NCJ Number
186514
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 67 Issue: 12 Dated: December 2000 Pages: 38-43
Editor(s)
Charles E. Higginbotham
Date Published
December 2000
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines terrorism as the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to achieve political or social objectives; recent terrorist incidents have shown it is impossible to ignore terrorism until it surfaces because its effects can be catastrophic.
Abstract
Although terrorist incidents may look like other violent crimes, law enforcement cannot always deal with them in the same way, in part because current law enforcement practices assume criminals will be the perpetrators. In addition, terrorists are trying to effect change in favor of a cause and often are not interested in escaping and hiding in the community. Terrorist incidents are orchestrated to have the greatest possible impact on the public, and this type of threat usually requires more resources than one police patrol unit can produce. Being prepared to deal with terrorism requires a proactive approach in which the following steps are incorporated: define the role of local law enforcement, find resources for counter-terrorist activities, maximize the minimal law enforcement resources available, develop a new "teaming" process in which first response teams prevent and investigate terrorist acts, design new types of training or modify existing training to include team training, use existing training facilities and programs, and build interagency team training.