DHS Announces Department-Wide Overhaul

he Department of Homeland Security is about to undergo a big overhaul to realign how it is structured and to better review terrorism intelligence, news services reported Wednesday.

DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff plans to outline the two-year-old agency’s top priorities Wednesday afternoon in Washington, DHS said in its weekly public notice.

Chertoff said in a statement by DHS Wednesday that "we must enhance and speed inspections . . . so that we minimize freight delays and increase total inspection capacity. To this end, we must complete our deployment of radiation portal detectors at ports, while advancing research on more sophisticated non-intrusive detection protocols and equipment.”

The department may eliminate the undersecretary and directorate of border and transportation security, the Wall Street Journal reported, but the Washington Post reported that heads of the Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection agencies will report directly to Chertoff and deputy DHS Secretary Michael Jackson.

Transportation and border security are among Chertoff's top priorities and will get more personnel, detection and screening technology and other resources, AP said.

The Wall Street Journal reported the plan would create a new policy secretary, a chief intelligence officer and new intelligence unit, an assistant secretary for cyber and telecom security and a chief homeland medical officer.

Chertoff ordered a department-wide review in March, shortly after he took office, to ensure DHS puts most of its resources into the nation's most vulnerable areas, AP reported.

"Our department must drive improvement with a sense of urgency," Chertoff said in remarks prepared for a briefing Wednesday afternoon, AP reported. “Our enemy constantly changes and adapts, so we as a department must be nimble and decisive.”

Some lawmakers briefed by Chertoff Tuesday said the overhaul was headed in the right direction but remained skeptical that bureaucratic reorganization would make the country safer, AP said.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, said Chertoff highlighted immigration and vulnerabilities at chemical and nuclear plants as top priorities, AP reported.