Concerns for Police Administrators in Current Society

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).”

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.