Adjusting To Terrorism
Write a 1,050 to 1,400-word paper on an administrative change you would propose to make in a criminal justice agency in an effort to combat terrorism more effectively.
Describe the prior situation, the reasons for the proposed change, and the anticipated positive results or potential negative consequences of the change.
Identify the resources the change would require or make available–financial resources, human resources, and training dollars–and the management support the change would need.
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines. You must use a minimum of two peer-reviewed sources, neither of which can be more than 10 years old that discuss criminal justice in the United States. Additional references are highly recommended. If you do not know how to find or cite peer-reviewed sources, please see the information available in the Instructor Announcements section. Fonts must be Arial or Times New Roman, 10pt or 12pt.
Submit your assignment.
Note. You may use your present agency if you are employed in a criminal justice organization, or you may base your response on your understanding of criminal justice agencies through your prior coursework
Today the world is threatened by rising incidences of terrorism and the United States is one of the countries that have been hit hard by this vice. Various incidence of terrorism have been reported within the United States in the past two decades. As a consequence, terrorism has been given a lot of attention ranging from the media, ordinary citizens and different government agencies, a fact that shows that the American society is trying to adjust to the rising threat of terrorism. In this discussion, we will examine a prior situation related to terrorism and come up with suggestions of the appropriate administrative change that need to take place to enhance the fight against terrorism and make it more effective.
Due to the many terrorism incidences recorded in the United States in the past, the American society is increasingly becoming obsessed with preventing the threat of terrorism. Some of the most memorable terrorist attacks in the United States includes the 9/11 attack, shootings in schools, attacks on security officers, among others (Larabee, 2017). Even before the American society heals from these terrorist incidences, more continue to be recorded. As a consequence, this has instilled a lot of fear n the American society creating an obsession of trying to prevent the next attack at all cost. Efforts to prevent another attack from occurring have been so important to the extent of neglecting the privacy rights and liberty of the American citizens.
In recent years, there has been a surge in the news regarding aggressive pat-downs in American airlines, a subject that has raised heated debate in the American society. Security organs operating in most American airlines have resulted in putting their hands down the pants of passengers especially in situations where passengers have declined to undergo a full body scanner using a radioactive machine (Fox News, 2015). Such actions are seen by most people as a violation of individual rights to privacy and demean the liberty of these passengers. Judging from these incidences, it creates the feeling that terrorism has instilled a lot of fear in the American society and adopting such aggressive security measures is an indication of how some organizations are adjusting to the threat of terrorism.
In most cases, people are always hesitant to adopt change. As such, it is understandable why the adoption of aggressive pat-downs by some American airlines has been met with huge uproar with a serious debate emerging around it (Fox News, 2015). As most people continue to raise concerns about the adoption of these aggressive measures as efforts to enhance security against intensify, there is a need to adopt measures that will protect human dignity and prevent the violation of individual civil rights to privacy and liberty.
The responsibility to fight terrorism and enhance the overall security of American citizens is lies in the hands of various security agencies. These security organs are mandated to enhance measures that would prevent terrorism incidences taking place and also ensure that there is a quick and swift response time when such incidences occur (Larabee, 2017). Today different government agencies within the United States such as the Police and FBI are working closely in the fight against terrorism. More effort is still being made such as ensuring that the police and other agencies fighting terrorism are provided with the right and modern equipments to perform their roles (Larabee, 2017). In addition, Larabee notes that the legislative and judicial arms of government have also enhanced their collaboration to come up with laws and regulations that discourage terrorism. adopting stiff penalties on terrorism suspects and their sympathizers is seen as one of the solutions to discourage terrorism with authorities hoping that such measures will work well to instill public confidence that indeed efforts are being made to enhance their security against terrorism.
Other efforts being made to enhance the fight against terrorism includes the use of cameras fitted on police cars and uniforms while satellite scans are being used across the country to monitor suspicious terrorist activities. In future, efforts should be made to enhance the CCTV technology so that it allows for scans that can monitor all suspicious activities and raise alarms in record time before any serious attack can occur. Such cameras would be able to identify any terrorist suspects in the streets which would allow security agencies to act swiftly to prevent any attacks (Ray, Marsh & Powelson, 2017). Installing these security cameras in most almost everywhere in the United States would ensures that all terrorist activities are identified early enough before they can take place and security agencies would be able to act swiftly to prevent them from occurring (Ray, Marsh & Powelson, 2017). As such, adopting the use of security CCTV camera is seen as a good adjustive measure against terrorism.
Today the FBI is using the Automatic Fingerprint ID System (AFIS) to collect information about a given suspect as the system allows for instant access to their records. The AFIS system is able to run nonstop for prolonged periods will enhances its reliability. The advantage of using this system is that it is able to get a suspect fingerprints alongside with their mug shots which makes it easy for security agencies to retrieve the records of suspected terrorist in the course of their future investigations (Sul, 2011). The system also has the capacity to keep a record of the security officers investigating a particular suspect with a record of their findings also being detailed within the system. Undertaking such measures ensures that it would be easy to follow up on the case of a given terrorist suspect especially in a situation where the initial investigating officer withdraws from the case for any reason.
However, adopting these security measures would be an expensive undertaking because the cost of install the security CCTV around the country and installing the Automatic Fingerprint ID System would be very high. Moreover, it would also require fresh training of security officers and other staff members on how to use and maintain these equipments, something that would be a costly undertaking (Sul, 2011). Though these measures may be expensive, it would be worth undertaking given that they would help identify potential terrorist attacks before they can take place.
From the foregoing, previous terrorist incidences in the United States have instilled a lot of fear n the American society creating an obsession of trying to prevent the next attack at all cost. For example, in recent years, there has been a surge in the news regarding aggressive pat-downs in American airlines, a subject that has raised heated debate in the American society. More effort is still being made such as ensuring that the police and other agencies fighting terrorism are provided with the right and modern equipments to perform their roles. For instance, adopting the Automatic Fingerprint ID System is necessary because it would help tighten some of the loopholes that terrorist often use to conduct their attacks. All these initiatives highlight an effort by the American society to adjust to the threat of terrorism.
References
Larabee, A. (2017). A Brief History of Terrorism in the United States. Technology and Terrorism, 19-38. doi:10.4324/9781315130712-4
Fox News, A. (2015, March 26). Scanners and pat-downs upset airline passengers. Retrieved from https://www.foxnews.com/us/scanners-and-pat-downs-upset-airline-passengers
Ray, R., Marsh, K., & Powelson, C. (2017). Can Cameras Stop the Killings? Racial Differences in Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Body-Worn Cameras in Police Encounters,. Sociological Forum,32, 1032-1050. doi:10.1111/socf.12359
Sul, S. (2011). Classification-based Automatic Fingerprint Identification System for Large Distributed Fingerprint Database. Journal of Biometrics & Biostatistics,02(02). doi:10.4172/2155-6180.1000111
