Anti-terrorism
and Civil Unrest as a Concern for Police Administrators in Society
Police administrators in the
current society face so many challenges. However, some of these challenges are
cumbersome and are a disaster worldwide. Some of these challenges include the
fighting against terror and civil unrest. This paper will discuss these two
challenges and how police administrators can curb them by first exploring on
real-life circumstances that took place in the past. Two news articles are
summarized, and recommendations are suggested accordingly.
Anti-terrorism
Terror attacks have become
commonplace around the world. Terrorists have become public enemies and are
highly prioritized as most wanted by police administrators. Even worse, they
strive to prove their strength by unleashing terror in developed nations and
superpowers such as the United States and the European Union. Lately, terrorism
has taken a toll on Europe. A series of terror attacks have been launched in
Europe in 2017 alone including Spanish terror attacks in August and the
Manchester terror attack on May during Ariana Grande’s concert that left at
least 22 people dead and around 60 injured. The fact that people’s lives are at
stake during acts of terrorism is a nightmare for police administrators who try
to do everything in their power to change the situation. This paper will focus
on terrorism by discussing a New York Post news article by Ralph Peters on “Why
terrorists are so focused on attacking Europe (Peters, 2017).â€
According to Peters, an
opinion writer, terrorism in Europe has become the new normal despite the vice
being inherently abnormal. He further indicates that the collapse of the caliphate
in the Middle East has not done much to eradicate the problem since other
terrorist franchises like ISIS have proven to be a more menace and are looking
to keep the message alive and take global publicity. Peters indicates the main
causes of terrorism in Europe which are similar all over the world. He does
this by highlighting on three major causes. The very first is economic damage.
Peters says that terrorists don’t only attack to injure and kill but also to
paralyze local economies. Such a move has seen the unemployment rate in Spain
remain high. The second is multinational slaughter. Here, he elaborates that
terrorists tend to strike popular tourist zones to harm people from various
nationalities. The Barcelona attack alone saw up to 34 nationalities suffer the
damage. Lastly, terrorists and especially the Islamic radicals aim to punish
the immoral. Islamic extremists attack nightclubs, music concerts, and bars
where men and women mix just to justify their atrocities.
Local police officers also have
an obligation to thwart terrorists and their activities. They can engage in
domestic counterterrorism through learning special tactics on how to identify
terrorists and conduct investigations. For instance, they should get knowledge
on the coded languages terrorists use, the closest radical mosques surrounding
them, what goes on in refugee populations around them and areas with the
largest population of Somali-Americans or people known to have ties with
terrorist groups. Police administrators should also keep in mind that fake
identification documents are mostly associated with terrorism, and therefore
they should take such matters more seriously. Much emphasis should be put on
how to identify counterfeit passports of people who seem suspicious. In fact, they
should tap much into modern technology such as the use of biometrics (Ernst,
2017).
Civil
Unrest/disorder
Civil disorder is an umbrella
term used by law enforcement officers to describe unrest caused by a group of
people. It generally means public disturbance or protests that result in damage
to property or injuries to people. Most police officers all over the world find
themselves entangled in this menace and sometimes are coerced to use brutality
to bring stability. A brief look at Daniel Bukszpan’s article on CNBC about the
most destructive civil disorder cases in the United States shades more light on
the issue. Bukszpan starts by stating how America has endured a fair share of
civil unrest with some having been planned to protest against government
policies and some having begun spontaneously especially among areas where there
are high rates of unemployment and poverty. He further indicates that civil
disorder scenarios begin in different ways but always end up the same way with
loss of lives, mass arrests, and damage to public and private property. Buzkan
lists riots that have been most destructive in the United States including; New
York (1863, 1977), Watts (1965), Detroit (1967), Newark (1967), Seattle (1999),
and Cincinnati (2001). The biggest of these riots is believed to be in Chicago
when civil rights leader Muhammad Ali was assassinated in 1968. There was
unrest not only in Chicago but also in other 100 major US cities. The costliest
of these incidences is believed to have occurred in 1992 in Los Angeles where
property worth 1 billion USD was reported to have been destroyed (Bukszpan, 2017).
Civil unrest is very
destructive in the society. Large and small metro areas still experience
spontaneous civil disorder cases and therefore local police administrators
ought to step in and stabilize the situations. First, police administrators can
prepare to respond to issues of civil unrest through seeking mutual aid from
other responders such as emergency management teams, faith-based organizations,
hospitals, and EMS. They should discuss with these parties on procedures and
policies that should be in place when civil disorder occurs. They should then
prepare to arrest perpetrators where necessary and put them into custody
skillfully. They should also ensure they have necessary equipment and prepare
psychologically for cyber disobedience as well. They can also use social media
in a good way during protests to update civilians on safe zones and respond to
emergency. They can also have an elaborate plan on how to donate food, water,
and other resources from donors when such cases occur.
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