Was the “Law-Enforcement” Model Effective in Dealing With the First WTC Bombing in 1993? Essay Example

Effectiveness of the law enforcement model in combating WTC bombing is highly doubtable due to the fact; the provisions of the law at that time did not enable government agencies such as the FBI to execute their duties in a proper manner. The model was characterized with hoop holes in management and resource allocation and thereby paving way for terrorist to successfully execute their attacks. The model left the FBI with many blames than it had expected, for instance before the bombing, most agents of the FBI were spread internationally conducting investigations on terrorist activities on the international front while the activities at home were not given much attention thereby creating room for terrorist to attack the building (Hartocollis, 260).

The law enforcement model saw the FBI adopt a traditional approach in handling countering terrorism. The management approach adopted by the team was based on decentralization of the investigation activities. The management style made the team to be very proactive in issues such as indictments and prosecutions while counter terrorism and operational intelligence were given less attention. Handling terrorism calls for proper investigations and intelligence that is important to ensure that most accurate and reliable information on terrorist activities are obtained.

The element of good information system also places the effectiveness of the model in doubt for instance, the information collected by the FBI agents from the field were never analyzed properly due to improper organization of the information system. The information collected by the agents could be followed up to execute proper investigation and data intelligence making it difficult for the team to understand the nature of the terrorisms in America (Anemona,26).

FBI field staffs conducted investigations on individual basis that were never relayed to judicial avenues such as courts and other anti crime agencies in the country. Information sharing in the FBI system was very low and no proper assessments were conducted on potential areas of danger. Since antiterrorism investigations were conducted by the field officers, priorities of the headquarters could be pursued very easily thereby providing room for growth of terrorism activities (Anemona,26).

The FBI had adopted preventive counterterrorism strategy that was characterized by a myriad range of challenges that lacked proper data collection and orientation towards results. The preventive strategy emphasized on more on information collected by the various agents in the streets but not any data intelligence. The issue of resource allocation also places the efficacy of the law enforcement model on debate; the federal government did not ensure adequate resource allocation to counter terrorism activities. The challenges faced by the FBI in countering terrorism were two fold, the first case was inadequate resources and the other case scenario was lack of experienced and highly qualified investigative personnel that could conduct proper investigations on the activities of terrorists and other related crimes. As the nation experienced an increase in terrorist activities, the organization was in dilemma as whether to focus its attention to drugs and general crime or solely combat terrorism (Hartocollis, 260).

The approach of the organization to rely on field agents to conduct investigation and employ the decentralized management system weakened the connection between the headquarters the performance of its core duties.

Works cited

Hartocollis, K. “Blame for 1993 Attack at Center Is Still at Issue“. New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 .2009.

Anemona, P. “Port Authority Liable in 1993 Trade Center Attack“. The New York Times. -10-26. 2008. “