Administrative Changes for Combating Terrorism More Effectively

Administrative Changes for Combating Terrorism More Effectively

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The criminal justice agencies in America have been working hard to protect its citizens against terrorism in the past. These agencies, like the FBI, have been making significant process in reorganizing efforts for improving the collection or utilizing intelligence information. The criminal justice agencies require reorganizing their efforts so that they can respond more effectively to the changes that are being witnessed in technology. These changes are required so that these agencies can fight against the threats posed by criminals or terrorists against their country’s infrastructure and interests. For instance, before September 11, 2001, attacks on New York, the criminal agencies that operate within the U.S. had not upgraded their communications infrastructure. These challenges meant that the agencies could not sufficiently share data in image and video formats to the different locations they operated. The terrorists could, therefore, plan and implement their operations unnoticed. Thus, the country was stricken by terrorist attacks that resulted in the destruction of property and the death of thousands of people. Further, these attacks affected the country’s economy (Mueller, 2003). These circumstances stress the importance of making administrative changes to the criminal justice agencies in America to combat such terrorist attacks in future. Had the criminal justice agencies updated their technology to help in the effective sharing of information across different locations, the destruction and death that resulted from the attacks would have been averted. Hence, this paper proposes an administrative change that should be made in criminal justice agencies for combating terrorism more effectively.

I propose that administrative changes be made to the criminal justice agencies through the enactment of laws that require for greater collection or information sharing within intelligence communities and the law enforcement bodies. These laws should empower the criminal justice agencies in collecting information from foreign bodies or countries. Formerly, there has been a barrier that has limited the interactions of information sharing activities between law enforcement and intelligence bodies. Through the enactment of these regulations, greater coordination would be achieved between the intelligence and criminal bodies so that they can acquire evidence for the criminal cases that follow. However, the passage of such legislation would require that the lawmaking bodies honor the constitutional protections offered for citizens like the First Amendment’s provision for freedom of assembly, religion, and speech. The information collected should be distributed to all agencies, and the rights of foreigners and citizens alike should be respected when dispensing justice. The law allowing for information sharing would also ensure that criminal justice agencies and the government use the resources at their disposal for in preventing terrorism. Any information that is attained regarding terrorist activities should, therefore, be disclosed and shared in good time to avoid destruction of property and death caused by terrorists. The information that is collected should also only be shared among reputable criminal justice agencies. Further, I would propose that under the law created; criminal justice agencies are accorded the right to carrying out a search through search warrants even beyond their jurisdictions. These actions would help criminal justice agencies in overcoming the challenge they previously faced of only attaining search warrants within their areas of jurisdiction. Such legislation would also significantly help in reducing the delays that were experienced by criminal justice agencies as they sought to acquire a search warrant for areas beyond their boundaries. More so, the legislation would require that criminal justice agencies are granted powers for identifying and tracking the fiscal structure of terrorist organizations to help disable their operations. In the past, the financing methods used by terrorists included informal systems for making fund transfers, and these transfers can be eliminated by enforcing rules that are more strict on a correspondence account. Lastly, I would propose that the legislation passed restricts material support provided to terrorist organizations; authority is availed for seizing assets owned by terrorists or the funds that are deposited in foreign banks by an American criminal justice agency. In passing such legislation, terrorist organizations would be disabled, and their operations would be under-funded. More so, their plans would be easily detected before they are carried out owing to the information sharing and transparency between foreign and local based criminal justice agencies.

Various resources would be required for proposing a reality. Firstly, the input of Congressmen and women, politicians and members of the criminal justice organizations would be required to contribute their views on the require law and its requirements. Secondly, financial resources would have to be set aside for ensuring the consultations are effectively carried out, and the stakeholder’s needs are satisfactorily addressed. Thirdly, training opportunities would have to be availed for the individuals working in the fight against terrorism with the aim of enlightening them about the law and how it should be enforced. Fourthly, the members of the public would require being informed or educated about the law and its provisions so that they can help ensure its smooth implementation. In short, I would suggest that millions of dollars be reserved for the enactment process of the legislation and its implementation. Despite the high costs of such a law being incurred, the benefits that would arise once its implemented would outweigh these costs and ensure a safer society for all to thrive.

References

Mueller, R. S. (2003). Before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Washington D.C. Retrieved on 14/12/2017 from https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/testimony/combating-terrorism