Strategic security disciplines: counter-terrorism, protection, and intelligence

Protection Profession Disciplines

Strategic security is a completely new disciplinary area in the protection profession; as such, it has not yet been fully accepted as a necessary requirement for National Security. In part, this may be because the area is also not yet fully defined in a detailed manner. When it comes to the usefulness or validity of any discipline in the field of security, there is hardly anyone who doesn't want 'their discipline' to be a part of Strategic Security. However, many people have their own preferences and beliefs regarding the most useful and significant disciplines. In cases of executive protection, there are a number of significant professional disciplines. In this paper research, evaluation, and critique will be carried out for the particular disciplines of counter-terrorism, protection, and intelligence. This will be done in order to see how all these things go hand in hand for the establishment of Strategic Security. Recommendations will also be made regarding these disciplines and the potential increases in more rapid information gathering for useful action if they are used together to make the protection operation successful rather than using them separately.

Strategic Security Background

The term "security" is not used merely to refer to a certain level or threat of safety. In fact, security is an activity, and an ongoing process of behaviors that are created to anticipate probable or reasonable threats to a person, nation, region or even the environment. There are many forms of security threats, including: economic upheaval, violent extremism, natural disasters, environmental catastrophes, political corruption, and terrorism etc. (Advancing Your Career in the Field of Strategic Security).

The definition of strategic security includes the fact that it is multidisciplinary; it is a view of past, present, and future security issues of the world that aids in the gathering of objective and accurate knowledge in a timely manner to avoid threats. The fields of counter-terrorism, intelligence, and personal protection are all driven by strategic security (Advancing Your Career in the Field of Strategic Security). Appropriate information can be provided by individuals with expertise in these areas; such information, if given to the right authorities, can go a long way in creating a secure and safe environment for all of us. There is a requirement for analytical skills and critical thinking from the practitioners that belong to this field. These skills are achieved with the help of education, as well as professional training; it is the combination of these two factors that allows practitioners to advance and succeed in this global environment.

Intelligence

Significant information is provided for policy decisions through different sorts of intelligence such as social, military, environmental, political, cultural, and health information. It is the opinion of many people that intelligence is only the information which is collected through covert or secret means. However, the truth is that: Yes, there is some intelligence that is collected via covert means and is highly classified; however, there is also a significant amount of intelligence that is commonly available (Intelligence Collection Disciplines). Mainly there are five methods of intelligence collection; they are usually known as "intelligence collection disciplines" or the "INTs."

Human Intelligence (HUMINT)

The information that is collected through the human sources is known as HUMINT. There are two main ways of collecting information of this sort. The first is the more open manner mostly used by FBI agents when they interview suspects or witnesses; the other is through covert or clandestine means. The FBI is responsible for the collection of HUMINT in the United States (U.S.). However, out of United States, the CIA and some other components of the particular States are responsible for collecting HUMINT. There is no denying the importance of HUMINT. However, there are other methods as well though which intelligence is gathered by the U.S. such as: SIGINT, MASINT, and OSINT.

Signals Intelligence (SIGINT)

The collection of electronic transmissions through ground sites, ships, satellites, or planes comes under signals intelligence. Communications Intelligence (COMINT) is a type of SIGINT, where communication is intercepted between 2 parties (Intelligence Collection Disciplines). The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is responsible for building the SIGINT satellites of the U.S. However; it is the National Security Agency (NSA) which is mainly responsible for the activities related to the U.S. signals intelligence.

Imagery Intelligence (IMINT)

This type of intelligence is also known as photo intelligence (PHOTINT). It was during the Civil War that one of the first kinds of IMINT was carried out. This was done with the help of balloons that had soldiers in them; they were sent up to collect intelligence regarding the surroundings (Intelligence Collection Disciplines). In both World War 1 and 2, IMINT was practiced a lot when photos were taken by both sides of the conflict from airplanes. Presently, it is the National Reconnaissance Office, which is associated with the designing, building, and operations of the imagery satellites. The processing of imagery is done mostly by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

Measurement and Signatures Intelligence (MASINT)

This is a rather small data collection discipline that is associated with the weapons and/or is concerned with industrial activities. Advanced processing, as well as collection of data with the help of airborne and overhead SIGINT and IMINT collection systems is included in MASINT (Intelligence Collections Disciplines). The data that is relayed during tests with weapons is sometimes indicated with the help of Telemetry Intelligence (TELINT). The various electronic emissions that are picked up with the help of modern tracking systems and weapons are collected by electronic intelligence (ELINT). Both ELINT and TELINT can be considered as sub-types of SIGINT, and can play a part in contributing to MASINT.

Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT)

This sort of intelligence is concerned with the broad range of sources and information that are normally available and readily accessible. This includes information that is gathered from the media (television, newspaper, radio, online sources, etc.), academic and professional records (conferences, papers, and professional proceedings of associations, etc.) as well as public data (hearings, government reports, speeches, and demographic information, etc.)

Counterterrorism

There are retrospective and prospective aspects of counter-terrorism. The prospective or "pre-crime" aspects of counter-terrorism are performed on a continuous basis. This is because their purpose is to deter, disrupt, and prevent actions that are considered to have a connection with terrorism. This also includes surveillance and/or intervention-actions concerning individuals who have direct connection(s) to groups that are involved in, or support the terrorist action. Another important role that is increasingly being played by the counter-terrorism units is that they are taking steps to bring down the financial infrastructures and resources of these terrorist organizations and the groups that support them (Innes, 2006).

The 2nd dimension of counter-terrorism is 'post crime' activities; hence, this aspect is more reactive, as it takes place as a response to some incident. It normally includes the criminal investigations done in order to find the perpetrators of the attacks, as well as to figure out any new targets for the future. However, after 9/11, more interest is being directed at the management of incidences that might have a wide-scale impact on civilian communities. It has been said that attacks performed on Western countries have deliberately tried to abuse the already present tensions, in what Karstedt (cited in Innes, 2006) said to be "the liberal inclusionary plan" of democracy. This involves making use of terrorist violence to further increase gaps along religious lines (Innes, 2006).

The police are mainly responsible for following the counter-terrorism investigations, with the help of the Anti-Terrorist Branch and Special Branch officers. These officials proceed by gathering evidence so that it is available for legal proceedings (Masse 2003).

While these organizations have firewalls in place that stops them from readily accessing each other's data, according to a number of interviewees in the past few years, the relationships have improved a lot between the Security Service and many specialist police units. Generally speaking, there has been more involvement by domestic policing agencies in those functions regarding protection of the community.

Protection

Recently, corporate leaders have begun to recognize that security is more than an overhead expenditure. It may be very important for the competitiveness of any company. In order to improve the American commercial and corporate sector's security, a new regulatory environment has been established for corporate America with both the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the U.S.A. Patriot Act. A sign of rising interest in corporate security is the increasingly popular CSO journal. While CSO has a variety of meanings, from Chief Security Officer to Company Security officer, and Corporate Security Officer, each of these reflects the growing corporate interest and importance. The CSO journal is only about five years old, but already has over 25, 000 readers/subscribers (Greaves, 2008).

Training and certification is being provided by increasing number of organizations in the fields of private security. The largest one of these is ASIS International, with 35,000 members. There are hundreds of security conferences, held on topics such as corporate security; educational resources are offered to the members for certification as Physical Security Professional (PSP), Professional Certified Investigator (PCI), and Certified Protection Professional (CPP).

This increase in the awareness of security at the boardroom level can now also be found at both government and business levels that probably would not have considered security in the past. Intelligence bureaus and counter-terrorism units are being formed by local police departments; this has increased the demand for training. As well, it has also increased the debate concerning the use of intelligence tools in the context of law enforcement (Greaves, 2008).

Executive Protection

This kind of protection is also referred to as 'personal protection'. These are basically security measures that are taken for the safety of VIPs and other such individuals who might be at some increased personal risk due to their wealth, employment, geographical locations, celebrity status, and etc. There might be bodyguards, home security systems, vehicle scramble plans, armored vehicles, private jet travel, mail screening, and background checks, all as part of the protective measures (Zelvin, 2011). Executive protection also provides security for the extended and/or immediate family members, in case that there is any danger of extortion or kidnapping. In the private security industry, executive protection is a field of its own and it is highly specialized. The professionals belonging to elite executive protection will not just have training in executive protection, but also training in first aid, marksmanship, and driving.

It is important to note here that according to the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004 (aka HR-218), it is forbidden for a law enforcement officer to provide the services of executive protection even if he/she is off-duty. Direct liability is created for the client when uninsured and unlicensed off-duty law enforcement officers are hired.

Recommendations

One of the highly difficult challenges in Washington, D.C. is the correct accomplishment of the national homeland security enterprise. This is because it is the over-centralization, entrenched politics, and pervasive complacency that are perceived as being problems regarding the protection of the homeland. To some extent, these negative factors are ingrained and/or entrenched, which hinders the proper functioning of Washington (Mayer et.al, 2011). Through the course of this obstacle a path has been marked in the report.

The recommendations that have been mentioned in this report are the necessary steps in the establishment of a homeland security that is right for the U.S. (Mayer et.al, 2011).

In the significant proposals are (Mayer et.al, 2011):

The institutionalization of a framework which empowers the local authorities and state so that they can fulfill their responsibilities in case of a disaster or operations concerning domestic counter-terrorism, especially to make sure that the input of the local public and state is provided in the formation and promotion of policies.

Adopting an honest, realistic and fair approach that would help the various enforcement teams to recognize that local and state authorities are accountable partners. This includes rejecting the strategy of "amnesty first," which would only give rise to more unlawful presences and illegal crossing of borders. There is a great deal of importance in legal and sensible immigration, workplace laws, and functional border security in order to focus the few existing resources on the serious threats due to the trans-national criminal cartels located in Mexico.

Continuous use of the important counter-terrorism tools like the ones that have been authorized in the U.S.A. Patriot Act, and the formation of a national domestic counter-terrorism and intelligence framework that would help to figure out the manner in which intelligence operations at all levels should be carried out.

It was in 2007 that the first version of the Strategic Plan was released; since that time, preparedness has been improved. Using the example of Ohio, the 2007 Strategic Security plan has engendered security efforts that are being assessed and coordinated by the agencies all over the state. In terms of federal grant funds, the 2007 Strategic plan is useful for both local and state organizations; it helps these agencies prioritize the use of Ohio's competencies with regards to cost effectiveness; it also demonstrates that these resources are being used by the state in an optimal manner. When it comes to homeland security, everyone in Ohio has a job to do from the federal partners to the individual citizens.

In the development, as well as the subsequent revisions of the Strategic Plan, national guidance was utilized (2011 Strategic Plan). It was due to direct orders from the President that this guidance was created. The National guidance provided for state security aims to prepare states to be able to deal with any sort of crisis, and to integrate the planning at a national level. A comprehensive process has been outlined by the Homeland Security Presidential Directive Eight (HSPD-8). Its purpose is to prepare states for any sort of national crisis that would require the movement of resources across the country which would include the local, state and federal levels. An inclusive planning process was instituted by the Division of Homeland Security, Strategic Plan and the Department of Public Safety in order to make sure that with the help of Ohio Homeland Security Strategic Plan Round-table a detailed input is received from all over the state. There are 9 advisory committees in the Round-table, with representatives from over 200 agencies in the state (2011 Strategic Plan). It was the task of these committees to come up with recommendations for the implementation and revisions of steps and objectives that would support and promote continuous development of risk-based, sustainable, all-hazard readiness abilities.