Law enforcement cannot be left behind in the pursuit for more professional counter-terrorist elite units. The New York Police Department sets the bar for what municipal police can put together in terms of counter-terrorism, NYPD Shield, as its known, has conducted several successful operations since its inception in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. Naturally, New Yorkers feel a special need to create a strong counter-terrorism unit beyond that of the United States government, due to the nature that the city is under constant threat from attacks. (Economist, the 2009). London, too is under this threat, however the London Police are not as well prepared for counter-terrorism efforts as the NYPD has proven to be. (Brant, 2011). Law enforcement's participation is a necessary part of counter-terrorism work for three reasons. First, police and law enforcement officers are already boots on the ground in order to achieve a quick response to new intelligence gathering. This simple fact that police already exist all over the country, and are already paid for by the state, means that properly training the police in counter-terrorism procedures is a great "bang for the buck" strategy. In a country as large as the United States, with so many porous borders and avenues of entrance, simply having every population center covered by trained law enforcement is one of the pillars of America's counter-terrorism strategy. Although the common street officer is not usually a party to classified intelligence, their ability to immediately become a part of the chain of command in an emergency situation is an excellent resource for the protection of the civilian population.
Another reason for law enforcement's involvement in counter-terrorism is for the local understanding of geography, population, and infrastructure, which may not be present in FBI, National Guard or Special Operations soldiers. (Alexander, 2010) This local knowledge not only supplements the advanced training of professional counter-terrorism units, but also allows for the easy canvassing of territory in the event of a need for a massive amount of law enforcement officers in a specific area. Not all missions require small elite CT teams, but rather some may call for creating barricades and blockades, which are in the purview of law enforcement. Also, the police have access to local weaponry and vehicles if the mission calls for these tools in the hunt for terrorists on American soil. There can be no replacement for the organizational value of having a 'reserve' CT force resting idly in every city in the country.
Finally, law enforcement provides an excellent training ground for future counter-terrorism professionals, and many counter-terrorism professionals are chosen from amongst police forces, as real world experience is crucial to the high stress environments that officers may get themselves in to. It must be understood that cooperation is fostered when the various aspects of America's counter-terrorism strategy are trained and chosen from amongst each other, creating bonds which will boost capability if a counter-terrorism event surfaces at any time. The biggest failure of the FBI and the wider intelligence community just before September 11th was the lack of communication and cooperation between the various agencies, often a point of pride and secrecy. The Department of Homeland Security was created in order to overcome this issue, yet the Dept. Of Homeland Security only combined the various counter-terrorism units, but does not control local law enforcement in any way. Rather, DHS helps SOCOM, a military organization, to conduct operations domestically, if necessary, providing a link between SOCOM and local police. (Brown, T.D. 2005). As a law enforcement agent, being able to operate independently from the Dept. Of Homeland Security for most of their service, but then being able to take commands from Dept. Of Homeland Security when needed, creates a very flexible and strong system for meeting all of America's counter-terrorism challenges in the future.
Special operations forces units have become increasingly important to President Obama's wartime strategy, as conventional forces are seen as expensive and ill-trained for the pressures of Special Forces teams. SOF are drawn from all four branches of the U.S. military, and technically, teams such as the Navy's Seal Team Six have very different specialties than Army's Delta Force. The missions undertaken by SOCOM, or Special Operations Command, include, reconnaissance, offensive action, foreign military training, counter-insurgency operations, counter-terrorism, and sabotage or the disruption of enemy logistics. An example of a successful Special Operations mission in training foreign military is in Uruzgan,...
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