Intelligence gathering is the first line of defense against terrorism.  Through use of intelligence, law enforcement and military operations can be designed to disrupt terrorist organizations and preempt their operations.  Prior to September 11, 2001, most state and local law enforcement agencies viewed intelligence gathering on global terrorist groups as the purview of the federal government.  Except for large cities like Los Angeles and New York, if state or local agencies gathered intelligence it tended to be on domestic subversive groups.  We have since realized that some terrorist organizations have a global reach, and that state and local law enforcement officials must broaden their view.

by Glenn R. Schmitt

Terrorists trying to damage the U.S. economy need look no further than the country's heartland for "soft" targets. Farms, ranches, and feedlots are open and generally unprotected. The majority of State and local law enforcement agencies are financially and strategically unprepared to respond to agroterrorism. Public health officials may seem like the logical leaders for responding to an attack on the food supplies. However, the laws of many States require that agroterrorism be handled as a crime investigation, giving law enforcement primary responsibility.

Michael Aman, a detective with the El Paso Police Department (Texas) is the author of Preventing Terrorist Suicide Attacks.  Michael Aman's book is a practical look at suicide attacks and the information is squarely aimed at the first responders such as police officers and security officials.  While the book is brief, only 90 or so pages, it has an extraordinarily high ratio of words to ideas.  That is, there is a ton of information succulently presented in the book.

The book is divided into two sections: the first discusses the terrorist and terrorists groups that use human beings as delivery mechanisms; the second section uses the terrorists' own methodology as a means to explore prevention.  As an example, in the first section, Michael Aman covers the objectives of a suicide tactics.  This becomes important because by understanding objectives and motivation, the first responder gets a clearer picture on what to look for, beforehand.

The Disguised Weapons Handbook is a quarterly report to inform law enforcement officers of what new items are available to suspects. In addition, the purpose is to inform law enforcement of the creativity some suspects have when converting everyday items into homemade weapons. The information contained in this report was obtained from various law enforcement sources and databases. Many of the weapons shown in this publication have websites listed where items can be viewed in greater detail.

This site is strictly for law enforcement and corrections professionals. The intent is to provide a secure environment for sharing information and exchanging ideas.

Visit the Website

by Michael Shively, Ph.D., and Carrie F. Mulford, Ph.D.

In December 2000, in Brooklyn, New York, Mohammad Awad punched Chaim Spear while yelling obscenities and anti-Semitic remarks. In nearby Queens, Nicholas Minucci, a Caucasian, fractured the skull of African American Glenn Moore with a baseball bat and robbed him in June 2005. Witnesses testified that Minucci used a racial slur before and during the attack. In October 1998, near Laramie, Wyoming, Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney robbed, beat, and tied Matthew Shepard, a gay man, to a fence. Five days after the attack, Shepard died from his injuries. In Houston, Texas, David Tuck attacked and sexually assaulted a Hispanic teenager in April 2006. Tuck shouted "white power" and racial slurs during the attack.

All law enforcement leaders recognize the ethical and legal imperatives to which they and their officers must adhere to ensure that civil rights of all individuals in their communities are protected. Law enforcement officers, in fact, are the most visible and largest contingent of the nation's guardians of civil rights. Every police officer commits to upholding the nation's prime guarantor of rights, the U.S. Constitution, when sworn into office.

To be effective, a police department and its individual officers must be seen primarily as protectors of civil rights, rather than agents of social control whose main purpose is to limit individual freedoms. The effectiveness of police in their varied missions-from law enforcement to community service-depends on the trust and confidence of the community. Public trust and confidence are severely reduced when individuals' civil rights are compromised. And when any community perceives that its civil rights are systematically violated by the police, all sense of trust, cooperation, and partnership between the police and that community will be undermined.

By James H. Lilley

Is the death penalty for a savage, cold-blooded act of murder cruel vengeance or justice served?  The debate over Capital Punishment has been argued on local, state, and federal levels and still rages on almost daily.  Our nation has served up the death penalty in many forms from hanging, to electric chair, to gas chamber, and even firing squad.  Over the years each of these methods was damned as cruel and inhumane treatment of the person who had committed a crime of violence.  So, along came lethal injection as an alternative to these "cruel" methods of carrying out a death sentence.  Suddenly there was an outcry over the way the needles were inserted into the arm of the condemned, because surely they were experiencing pain.