NCJ Number
158329
Date Published
1995
Length
76 pages
Annotation
A 2-year research effort was carried out to survey and analyze key problems and issues confronting State and local law enforcement agencies in countering the threat of terrorism in the United States.
Abstract
The project specifically sought to analyze the terrorism preparedness of States and municipalities as a means of providing law enforcement with information about the prevention and control of terrorist activities. Principal research tasks included the following: (1) national survey of State and local law enforcement agencies to determine how law enforcement agencies below the Federal level perceived the terrorism threat; (2) selection of 10 locations as case studies to examine how different jurisdictions adapted to the terrorism threat; (3) identification of programs used by State and local law enforcement agencies to counter potential future threats; and (4) development of a prospective future research agenda. Survey results indicated that the majority of State and municipal law enforcement organizations considered terrorism to be a problem. Many organizations defined a wider range of activities and acts as terrorist or potentially terrorist than the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Smaller jurisdiction with sensitive facilities, such as nuclear power plants, communications nodes, and other potential targets, had different approaches to terrorism preparedness than larger cities. Case studies confirmed in detail what survey findings revealed in general terms and suggested that community size, community resource, and nature of the terrorism threat influenced both strategic and tactical law enforcement responses. The survey instrument is appended. 13 tables