Police Respond To Terrorism

This document discusses the types of resources that police may want to consider when developing their terrorism prevention and response plan. To deal effectively with the threat of domestic terrorism, the police must be able to manage and coordinate different sources of data and intelligence. They must also process them in such a way as to provide an enhanced understanding of actual or potential criminal activity. In recent years, technological advances have resulted in vast improvements in data gathering techniques, including in-field laptops, automated computer aided dispatch systems, and geographical information systems. Some police departments are finding value in combining law enforcement data with other types of data to examine crime problems in greater depth. These data are being used both in the aggregate and at the incident level. The importance of incident level data is that it can be analyzed by different levels of geography (address, beat, reporting district) as well as by other variables. Non-law enforcement types of data such as pawn information and drug court information are often available in incident level format and when combined with the more traditional law enforcement data, can allow for numerous analytical possibilities. Agencies are now recognizing the benefits of data sharing across institutions and jurisdictions. There is also the need to ensure that police personnel receive the necessary training to make certain that they have the tools required to effectively respond to terrorist attacks. The importance of communications interoperability was reaffirmed during the recent terrorist attacks. Technology can assist local law enforcement by delivering timely and consistent information to the community. Agencies need to assess the community2s needs and develop an approach that is tailored to the distinctive characteristics and requirements that exist within each individual jurisdiction.