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

The intensity of the September 11 attacks on American soil led to massive destruction of property, besides leaving thousands of innocent civilians dead. To many, the attacks revealed just how vulnerable the United States was to the cruel hand of global terrorism. The lessons learnt from the tragic incidences prompted immediate action on the part of the federal authorities, culminating in what became known as the war on terror whose overall objective was to completely eliminate, or at least minimize the potential danger posed by terrorists and terrorist organizations spread all over the globe. Beginning then, the fight against terrorism has become a shared responsibility, with various security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies involved in checking terrorist activity. Some of the major responsibilities include have included training on technologies such as airborne insertion equipment, rescuing hostages and using anti-terrorist weaponry. Although most of these have been assigned to specialized task forces such as the military and the Delta force, a critical evaluation also depicts the local enforcement agencies as instrumental in fighting terrorism and enhancing national security. Indeed, the attacks led to a significant redefinition of the role that federal, state, as well as local law enforcement authorities ought to play in as far as the prevention and interdiction of terrorist activity in the U. S. is concerned (Middlemiss and Gupta, 2007). Besides the traditional role of acting as critical incident managers and first responders, these agencies have been assigned a new task: that of handling the uncertainties occasioned by the threat of terrorism. The Role Played By Local Police Agencies in the Fight against Terrorism. As opposed to the military whose main preoccupation is that of protecting the country from eternal aggression, the main domain of local law enforcement agencies lies in the provision of homeland security. Due to the numerous security connections that state and local officials have established with institutions such as the Intelligence Community and the society 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 former 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 suffice in equipping law enforcement personnel with the basic as well as specialized skills of fighting terrorism implies that the local law enforcers assisted by other 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 police 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 well as the need for upgrading terrorist attack-preparedness emerged as critical components 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 domain of terrorism prevention. In essence, the very complex nature of terrorism and terrorist groups makes it impossible 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 collecting 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, particularly considering the ability of community policing to engage citizens, foster collective problem solving, and encourage information sharing based on mutual trust (Middlemiss and Gupta, 2007). By receiving and sharing information with state as well as federal agents while at the same 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 traditional roles in which the local police have been involved in is preparing and promptly responding to disasters such as Katrina. With the increasing threat of global terrorism however, such an approach has similarly been transferred to terrorist operations. Such efforts have included initiatives geared towards the derivation of early warning systems to detect the possibility of a terrorist attack. However, this role has also been expanded to security operations enhancement as well as establishing emergency medical teams. Besides, they have been involved in the establishment and implementation of local critical incident plans essential in the evaluation of the various 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 attack, either by a foreign or domestic organization can not be ruled. As witnessed in 2001, such deadly attacks cause unprecedented 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 alleviate 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 manpower 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 resources have been deployed to upgrade the capabilities of old 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 department 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, redirecting 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 initiation of preventive strategies, but also extend to prompt response during actual 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 between 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.