In John Jay’s College of Criminal Justice, there was a speaker discussing the topic on “Borders, Law Enforcement and the Underworld of Globalization.” The speaker was Alan Bersin who was a former commissioner of U.S Customs and Border Protection. Now he is assistant secretary of international affairs and chief diplomatic officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The topic he was discussing was critical in what the department wants to do in order to improve security on the U.S.

Alan Bersin talking to a guest.

He was first talking about how the Department of Homeland Security was built since 2003 on the crisis of the world trade center being attack in 2001. “It could have never happen without the crisis of 9/11 and that leaded to the creation of Homeland Security,” said Bersin. He also describes the main components that are in this department and about its importance.

“The Homeland Security Investigation, Transportation Security Administration, Customs and Borders Protection, Nations Homeland Protection of Programs, Federal Emergency Management Association and the Secret Service,” said Bersin. These components are valuable and necessary to accomplish their goals. The information in these components is vital and is power so they must keep it as a secret.

Bersin wants the citizens to be involved on information about criminals that can present a threat at any given moment. There focus as a unit is important for their growth as Bersin describes it. “We need to focus on the people who present a threat to the American Community,” said Bersin. “We need witnesses to step up on these situations.”

Only time will tell when the Department of Homeland Security will make an impact on the U.S. Law enforcement that detects threats underground are doing their best to take down criminals even if they are in other countries. It’s a big step that Alan Bersin wants and the Department wants to make sure that it’s growth is exponential in the future.