September 11, local law enforcement like Javier's department became more responsible for participating in and ensuring homeland security. While the role of police in homeland security might seem natural or obvious, diverting the attention and resources of police towards the federal concerns of homeland security can have some detrimental outcomes. One of the most important changes Javier noticed was the breakdown in the community policing model that the department had worked so hard to establish. Focusing more on counterterrorism efforts than on building relationships with community members damages the relationships between police and members of the community in serious ways. Police officers are expected to become keen observers of human behavior, to the point where they revert to the antagonistic role in the community. Instead of interacting positively with members of the community, police were being viewed increasingly with suspicion. Javier and his fellow officers had also been responding more to hate crimes against the Muslim community. Structural changes to the organization included greater centralization and more reliance on technology and big data in policing methods.Officers themselves were ambivalent about the changes because of their mixed implications and results. There has been a lack of role clarity...
As Ernst (2017) points out, police officers are "much more likely" to deal with mundane daily events than on anything related to terrorism. Yet the role of police in counterterrorism remains nebulous. At the same time, centralization has increased and improved communication among various departments and has enabled information sharing.
2. Javier's attitude toward illegal immigration is understandable and it is helpful to have someone like him on the force. Too often, officers react in rigid ways to the perceived threat of illegal immigration because they have been told by the media and perhaps by their superior officers to take an antagonistic approach to illegal immigrants. Javier understands that the situation with immigration is too complex to warrant a knee-jerk negative response. Instead of presuming that all illegal immigrants are threats to the integrity of the community, police officers would be better off focusing on their primary roles in preserving community safety. Focusing only on criminal behaviors is the best use of police resources, which is why I would support Javier's balanced and sensible approach. Officers like…
