DHS wants to expand it spying capabilities by opening an office in Hawaii.

Lawmakers in Hawaii are discussing the state’s Department of Defense the idea of creating a new homeland security office with. Supporters of the plan say having a DHS office will help improve efforts to prevent terrorist attacks in Hawaii. Critics are not so sure.

Lawmakers in Hawaii are discussing the state’s Department of Defense the idea of creating a new homeland security office with. Supporters of the plan say having a DHS office will help improve efforts to prevent terrorist attacks in Hawaii.

“For one, it does show the state’s focus and desire to have an office that will look at our own infrastructure and our own needs and wants,” Senator Will Espero (D-Hawaii). Espero also noted that the measure is appropriate in the wake of the explosions at the Boston Marathon earlier this week.

“When you look at what’s happening in Boston and the East Coast, I think this shows the important of having an office within your own jurisdiction,” Espero added.

Supporters include State Adjutant General Darryll Wong, who is the chairman of the state’s Department of Defense.He leads the State Civil Defense and is the  homeland security advisor to the governor.

Lieutenant Colonel Chuck Anthony says that if the effort is successful, it will make Wong’s job that much easier.

“Rather than going through several layers of personnel at State Civil Defense to get information that he (Wong) may need to pass along to the governor, he can go directly to the office of homeland security, get that information, and then provide that to the decision makers here in the state,” Anthony, a state defense department spokesman, told Hawaii News Now.

Critics of the plan say that a DHS office at the state level would only duplicate the job  already being done by local civil defense and law enforcement agencies, as well as the federal DHS.

The bill to create a DHS office is sitting before a House-Senate committee which will discuss the measure on Tuesday.
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/22027046/hawaii-lawmakers-consider-homeland-security-office