NCJ Number
198085
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 64 Issue: 7 Dated: December 2002 Pages: 66-69
Editor(s)
Susan L. Clayton M.S.
Date Published
December 2002
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the impact of and response to domestic terrorism by America's criminal justice system.
Abstract
The greatest challenge facing the American criminal justice system today is domestic terrorism. A new era in criminal justice was introduced on both a national and domestic level after the 2001 terrorist attack on the United States. It is strongly felt that an awareness must exist in relation to the link between terrorism and domestic crime on the Federal, State, and local level. This article discusses the Federal response in the prevention of domestic terrorism, as well as a collaborative effort among Federal and State criminal justice practitioners networking through their information-sharing systems. In shifting its focus to counter-terrorism, the U.S. Justice Department is working with State and local criminal justice practitioners to ensure that information and resources are available to fight domestic terrorism while continuing to combat and prevent domestic crime. In addition, meeting this challenge includes soliciting citizen volunteers. The Justice Department is currently administering three Citizen Corps components designed to offer ways for the public to assist their communities. These include: (1) increasing the number of Neighborhood Watch programs across the country and incorporating terrorism prevention in the program's mission; (2) increasing the number of citizen volunteers in law enforcement agencies to free-up law enforcement professionals; and (3) implementing the Terrorism Information Prevention System (Operation TIPS) to provide a non-emergency call center and routing system. Through these efforts, the Justice Department will continue to support State and local criminal justice entities in their efforts to control crime, improve operations, and meet the challenges of terrorism.