Excerpt
Agency managers say these cases (in full article) reflect individual criminal behavior, not the culture of the agencies.
But some longtime employees said administrative incidents, like hostile confrontations or heavy drinking, may reflect the low morale and intense rivalries following the merger of federal agencies under Homeland Security.
Some employees from the old Immigration and Naturalization Service are the most vocal in their complaints. They bitterly denounce employees who came from the old Customs Service for "seizing control" of both CBP and ICE, "lording it over" former INS employees and showing disdain toward immigration-related work.
Expected to improve efficiency, the merger has instead spawned tension. Both Border Protection and Customs Enforcement scored near the bottom in a 2007 survey of employee satisfaction at 222 federal government agencies.
"It's become a cultural clash, tensions between officers from the merged agencies," said a Customs and Border Protection officer who asked not to be identified because he did not have authorization to speak publicly. "There's low morale and tension. Some people drink; others take it out on their colleagues or supervisors. It's no fun anymore."
Homeland Security, an invention of the Bush Administration that was created in response to 9/11, one has to wonder how anyone could believe such a huge bureaucracy could be more efficient. How could so many different organizational cultures be put under one "roof" and not generate more problems than they solve?
And this from a party (GOP) that believes in "small" government, or says they do.
That other organizations should contribute personal to Homeland Security I could agree with. But the FBI and FEMA should never have been put under control of the Homeland Security Department. These two agencies, at the least, should maintain independence (especially funding) from Homeland Security because they have a different mission.
The FBI must legally investigate federal crime so the Justice Department can successfully prosecute federal crime.
FEMA deals with disasters within the USA, the majority of which have nothing to do with terrorism. Further, this is one agency that should be returned to a Presidential Cabinet post.
Both these agencies could be mandated by law to contribute expert personnel to Homeland Security but maintain independence necessary to carry out their own missions.
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