NCJ Number
52975
Journal
Schriftenreihe der Polizei-Fuehrungsakademie Volume: 5 Issue: 4 Dated: (1978) Pages: 281-294
Date Published
1978
Length
14 pages
Annotation
THE MEANING OF TERRORISM AND THE ROLE OF THE GERMAN FEDERAL REPUBLIC'S POLICE IN CONTROLLING TERRORISM ARE DEFINED.
Abstract
MODERN TERRORISM IS ROOTED INTELLECTUALLY IN HERBERT MARCUSE'S NEO-MARXIST NOTIONS OF EXPLOITATIVE PRESSURES ON WORKERS TO CONSUME AND OF CAPITALIST REPRESSION. TERRORISM-RELATED MOVEMENTS ARGUE THAT KIDNAPPING AND MURDER ARE NOT JUSTIFIED BUT THAT, NONETHELESS, THE REVOULTION MUST TAKE LIVES, AND THAT ANARCHISTS SEEK A NONREPRESSIVE SOCIETY WITHOUT FORCE. RATIONALISTS MAINTAIN THAT TERRORISM PRESENTS NO REAL DANGER. BOTH SIDES ARE EXAGGERATED FURTHER BY SENSATIONAL TREATMENT IN THE MEDIA. TERRORISM DIFFERS FROM OTHER GROUP CRIMES IN SUCH FEATURES AS THE HIGH EDUCATIONAL LEVEL OF MEMBERS, WIDE PUBLIC SUPPORT, EMPHASIS ON PHILOSOPHICAL AND ETHICAL QUESTIONS, THE TENDENCY TO POLARIZATION OF SOCIETY, THE OBJECTIVE OF ELIMINATING THE STATE, AND A TERMINOLOGY DOMINATED BY WAR-RELATED TERMS. PSYCHOLOGICALLY, SOME TERRORISTS ARE NEUROTICALLY MOTIVATED AND APPARENTLY SEEK TO RID THEMSELVES OF THEIR NEUROSIS THROUGH POLITICAL CRIMES. THE POLICE WHO MUST DEAL WITH TERRORIST ACTS ENJOYED A CLOSE 'FRIEND-AND-HELPER' RELATIONSHIP FROM 1945 TO 1962, WHEN THE PRINCIPLES OF ORDER AND FREEDOM CAME INTO CONFLICT AND THE USE OF FIREARMS BECAME NECESSARY; BY 1967, IDEALISTIC NOTIONS OF THE POLICE HAD GIVEN WAY TO SCEPTICISM ABOUT RESOCIALIZATION OF OFFENDERS, AND SINCE 1970 TERRORISM HAS PRODUCED CONSTANT UPROAR. COMBATTING TERRORISM REQUIRES MOTIVATION OF POLICE OFFICERS, REEXAMINATION OF POLICE ORGANIZATION, POLICE TRAINING IN SPECIAL STRATEGY AND TACTICS, REVISION OF TERRORISM LAWS EVERY 5 YEARS, MODIFICATION OF LAWS ON PUBLIC MEETINGS, AND UNDERCOVER WORK BY THE POLICE. TO MEET THE CHALLENGE OF TERRORISM, PROBLEMS FACING THE POLICE MUST BE DISCUSSED OPENLY AND NEW SOLUTIONS FOUND. --IN GERMAN. (KMD)