The Role of Local Law Enforcement in Resolving Security Challenges
The task of resolving security challenges in any location, particularly those connected to terrorism, falls to local law enforcement officers. The initial response to serve and protect the public is the duty of the law enforcement personnel in the community policing organizations. Law enforcement agents collaborate with other agencies to improve data collecting and intelligence after they have the necessary amount of information, cooperating with intelligence personnel and providing the information needed to obtain the relevant information, as Bigo mentioned (2000). By ensuring that the issues are also provided, the law enforcement personnel also allay the victims' concerns.
The Role of Terrorism Liaison Officers
Terrorism Liaison Officers (TLOs) play a critical role in the event of a suspected terrorist attack. Although a TLO is not a professional or expert in terrorism matters but has been trained on the issues associated with terrorism, he or she performs as a resource person through training such that he receives information from Local Fusion Center to share with other local entities regarding investigations and intelligence. The liaison officers also alert the public safety personnel officers related to terrorism to make sure all matters are reported. According to Bonilla-Silva (2017), the Liaison officers have a close association with citizens such that when the people witness potentially associated with terrorism. When they attain this information and forward it to Suspicious Activity Report, who in-turn give the information to the Joint Terrorism Task Force. A TLO collects and shares information related to terrorism, and he or she acts as the external or internal inquiry. More specifically, the liaison officers work collaboratively with community stakeholders. When the community members require meetings or departmental training on matters related to terrorism, it is the liaison officer who organizes such meetings. He also coordinates with the people and relevant stakeholders.
The Role of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
The Federal Bureau of Investigation plays a significant role in the prevention and response to suspected crime. Once FBI is formed, they embark on an investigative operation to assist in the most reasonable action within the appropriate time. As a body that works between intelligence and law enforcement within the United States, it aims at reducing the terrorist attacks before their occurrence. The FBI uses the USA Patriot Act to assist them to access the necessary tools and resources that would help in the investigation process. Such tools include obtaining business records, search warrants, and roving wire traps. Additionally, the FBI utilizes devices to record all incoming and outgoing messages within the suspected terrorism scene as well as using national security letters. In the event of such a suspected crime, it is the FBI that provides the necessary bridge between intelligence and law enforcement to hasten the process (Seghetti & Bjelopera 2013).
Improvements to Enhance Efficiency and Reduce Terrorism
Although FBI and the law enforcement have been impactful in addressing matters related to terrorism, there are some improvements that can enhance the efficiency of the services and reduce any occurrence of terrorism in the US. First, the FBI should acquire unique skills to deal with the ever-increasing challenges associated with terrorism. This would also involve a more coherent link between investigation and law enforcement such that the efficiency in the investigation is improved.
The United States needs to grip a smarter methodology to criminal justice that identifies that the tendency to focus on race is not the solution to build safe communities. Failure to warrant that our legal and judicial systems treat all Americans alike has divided too many of our communities. According to Kuehl, Elliot, et al (2014), some of the improvements to be made include:
- Increase the usage of special prosecutors in police wrongdoing investigations, this will prevent the prosecutors bias against the local police.
- Enhancement of the collection of data on fatalities linking the cops, the significant gap in the collection and analysis of data make it extremely difficult to access the scope of problems in the police fatal incidences. The legislation will be a significant step towards addressing the current data gap. However, the administration must detail regulations essential to be recounted under the catch-all language in the legislation to warrant that the state reports vital information.
- Implementation of implicit bias exercise for all federal law-administration officers and local and state police involved in central mission forces. Training creates awareness of the bias in the national law-administration officers, and the structure of personnel should echo the diversity of the community served.
- Increase in the federal government's surveillance of police conduct, for example, a more active approach in setting anticipations for police demeanor nationwide and ensure submission with those standards by conditioning participation in federal task forces on the implementation of specific policies, rules, and training and through fines in federal funding.
The National Response Framework (NRF) and Its Significance
This National Response Framework (NRF) acts as a guide to how the Nation handles the all-hazards response. It is built upon flexible, scalable, and adaptable coordinating arrangements to align critical responsibilities and roles crosswise the Nation as cited by Scott & Coleman (2016). For example, NRF application at Los Angeles California bombing that caused partial collapse of the Los Angeles Times building. The key teachings focused predominantly on how the Federal Government is structured to support States and communities in catastrophic cases. Most importantly, it shapes upon the National Incident Management System (NIMS), which offers a steady template for handling incidents.
References
Bigo, D. (2000). Liaison officers in Europe: New officers in the European security field. Issues in transnational policing, 67, 100.
Bonilla-Silva, E. (2017). Racism without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in America. Rowman & Littlefield.
Kuehl, K. S., Elliot, D. L., Goldberg, L., MacKinnon, D. P., Vila, B. J., Smith, J., … & Sleigh, A. (2014). The safety and health improvement: enhancing law enforcement departments study: feasibility and findings. Frontiers in public health, 2.
Landau, S. (2016). The real security issues of the iPhone case. Science, 352(6292), 1398-1399.
Scott, J., & Coleman, M. (2016). Reaching the unreached: Building resilience through engagement with diverse communities. Journal of business continuity & emergency planning, 9(4), 359-374.
Seghetti, L. M., & Bjelopera, P. J. CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress The Violence Against Women Act: Overview, Legislation, and Federal Funding. CRS Report for Congress.[online] 2012 [cited 2013 January 1].
