to fit their specific environments. US Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen told Homeland Security Today that he anticipates holding discussions with Napolitano on how DHS should best operate—by dealing with challenges regionally. “I think what’s going to be really interesting is that we are going to have our first Quadrennial Homeland Security Review [QHSR] on Secretary Napolitano’s watch,” Allen remarked. “As opposed to Secretary Ridge or Secretary Chertoff, she actually has an instrumentality or a way to talk about strategic and structural issues within the department. I look forward to how she is going to do that and how we are going to move forward. Those discussions are just beginning right now, but I think the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review will be the modality by which we will talk about it.” The QHSR, due to Congress by Dec. 31, will provide an exhaustive review of DHS operations and how they are addressing threats Register online today for exclusive online content and eNewsletters to homeland security. It will assess the department’s organization and interagency cooperation at the federal level. Early appointments Once she came to DHS, Napolitano began appointing chiefs of staff, drawn from her relationships in Arizona, to serve as her primary foot soldiers in keeping a focus on the needs of state and local governments. For example, Noah Kroloff, DHS chief of staff for policy, and Jan Lesher, DHS chief of staff for operations, come from positions in Arizona state government where they became familiar with Napolitano’s views and methods of operations. Meanwhile, the Obama administration has tapped executives with deep experience in their respective fields to head specific DHS agencies—such as long-time emergency manager Craig Fugate at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and career prosecutor John Morton at US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The result is a department with leadership knowledgeable in their disciplines and staff steeped in the functions of state and local governments. With the QHSR, they will have an exhaustive policy review to guide them. Homeland Security Today Magazine | May 2009 29