Law enforcement responses to terrorism

Law Enforcement Responses on Terrorism

Law Enforcement on Terrorism

The paper covers the topic, Law Enforcement Responses on Terrorism. It creates the understanding of Terrorism and the impact on the society, as well as the threats it poses to law enforcement agents. The paper identifies various tactics that law enforcement officials employ in order to deal with terrorist activities, for example, the use of technology such as GIS (Geographical information systems). The paper explains the importance of community engagement and training in preventing terrorism.

Law Enforcement Responses on Terrorism

In the current literature, especially literature on criminal justice there lacks a global consensus concerning the definition of "terrorism." Nevertheless, the United Nations has been incapable of providing a solution concerning its definition. This has made people come up with their own definitions, which vary according to the person's perception of the terror activities. For instance, some suggest that terrorism is what bad people do, whereas the more intellect minds will suggest that terrorism is a rhetorical tactic against one's enemies. Borrowing from the United States, the federal law offers several definitions of terrorism. Moreover, international and domestic terrorism qualify as unlawful "acts dangerous to human life" that "appear to be intended" to coerce civilians or affect the state's policy. The law further defines "terrorists" as a group of civilians who have committed or purpose to commit any forty-seven crimes, of which, involve destroying an aircraft, committing genocide, or destroying communication systems controlled by the state (Barnes, 2012).

Terrorism is an important global issue because it poses a genuine threat not only to the society, but also to the law enforcement agents. There are cases of terrorism in every state, developed or developing, a situation, which prompts many questions from the civilians, how safe are we? Notably, terrorism ranges from state, domestic, and the international level (McCormack, 2012). State-sponsored terrorism refers to the active support of a terrorist group by a government. International terrorism refers to the inhuman activities, which non-state actors, pose to state actors. A typical example is the Al Qaeda group, which used to pose significant threat to the United States (Durmaz, 2007). On the other hand, domestic terrorism refers to "homegrown," terrorism, which mainly operates through opposing the government because of oppression. Examples include the Quebec Liberation Front, the Basque Separatist Movement ETA, and IRA. These groups have engaged their states in terrorist movements because they perceive them as oppressing minorities.

Law Enforcement and Terrorism

Domestic terrorism poses a substantial challenge to the law enforcement. This is because terrorism activities depend on closely held information, and terrorists operate secretively, a dilemma that requires law enforcement officials to employ the most and promising innovative approaches in their attempts to obtain information concerning a terrorist group. Nevertheless, the police must penetrate terrorist groups, a move seen as entirely risky because of the risks they may face if known. In order to react to terrorism, law enforcement has put in place several crucial tactics. The tactics, as many studies suggest, have worked in the United States (Barnes, 2012). This means that, using them may achieve the desired goals of combating domestic terror activities. They are attempting to prevent the radicalization of susceptible persons, training, utilizing GIS and other aspects of intelligence, denying the potential terrorists the opportunity to execute attacks, collaborating with the community leaders, and offering physical security in predisposed locations (Chapman, Baker, Bedikian, Cammarata, Cohen, Leach, Shcapiro, Scheider and Varano, 2002).

Community Engagement

The law enforcement has engaged with people living in areas predisposed to terror activities. These efforts aim to build trust with the society members in order to prevent further radicalization and enhance cooperation. Notably, the most appropriate approach to deal with terrorism is to win over persons with tendencies of radicalization to moderate their actions. In addition, the techniques employed in countering violent extremism are central to informing and equipping the families, communities, and local institutions, because they will represent the best counter-attack to terrorist ideologies after relevant information. Although some people question the efficacy of counter-radicalization, prior studies support the move suggesting that it is becoming a primary approach when addressing domestic terrorism before violent activities take place. In addition, engaging with the community is likely to produce positive outcomes. For instance, the U.S.'s law enforcement cooperation with the Arab and Muslim society resulted to substantial counter-terrorism achievements (Durmaz, 2007).

Training

There is a need for the law enforcement officials to receive adequate training, to make them certain they have adequate proficiency when responding. Some of the vital skills they require include conducting threat evaluations, identify potential terrorists, and technology. Therefore, the involved departments should develop in-house materials on the subject of terrorism prevention and preparedness. Nonetheless, it is possible to use established membership organizations and training entities because they are capable of providing substantial information and training required. A typical example is the training program referred as "A Police Response to Terrorism in the Heartland: Integrating Law Enforcement Intelligence and Community Policing" (Chapman et. al., 2002). This program aimed to address the issues of evaluating potential terrorist targets, identifying potential terrorists, and sharing law enforcement intelligence concerning the issues. In addition, the training program focused on the significance of community policing in the changing times of law enforcement (Chapman et. al., 2002).

Denial of Means

Denial of means simply means the locking out of the possible resources, which the terrorists can use to continue their attacks. Officials achieve this through denying them access to exceptional knowledge and weapons. Terrorists use this knowledge in making bombs, information on potential targets, and weapons training. In so doing, the law enforcement officials will paralyze the attempts of unleashing their terror activities in the potential targets. Nevertheless, research suggests that using these two approaches, as a response to terrorism, is not achievable. This is primarily because the internet or other print materials can offer similar information concerning making of bombs. Although the state can withdraw useful information from the internet, it is impossible to restrict all the useful information. However, research also suggests that this is not a worthless attempt. Information concerning nuclear power plants, and other sensitive areas should not be public, a significant move towards responding to terrorism (Barnes, 2012).

Physical Security

Physical security is the most popular way, which the law enforcement officials use to respond to terrorism. This involves provision of physical security to the potential targets of terror activities. Some of the possible targets include heads of states, the white house, legislature, judiciary, power plants, and government facilities. In addition, significant commercial centers such as malls, and other places, which may attract large numbers of citizens, may also call for physical security. Although attacks against such protected areas are low, they have the capacity to prevent significant attacks (Barnes, 2012). In addition, prior studies support this approach and suggest that physical security is a limited approach of protection against terrorist attacks. Notably, numerous terror attacks occur at places with large numbers of people, and utilizing physical security in such places will limit these activities. Most importantly, physical security is one of the primary responsibilities of the law enforcement in their endeavor to protect the most vulnerable and possible terror targets (Campbell and Michelle, 2001).

GIS and Crisis Management