"This thesis explores the idea of consolidating police and fire departments as a unique way to deliver public safety services to communities in an integrated fashion. It investigates how the uniqueness of this concept can fit into our plan to prevent, protect, respond, and mitigate interrelated challenges in a fully coordinated approach. The main claim of this study is that the consolidation of police and fire services enhances communication among disciplines, creates unified leadership and command, and aids in attaining a high level of comprehensive emergency response and planning--and that this improves the execution of the homeland security mission. Through a comparative case study, the research focuses on the history and organizational design of three consolidated departments; the perspective they have towards collaboration and homeland security; and the reported advantages and challenges attributed to these models. The thesis will use the homeland security mission as a backdrop in order to examine the concept of consolidation through comparative case studies. As our country continues to deal with multifaceted threats that force our disparate organizations to integrate in a unified effort; what are the contributions that the consolidation of police and fire services have on the homeland security mission?" An 8-minute, 23-second video interview on this thesis is also available at the following link: [www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did= 20950]