The Role of Local Law Enforcement, Research Paper Example

The Role of Local Law Enforcement as Part of Homeland Security

Through great strides Community Oriented Policing has played an extreme role in local law enforcement as part of homeland security post 9/11 in the United States. It appears COP is “the first line of defense and the grassroots when it comes to securing the homeland.” (Texas Highway Patrol Magazine, 2002). There have been recent efforts to train the local law enforcement on Texas to ensure the safeguards will be prominent in the Texas communities. For example in June 2008 police training was conducted by the Texas Regional Community Policing Institute (TRCPI) in Austin which was developed by the Wichita, Kansas State Regional Community Policing Institute. This particular training was repeated in Dallas/Fort Worth, McAllen and San Antonio some several months later. It is quite transparent that these efforts have been successful because they were attended by hundreds of Public Safety workers.

The local training focuses on what is going on in the community such as what is sold at the local hardware stores and what can be purchased at local Wal-Mart stores. The problem with this is a lot of these stores sell the ingredients of which can make a pipe bomb or fertilizers that can be used for making explosives. “COP is used to help re-build the sense of collectivity within the community. President Bush said Homeland Security is the business of every American today.” (Texas Highway Patrol Magazine, 2002). People wanted to become active with this role after 9/11. The first step is simply knowing and caring about the community and the awareness of how we each can help. We each have a mutual responsibility at the local level and it is when we accept this we have hope to make a change at the national level. Washington does its part with the United States Armed Forces with mobilizing forces against the war against terror. With respect to the home front it is up to the people to secure it at a local level.

The local law enforcement officers are the “frontline on terror and play and indispensible role in our Homeland Security”. (Poole, 2007). They are further the frontline defenders of the nation. I was astonished when I learned of the international affairs of an American contributor LTC Joseph Myers and “how quickly he understood that the Islamic groups were already operating in their local community.” (Poole, 2007). Many other agencies were conducting counter-terror investigations through the dismal times with limited resources. These departments were working with other departments and sharing knowledge to get the war on terror succumbed.

The local police officers have developed instincts of natural curiosity which are necessary to not only being a good cop but which are necessary to recognizing what it takes to fight the war on terror. These instincts are developed thorough doing local work such as traffic stops, doing patrols and talking to people.  In Berkley County, South Carolina police officers “pulled over two men on a routine traffic stop and discovered incendiary devices in the car in a search after he observed one of the suspects attempting to hide a laptop underneath his seat. The two men, Youssef Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed, both University of South Florida students (former stomping grounds of Sami Al-Arian), were charged on Monday.” (Poole, 2007). Local police departments are committed to proposing and developing their own intelligence departments. NYPD and LAPD were looked closer at their intelligence in “On the Front Line in the War on Terrorism”. New York has hundreds of full-time informants on their payroll who do undercover work which includes a preventative approach at the local level. This same approach has been taken in the Los Angeles office because of the success in the New York offices.

This has shown an excellent trend with local units and the FBI and Homeland Security efforts, but the local authorities believe the terror threats cannot handle the threats on their own. In September 2003 there was a “dirty bomb threat which later proved to be false that rocked New York”. (Poole, 2007). The local police learned they cannot solely rely on the Federal agents to handle situations. This assessment came from the peril suffered after the 9/11 attacks. This approach is surely to uncover an occasional terror plot on the United States. Further this is simply made to look at the bigger picture that the Federal agencies just do not have time to look at where the local agencies do have time to put manpower on to announce and tackle.

The local departments have more time to create an intelligence infrastructure anywhere in NYC and LA. They must realize that the Federal government cannot be their savior. Evidence to this is the response of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast region. The Federal Government simply does not have the manpower to catch every single threat. The local governments and police agencies are to communicate with the political leaders and send a message that counter-terrorism is a local and state governmental issue, also.

Local and state governments should invest wisely in their personnel. There should be certain individuals looking for threats. Counter-terrorism should not be the last stop before retirement. The big picture is down the road so utilize your seasoned personnel. It is also wise to develop great public and private searches for personnel. Remember not always are the best personnel found within the government. “An example is the Southern Poverty Resource Center is the best known agency to train law enforcement agency personnel on the threat from neo-Nazi and other racist organizations”. (Poole, 2007).

“Provide opportunities for field personnel to get even minimal training in potential local threats. The guys on the street doing traffic stops and responding to calls can be effective intel gatherers with even the most basic of training of what they might encounter and what to look for. This is especially true as the nexus between criminal networks and terror networks continues to grow”. (Poole, 2007).

Do not develop relationships with certain extremist groups such as CAIR and other groups. You may want to keep the relationships with local community groups only. These other groups may represent threats to the community. You need to find out who the real Muslim leaders are in the local community. These resources should be protected and use with care to ensure we can better protects our community. There will be certain jurisdictional turf wars that will arise that we can handle and the end result will always be looking to the end result of increasing local government involvement to aid with what is already going on at the Federal Government level. “More and more we see local policing powers are the key players in defending our country against the global terror threat”. (Poole, 2007).

“At the local level, the increased funding has resulted in increased police and law enforcement responsibilities. For example, mobile radiation monitors were installed at Baltimore, MD’s port, creating additional workforce requirements for operating and monitoring the new homeland security technology”. (“Homeland Security and Law Enforcement”).

“In 2001, Congress also approved the controversial Patriot (Provide Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism) Act.” (“Homeland Security and Law Enforcement”).  Local police had to work with the federal government to accomplish this extraordinary task.  The local police were not happy because the FBI withheld critical intelligence information in this case. The local police were on top this case from the start.  “In one case, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani complained to Congress that the FBI was not responding to requests for vital data.” (“Homeland Security and Law Enforcement”).
There was poor inner office central communication other blocks to law enforcement efficiency at state, local, and federal levels since the Patriot Act including old equipment that simply cannot keep up with the national standards.

A 2004 survey reported that highway patrols in all American states found themselves with increased responsibilities in homeland security areas.  “About 75 percent of all state police agencies reported significant leadership problems gathering and disseminating intelligence data in their state.” (“Homeland Security and Law Enforcement”).  Vulnerability evaluations further impact the role of the investigators and police officers.

Police officers state having to report ‘suspicious activity’ has put a burden on their daily local duties.  “Officers also must receive more thorough preparation for responding to potential biological, chemical, and radiological attacks.” (“Homeland Security and Law Enforcement”).

References

The 9-11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, Official Government Edition Retrieved September 24, 2010 from, http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/

Out of Bounds: Innovation and Change in Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysis Retrieved September 24, 2010 from, http://www.ndic.edu/press/2201.htm

The Role of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies in Homeland Security: Texas Highway Patrol Magazine (2002) Revisiting Community-Oriented Policing Retrieved September 24, 2010 from, http://www.cjcenter.org/trcpi/doc/articles/oce.pdf

Poole, P. (2007) Local Law Enforcement and Homeland Security Retrieved September 25, 2010 from, http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/08/local_law_enforcement_and_home.html

Homeland Security and Law Enforcement (2010) Retrieved September 25, 2010 from, http://www.policeemployment.com/resources/articles/homeland-security-law