AMU DHS Homeland Security Legislation Opinion

Homeland Security Department Failing to Retain Employees

By Glynn Cosker
Editor, In Homeland Security

According to a Washington Post report, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has an employee turnover rate disproportionately higher than other cabinet-level departments.

The Post states that the terrorism intelligence arm of the department and U.S. Customs and Border Protection each saw six different directors come and go during the two Obama administrations. That’s a troubling inconsistency in light of the recent flow of unaccompanied and undocumented minors into the U.S. via its southwest border, not to mention the ongoing threat from al-Qaida and the emerging threat from ISIS and ISIL.

The report reveals that low morale coupled with a dysfunctional work environment are key factors in the exodus of employees, who leave their positions at almost twice the rate of the rest of the federal government. The allure of private-sector, better paying security positions are also cited as reasons to move on from the DHS.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), a DHS agency formed to beef-up airport security after 9/11, put forward its own criticism.

“You cannot sustain a high level of security operations when you have that kind of turnover,’’ said Kenneth Kasprisin, a former acting TSA head.

Kasprisin cited the results of his own agency’s tests, which involved undercover TSA operatives’ attempts to smuggle weapons or bombs through airport security. He stated that airport security personnel increasingly failed to spot the contraband at a “frightening” level.

What does Homeland Security Secretary Homeland Security Jeh Johnson have to say about the damaging report?

“The story’s portrayal of the Department of Homeland Security is unrecognizable to anyone acquainted with the remarkable reconstruction of this agency over the last nine months,” said Johnson, citing a list of 11 recent senior-level appointees who made a commitment to serve until at least the end of the current administration. That’s the same as assuming a sports star will stay with his current team just because he said he would.

The high turnover rate is extremely worrying for a top-level government department created in the wake of 9/11 from 22 separate autonomous government agencies. Stability is needed quickly if the U.S. is to maintain a stronghold on combating terrorism, cyber-attacks and illegal immigration.

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