All follow up responses (minimum of 2) should be at least 250 words.
Students will also be required to respond to at least two (2) other students’ posts with significant comments that have substance. Your responses to your peers’ posts should be engaging and informative. Your responses should contribute in a meaningful way that helps to advance our knowledge of the topics that our class explores. All responses will include a citation with a reference in APA Style. Your responses to another student’s work should be posted as a sub-thread to the student’s original posting. All additional responses are due no later than Sunday at 2359 hours EST. However, please feel free to provide your additional responses earlier than Sunday, which will provide your classmates with the opportunity to reply back to your posts and engage in collaborative discussion with you.
Student # 1
The threat of terrorism is very much an international one, and one that cannot be countered through the use of domestic law enforcement alone. It is worth noting, however, that however widespread or far-flung the threat, when an attack happens domestically, local agencies will be the first responders on the scene (Lieberman, 2009). Regardless of whether the NSA, CIA, FBI, (insert three-letter organization here), etc has obtained knowledge of a potential threat, it will be local responders who are the first on scene, with federal or international agents arriving only after the fact. This reality is why local law enforcement must develop strategies for countering both the general threat of terrorism and for coping with terrorist attacks when they happen.
Local law enforcement agencies will never have the intelligence resources of large federal or international agencies, and for that reason they will always be dependent on the higher-ups to inform them of potential world-wide threats (Lieberman, 2009). On a smaller scale, however, law enforcement officials must be observant and must be alert to the possibility of a terrorist threat from within their community. This is where the concept of community oriented policing comes into play. We have talked a lot about the community oriented policing program throughout this course of study, but I think that, given the state of the world that we live in today, the ability of the COP program to allow officers to become familiar with their people and their districts is what gives local law enforcement an edge in identifying potential threats. With an us-versus-them approach to policing, officers never get the chance to know their people, and without that intimate knowledge, they have no way to know when something is different, no reference point for the instinct that something or someone is just a little bit off. Sometimes this instinct might be the only warning of a potential terrorist threat.
This is fundamentally different from the way that the world looks at counter-terrorism activities. On an international level, terrorism is fought with many multinational agencies (theoretically) sharing information to create the most complete picture possible, given the vague nature that defines the terrorist threat. International anti-terrorism efforts are coordinated to focus on the source of the terrorist activity; it is largely left to domestic and local agencies to combat the terrorist threat at home. The idea of community oriented policing has its merits when considering international counter-terrorism operations, but the implementation of the concept is rather different. For starters, our idea of law enforcement in terrorist-controlled regions is military in nature. The troops that are charged with keeping order in these areas come from a variety of different communities themselves, and now are asked to integrate into an entirely new community, one where their safety depends on their ability to know the landscape and the people. Just like local law enforcement officers, a soldier’s ability to know when something just isn’t quite right could be the difference between life and death, and it is the soldier’s knowledge of his area and his people that give him this ability.
Lieberman, C. A. (2009). Community policing & counter terrorism: Community policing philosophy as a tool for local law enforcement to counter terrorist activities (Order No. 3369099). Available from ProQuest Central; ProQuest Criminal Justice. (304863180). Retrieved fromhttp://search.proquest.com/docview/304863180?accountid=8289
Student # 2
There are many law enforcement strategies that can and have been put into place to protect the United States from terrorist attacks. One of these is the screening at airports of all personnel who wish to fly both domestic and international. These increases screenings use many methods to ensure they are thorough. One portion of this is the removal of shoes and metal objects. This allows TSA to uses medical detectors to check for weapons. Then you must pass through a body scanner that is akin to an X-ray machine. Showing if you have anything on your person that the metal detector did not pick up. A third layer to this is the random selection of people to be patted down. This random method acts as a deterrent to those who would attempt to sneak things in past the detectors.
A second strategy that has been put into place is the checking of legal status in Arizona, this allows Law Enforcement to possibly catch people who have made it past our borders illegally with the intent to cause us harm. Statics show that 44 percent of people who come into contact with police are due to a traffic stop (“Bureau of Justice Statistics,” n.d.). This means traffic cops have the most opportunity to come into contact with a terrorist who is seeking to do harm. This small strategy makes all Law enforcement eyes and ears for the nation aiding the Department of Homeland Security.
While these are strategy there is a national level strategy. This strategy articulates the government’s approach to counter terrorism and identifies the tools required for success. This shows the threat we face along with the principles of our nation in this effort (“National Strategy for Counterterrorism,” 2011). These principles are adhering to the U.S. Core Values, building security partnerships, applying counter terrorism tools and capabilities appropriately and building a culture of resilience (“National Strategy for Counterterrorism,” 2011).
Domestic terrorism and international terrorism are both terrorism. The both involve bombs, attacks and casualties. The different is the location of the events. Domestic occurs on the homeland and international occurs abroad. The methods used to thwart these attached very to a degree. The domestic events employ American first responders and coalitions of local, state and federal law enforcement. These agencies share information assist each other to attempt to stop these events or react to them should they occur. International events often involve multinational coalitions and the use of intelligence agencies such as the CIA, MI6, and Interpol. The fighting of these groups of terrorists have used the Militaries of many countries since September 11, 2001. While the means are greatly different the goals are the same, stop terrorist before they can commit the acts they intent to commit against the populace.
Bureau of Justice Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=702
National Strategy for Counterterrorism. (2011, June). Retrieved January 12, 2016, fromhttps://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/counterterrorism_strategy.pdf
