Law Enforcement and Intelligence Agencies

Every community or nation has a functional security network system in place to thwart any sort of external aggression. The Department of Homeland Security is a key agency in the United States that has been given this duty. The department is in charge of monitoring any external or internal threat to the smooth operation of the United States (Bullock, at el, 2017). The American homeland security organization has encountered a few failures over the years, the most notable of which was the 9/11 attack that rocked the country a few years ago. The study is therefore developed to give details response to homeland security rated questions and other law enforcement agency related issues.

It is important to note that a couple of factors could still be attributed to issues that are preventing the department of homeland security form fixing the intelligence failure that led into the famous 9/11 attach. First, the organization has experienced a couple of challenges when it comes to leading and the coordination the homeland security enterprise. Although the institution has made specific efforts in ensuring the provision of leadership and coordination among its stakeholders, the department of homeland security is still lacking in its bid to forge a productive partnership, sharing of strength, and information utilization. This situation has resulted in a deficit in its ability to adequately carry out the dictates of its mission which is the provision of improved protection after the incidence of 9/11. It is important to note that one of the areas by which the country was vulnerable to the 9/11 attacks was based on an ineffective coordination of cyber-based threat, (Brattberg, 2012). In recent times it is obvious that the department of homeland security has not been able to efficiently meet up with the expectations of private stakeholders and other public agencies as regarding information sharing. Thus it is important to point out that information sharing and proper coordination between other government institutions is still a challenge faced by homeland security in fixing the intelligence failure that led to the 9/11 attacks.

Other challenges faced by the department of homeland security in fixing the 9/11 intelligence failure includes the implementation and integration of management functions. The institution has enormous management functions. These functions based on the nature of its duty in the American society; however, the institution has not been able to efficiently coordinate, execute this role in areas of terror threat prevention, (Kettl, 2013). Based on the realities faced by the organization in this regards, it is still faced with adverse factors such as cost increase, schedules delays, and performance problems. These factors have led to it limited abilities to develop the needed technological avenues to meet certain levels of threats such as perceived nuclear attacks. The department of homeland security has also been adversely affected by its inability to employee suitable personnel in various areas, (Bullock, at al 2011). Hence, the above mention factors remains part of the challenges faced by the DHS in its bid to correct the intelligence failures that led to the 9/11 attacks.

There are a couple of challenges facing law enforcement agencies today, prominent among such challenges include, anti-terrorism, the world today is faced with the realities of terrorism. The acts of violence against the society have been spurred in recent times by some factors which include personal, political, religious and even ethnic and cultural elements; which have led to the death and displacement of a considerable number of people across the globe. Hence, the issues of counter-terrorism are a prominent challenge face by law and enforcement agency not only in the United States but a couple of countries in the world. (Awan & Blakemore, 2016). A prime example of terrorist activities in the event of 9/11 and the recent attacks in Paris and San Bernardino; however in the wake of these attacks a couple of actions have also been adopted by law enforcement agencies to address these challenges. They include the use of force and arrests of members of terror organizations. Intelligence and law enforcement institutions have also raised the level of security search and adoption of advanced technologies to identify and prevent forms of terror attacks. Lastly, the use of cyber technology is one of the most prominent methods used by this institution for forestall any attacks from this group, which include the use of online surveillance and communication interception to forestall threats and attacks. (Ratcliffe, 2016).

Civil unrest is also one of the primary challenges that have been faced by law enforcement and intelligence agencies over the years and in recent time. This form of activities is usually associated with protest and demonstration by disgruntled members of the society based on a certain level of dissatisfaction or sentiment shared by such individuals. The scope of such protest could be on a large scale, and most time it disrupts the functional activities of a nation. (Yu, 2015). Hence, intelligence and law enforcement institutions are called on to manage such situation and reduce all protest to the barest minimum. An excellent example of civil unrest was the “Black Lives Matter” campaign and protest that took place recently in the United States based on what was considered have wrongful execution of a teenage Black child. There is need to note that there are a couple of roles that are performed by intelligence and law enforcement agents in a bid to restore peace and calmness to the society in such situations. First, these institutions ensure that wrongful killing and other triggers of social protests are reduced to the barest minimum. They also advocate for dialogue in such cases instead of massive demonstrations, (Scott-Snyder,2017).

Recruitment and retention of qualified officers have always been the primary challenge faced by these institutions. Most times members of laws enforcement agencies are forced to move from one institution to another in a bid to secure better terms and conditions of employment. An excellent example of this situation is based on the reports filed by Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission (POST) which stated that the current opened position for law enforcement officer in California has increased by 603 persons and such is also the case in most parts of the country, (Cordner, 2016). Faced which this challenge, these institutions have adopted steps like adequate training, proper remuneration and retirement packages as means of addressing the challenge as mentioned above.

After an in-depth analysis of the case scenario, it important to note that a couple of factors should be put not a consideration. First, this is a case of a potential robbery incidence, and in such cases, there is a massive threat to lives and properties. The right action to be taken in this case would be to develop a tactical team and plan for an operation to swing into action to intercept the proposed extortion. However, looking at this situation there is a little complication, although The MS-13 gang is known for its history of violence and indiscriminate use of force, the fact that my informant has been wrong once in the past is a factor that must be put into consideration. Therefore irrespective on the realities of the situation at hand, it will be unwise to disregard the threat posed by the impending actions of the MS-13 gang, hence the need for reconfirmation of available information to ascertain a level of certainty of the impending action of the gang. There are some ways by which the level of certainty could be built up to determine the degree of certainty of the imminent action by the gang. First I will put the gang under 24 hours surveillance, this will be done to find out irregularities in their behaviors and to ascertain clues about their likely attacks, (Cotter, 2017). I would install an invisible audio and visual surveillance system in a strategic location close to where this gang based. This will provide more information about the possibility of the planned action by the gang. If the impending extortion is perceived to be true, then I will precede the interception plan.

In conclusion, there is need to double check and confirm a source provided by an informants before moving into action to avoid mistakes that could lead to undue fatalities.































Reference

Awan, I., & Blakemore, B. (Eds.). (2016). Policing cyber hate, cyber threats and cyber terrorism. Routledge.

Bullock, J., Haddow, G., & Coppola, D. P. (2011). Introduction to homeland security: Principles of all-hazards risk management. Butterworth-Heinemann.Brattberg, E. (2012). Coordinating for Contingencies: Taking Stock of Post‐9/11 Homeland Security Reforms. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 20(2), 77-89.

Bullock, J., Haddow, G., & Coppola, D. P. (2017). Homeland security: the essentials. Butterworth-Heinemann.

Cordner, G. W. (2016). Police administration. Routledge.

 Cotter, R. S. (2017). Police intelligence: connecting-the-dots in a network society. Policing and Society, 27(2), 173-187.

Kettl, D. F. (2013). System under stress: Homeland security and American politics. Sage.

Ratcliffe, J. H. (2016). Intelligence-led policing. Routledge.

Scott-Snyder, S. (2017). Introduction to Forensic Psychology: Essentials for Law Enforcement. CRC Press.

Yu, H. H. (2015). An examination of women in federal law enforcement: an exploratory analysis of the challenges they face in the work environment. Feminist criminology, 10(3), 259-278.