The functions conducted by Homeland Security often require quick assessment and quicker decision-making and because of these requirements, critical thinking skills are imperative for those who perform these functions and fill the roles holding so much responsibility in Homeland Security. Because the responsibilities of those employed by Homeland Security are so filled with liability for the American people in terms of lives and property, it is necessary that a model be developed to guide the decision-making processes of these individuals. Toward this end this work will examine the ‘Elements of Thought’ of Paul and Elder (2005) as well as the book entitled “Asking the Right Questions” written by Browne and Keeley. This work will discuss combining elements from each of these models in order to combine one fully-functional critical thinking model to be used in support of homeland security, using one historical event that might have been prevented or mitigated by using this model.

The functions conducted by Homeland Security often require quick assessment and quicker decision-making and because of these requirements, critical thinking skills are imperative for those who perform these functions and fill the roles holding so much responsibility in Homeland Security. Because the responsibilities of those employed by Homeland Security are so filled with liability for the American people in terms of lives and property, it is necessary that a model be developed to guide the decision-making processes of these individuals. Toward this end this work will examine the ‘Elements of Thought’ of Paul and Elder (2005) as well as the book entitled “Asking the Right Questions” written by Browne and Keeley.  Through this examination, a final model will be developed combining elements from these two sources in order to produce a quality critical thinking model for homeland security. This work will discuss how that critical thinking model could be used in support of homeland security, using one historical event that might have been prevented or mitigated by using this model.

Historical Event

In March of 2010, it was reported that there was a protest occurring in Gainesville, Florida due to an international graduate student from Ghana who had been shot in the face by University of Florida policeman. The incident happened due to a neighbor’s call to the police station because the individual, Adu-Brempong was heard screaming due to stress associated with his studies. The campus police are reported to have “stormed his apartment, tasered him three times and then shot him in the face with an assault rifle”. (Hamil, 2010) The injured man was hospitalized and was reported in critical condition due to having lost his tongue and jaw. It is reported that “the police action took less than 30 seconds” and stated is “incredibly, the University of Florida police charged him with a felony for ‘resisting arrest with violence’. (Hamil, 2010)

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