Local Law Enforcement’s Role in Anti-terrorism and Home Land Security

The intensity of the kinfolk 11 attacks on American soil led to massive death of property, besides leaving thousands of innocent noncombatants dead. To many, the attacks revealed just how vulnerable the United States was to the criminal hand of global dismayism. The lessons learnt from the tragic relative incidences prompted immediate action on the dispel of the national authorities, culminating in what became known as the war on terror whose overall objective was to completely eliminate, or at least play down the potential danger posed by terrorists and terrorist schemes spread all over the globe.Beginning then, the stir against terrorism has become a shared responsibility, with discordant security, intelligence and practice of law force enforcement agencies involved in checking terrorist activity. about of the major responsibilities entangle boast involved develop on technologies much(prenominal) as mobile insertion equipment, rescuing hostages and using anti -terrorist weaponry. Although most(prenominal) of these nominate been assigned to specialized lying-in forces such as the military and the Delta force, a full of life evaluation too depicts the local anaesthetic anesthetic anaesthetic anaesthetic enforcement agencies as instrumental in fighting terrorism and enhancing theme security.Indeed, the attacks led to a significant redefinition of the role that federal, commonwealth, as salutary as local law enforcement authorities ought to play in as further as the prevention and interdiction of terrorist activity in the U. S. is concerned (Middlemiss and Gupta, 2007). withal the handed-down role of acting as critical incident managers and low responders, these agencies pass water been assigned a new task that of handling the uncertainties occasioned by the threat of terrorism.The Role Played By Local patrol force Agencies in the Fight against Terrorism. As opposed to the military whose main preoccupation is that of prote ct the country from eternal aggression, the main terra firma of local law enforcement agencies lies in the readying of homeland security. Due to the many security connections that call forth and local officials have established with institutions such as the Intelligence Community and the monastic order in general, they usually tend to have an upper hand in detecting and preventing terrorist activity (Sauter and Carafano, 2005).It is in view of this reality that governments within the state and local levels have since embarked on an initiative of establishing antiterrorism and counterterrorism programs. The degreeer entails the defensive or passive strategies employed to curb terrorism, while the latter involves proactive measures such as pursuing terrorist perpetrators and supporters (Sauter and Carafano, 2005, p. 261).In essence, the failure of such initiative to practise in equipping law enforcement personnel with the basic as hearty as specialized skills of fighting terro rism implies that the local law enforcers help by former(a) personnel would be the in the forefront should a terrorist attack occur. A preliminary study carried out by the Police Executive Research Forum in 2001 found that the local guard played a vital responsibility in critical incidence response, information and intelligence sharing, enhancement of community stability after a major incident, and the establishment of multi-agency task forces (Police Executive Research Forum, 2003).However, one of the most remarkable findings of the survey was the strong belief expressed by these law enforcement agents that they were now faced with an expanded role of terrorism prevention in such subfields as increasing community policing systems, intelligence gathering and information-sharing with the civilian fraternity. Nevertheless, training and conversancy with the nature of global terrorism as fountainhead as the need for upgrading terrorist attack-preparedness emerged as critical component s if these agencies are to perform a greater role in antiterrorism initiatives.Since 2001, the role of local law enforcement agencies in the fight against terrorism has been transformed from a relatively amorphous form into a more distinct one with specific responsibilities and tasks. One of the areas in which the local police have continued to play is in the force field of terrorism prevention. In essence, the very complex nature of terrorism and terrorist groups makes it unimaginable for the federal law enforcers to effectively handle the threat posed by global terrorism.Working in close collaboration with the local communities, the local law enforcers have played a critical role of compendium vital information on personalities suspected to have links to terrorist groups. A critical evaluation depicts these agencies as better placed to make a objective assessment of community security fears and concerns identified as critical in effective fathering of intelligence information, p articularly considering the ability of community policing to lodge in citizens, foster collective problem solving, and encourage information sharing ground on mutual trust (Middlemiss and Gupta, 2007).By receiving and sharing information with state as well as federal agents while at the uniform time maintaining confidentiality especially in reference to sensitive information, the local police have been, and continue to be of great help in the fight against terrorism. Other terrorism prevention initiatives that they could be involved in include the identification, evaluation and reduction of the terrorist threat posed to local targets (Sauter and Carafano, 2005). Another domain in which the local law enforcement agencies should be actively involved in is in the domain of critical incident prevention, preparations and response ().One of the tralatitious roles in which the local police have been involved in is preparing and apace responding to disasters such as Katrina. With the i ncreasing threat of global terrorism however, such an approach has similarly been transferred to terrorist operations. Such efforts have included initiatives geared towards the stemma of early warning systems to detect the possibility of a terrorist attack. However, this role has besides been expanded to security operations enhancement as well as establishing emergency medical teams.Besides, they have been involved in the establishment and death penalty of local critical incident plans indwelling in the evaluation of the unlike waves of domestic and global terrorism (). However, the successful management of terrorist scenes requires that the local police work in close collaboration with state and federal agencies. Although numerous precautionary measures have been undertaken to prevent terrorist attacks similar to 9/11, the possibility of another(prenominal) attack, either by a foreign or domestic organization can not be ruled.As witnessed in 2001, such caustic attacks cause u nprecedented trauma on those involved or their relatives. Thus, the local law enforcement agencies have to work closely with the local leaderships and the community in general in ensuring that such individuals recover from post-terrorist trauma. This could involve adopting effective strategies to exempt the fear of potential attacks in future. In addition, the local police have to brace themselves with the complex security expectations that the affected community may place, including the provision of information and other extra services (Lyons, 2002).Besides the maintenance of custody skilled in handling various terrorist challenges, local law jurisdictions have the responsibility of availing the resources necessary to implement antiterrorism and counterterrorism initiatives. Indeed, the reallocation of existing resources as well as the identification of new ones goes a long way in improving the security-preparedness of state and local officials (Sauter and Carafano, 2005). Such r esources have been deployed to upgrade the capabilities of gray security units in addition to establishing new ones.However, majority of the state and local authorities have increasingly faced numerous counterterrorism budget constrains which have posed as significant obstacles in the initiatives aimed at scaling up security measures. A number of these security initiatives have been funded by the federal government. Notably, the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security was aimed at consolidating most of the federal aid inclined to homeland security within the new division under the Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness (Sauter and Carafano, 2005, p. 64). Some of the activities currently funded include the provision of equipment as well as training of officers on domestic counterterrorist procedures and activities. Nevertheless, the limited funds availed have sometimes precipitated a reduction of existing security functions, for instance, re directing local intelligence fraternity from the traditional role of unraveling organized crime to that of countering terrorist activity.Conclusion. Although relative calm has been witnessed since the 2001 attacks on American soil, the fight against terrorism is far from over. This calls for concerted efforts amongst all the stakeholders involved. Based on past experience, the local law enforcement agencies can indeed play a pivotal role in the antiterrorism and counterterrorism initiatives. These not only include the insane asylum of preventive strategies, but also extend to prompt response during genuine attacks, as well trauma management.However, various factors continue to present insurmountable challenges in the realization of this noble mission. Particularly, a significant number of local law enforcement agencies still grapple with the reality of maintaining a balance betwixt the fight against terrorism on the one hand and deterrence, and prevention of other crimes on the other. In essence therefore, greater federal support and cooperation is essential in supplementing the efforts of local law enforcement agencies.