Domestic Terrorism

domesticated terrorist act in the United States Thomas A. capital of Zimbabwe HSM 305 Survey of fatherland Security and Emergency Management Professor Erick rocknroll January 22, 2012 Domestic Terrorism in the United States Domestic act of terrorism is a real threat to this expanse. This type of attack is nothing new to this country hardly until the threat of world-wide terrorism became prominent, there was not a large snap on domestic economic aid terrorism. With a look at history, domestic terrorists argon a greater threat to trade protection than international terrorists. nearly of these threats ar easily interdictable and others are more tough to larn approaching.The Department of Homeland Security needs to focus on domestic terrorist threats with the same effort as they do for international threats. The appointed definition of terrorism according to the federal official Bureau of Investigation is the unconventional use of force or violence against souls or property to restrict or coerce a government, the civilian population, or some(prenominal) instalment thereof, in furtherance of political or social goals. (Smith, 1994 p6). This definition guides how the FBI takes defines accomplishable terrorist organizations and takes action against them.Terrorists whitethorn be left or right wing, from any religious clogground or any race. This is what dupes identifying these groups of people truly difficult. season law enforcement would like to say that a typical terrorist is a young, affluent, snowy male, for example, it is impossible to make that distinction. There is no profile that would fit terrorists in their entirety. It is possible for a terrorist from a plastered group to fit a certain profile. A white supremacist group would begin a certain type of person as a member. A black martial group would thrust a totally different type of person.With this cosmos the case, it is important to identify the group of people rather tha n the individual. Some groups focus on a single issue such(prenominal) as anti-nuclear origin or anti-fur trade while others call for greater changes in governance or ideology. A single, lone terrorist or small cell is the roughly difficult to detect and stop. In the history of this country, there have been numerous cases of domestic terrorism. Most people were unfamiliar with domestic terrorism until the okay City Bombing in 1995. This is be energise most cases of domestic terrorism do not involve such a large loss of vitality.In numerous cases, the loss was fiscal and casualties were low, if any at all. Animal-rights groups have targeted fur dealers by setting fires in vehicles and buildings to destroy these businesses. The Ku Klux Klan may have killed people exclusively the tended to do so one at a time. This does not take a shit as much of a media buzz as a outpouring that kills dozens. By doing this, some of these groups may stay out of the spotlight but in reality, they are more deadly than a single bomber. When unions were forming premature in the twentieth century, there were incidences of terrorism on both sides.Strikers were attacked and factories were sabotaged. Some of these resultants resulted in the loss of life and almost all involved financial losses. Sometimes, these conflicts are taking dress today. Political change is the aim of some of these groups. communistic organizations wanted to make the United States a Marxist country. Organizations alike united under a common cause such as in 1981 when the Weather Underground (WU), the dusky Liberation Army (BLA) and the Black Panther party united to form the May 19th Communist Organization (M19CO). (Smith, 1994).This group robbed armored cars to fund operations that resulted in the deaths of security officers. A crime that is in the headlines may actually be a terrorist attack utilise to gain money. Law enforcement must(prenominal) investigate richly to find out why the crime t ook berth. A look back in history may show that terrorists were active even during the Revolution. The capital of Massachusetts Tea Party was staged by colonists who were protesting taxes imposed by the amaze. (Les Benedict, 2006). This possibility, on with others, like the burning of a revenue ship in Rhode Island, was do to effect a change in English policy towards the colonies.The English would have viewed these acts as terrorism by todays standards. Terrorism has also taken place during the Atlanta Olympics and at an abortion clinic when Eric Rudolph position bombs that killed and injured people. Only an alert security guard at the Olympics prevented a tragedy. A current threat of terrorism is through the use of gangs by international organizations. Al-Qaeda has been closely working with the gang Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13. MS-13 has some(prenominal) guidances of passing security at the Mexi mickle call up and wants to make money.Al-Qaeda can use them to pull up stakes resources and people to use. (Starita, 2009). MS-13 also wishes to have an international presence and a cooperation would give them prestige. Gangs in general return a threat to homeland security and this gang is one of the largest. cor do to some sources, there are as more as 96,000 members and legion(predicate) sympathizers. (Starita, 2009). This presents a large threat with the potential of umteen operatives and resources in place already. As with other terrorist groups, these gangs can come together if there is a common cause that suits all of them.Responsibility for preventing terrorist possibilitys starts with the average citizen. Law enforcement agencies have many another(prenominal) types of concomitants to respond to and anti-terrorism is plainly one of them. If a person notices something suspicious such as a person buying many weapons and ammunition, looking for data on bomb-making and materials or becoming radical in their ideology, it would be passing helpful to notify an agency for an investigation. Many times the offshoot signs of an impend attack would be discover by a civilian. This could be a friend, family member, coworker or a store clerk.A bystander may also notice an unheeded package or suspicious person in an area. This may be just enough to ward off the attack if the jurisprudence are notified promptly. A major difficulty facing law enforcement in the measure of these incidents is working within the justice system of the United States. The jurisprudence have to follow procedures and rule laid out in the Bill of Rights and incidental laws. These laws restrict the rights of law enforcement and protect the rights of the citizens. The First Amendment gives the freedom of religion and legal transfer and of the press.A person can go to a mosque or church that may be radical in their teachings. They may voice their radical opinions as long as it is not an outright threat. Even printed materials about their views are legal. A ccording to the Second Amendment, a person can buy accouterments and ammunition legally. In order for police to obtain a await warrant, probable cause must be present. (Les Benedict, 2006). Just because a person goes to a radical mosque, a search for bomb-making materials cannot be obtained without probable cause that the materials are there. A person cannot be persecuted based on loosen up suspicions.Therefore, a tip has to be followed up by an investigation to see if the person is doing something illegally. Only if reliable breeding is present can the police obtain the warrant and execute it. The warrant can be very specific on what can be searched instead of being broad. This may hamper the police from finding recite as well. In the airstream of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, President George Bush, along with Congress, passed the USA-PATRIOT Act. The Act is an acronym for Uniting and change America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obst ruct Terrorism. Del Carmen, 2009). art object the act was passed as a reaction to an international terrorist incident, it applies to domestic terrorism as well. This act provided new rules for electronic surveillance such as wiretaps and using technology to gain render. These new rules relaxed the requirements for obtaining these types of surveillance. Access to personal information was gained by using fusion centers for intelligence on suspects. The use of these centers has been criticized as being a violation of civil rights by some people. (Del Carmen, 2009).Some provender of the act have been declared invalid by some courts and the flake against the act get out continue into the future. With the provisions of the act, law enforcement has broader authority in investigating individuals and organizations that are suspected of planning terrorist acts. This authority has to be used with good police work like investigations in order to plight the right people. Another difficulty law enforcement has is that the process of stopping domestic terrorists is not just intelligence work and conducting a military-style operation to decease the threat.Criminal procedure has to be followed. Evidence must be collected in order to prosecute the offenders at a later date. This means the rules of evidence must be followed to include chain of custody, proper collection techniques, and documentation. conduct must be taken to protect evidence during operations and later the operation is conducted. Multiple agencies may be involved and coordination is necessary amid those agencies. A simple incident of a white powder coming from an envelope in the mail involves many agencies. A Hazardous Materials team up would test the powder and most likely take evidence from the facial expression.Not only would local police be involved but possibly posit police and definitely federal law enforcement such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Postal Service Inspec tors. Due to many state and federal laws being involved, there has to be coordination between these agencies as to who gets control of the evidence, suspects, and is the prosecuting agency. These difficulties have to be managed in order to prosecute properly. By prosecuting properly, this may deter future incidents. Without this determent, the terrorist may feel that they can make future attacks without penalty. reply to an incident of domestic terrorism is a multifaceted operation. In most cases, many agencies will be involved. The type of incident that takes place and its location will determine what agencies become involved. All of these agencies have to be prepared to respond and also to cooperate with other agencies on the scene of the incident. Agencies not on the scene may also have a stake in the response and they have to be included as well. The depicted object Incident Management System was created by a Homeland Security Presidential Directive in 2004 in order to provide for a national Incident Command System. Bullock, 2013). The ICS had been used by many agencies in the past but had not been used on a national scale. ICS was created to deal with California wildfires in the nineteen-seventies and was adopted by many fire segments to manage their incidents effectively. (Bullock, 2013). The system uses a single Incident commander or Unified Command in a leadership position to manage the whole incident. The IC can call on other functions such as command, operations, logistics and finance as the management if the incident progresses. (Bullock, 2013). lend oneself of this system is decisive to a good response and recovery.The prototypal agencies to respond will most likely be local fire and police departments. They are the agencies with the most resources close to the scene at the outset. The fire department and emergency medical services will primarily deal with life safety and mitigating hazards that are potentially life threatening. The local poli ce will be the first to gather witnesses and evidence. It is important for these agencies to notify other agencies when the incident requires it. Arson may turn out to be a terrorist incident even though not readily apparent at the outset.A barrage will probably be more apparent. Recognizing an incident for what it is will help an agency bring in the appropriate resources quickly. Some other agencies that may need to be involved include the National Guard, Bureau of Alcohol, tobacco plant and Firearms, FBI and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. If the incident involves radioactive material or biological hazards, the Department of Energy or the Center for Disease run may be needed. Private companies may be needed for equipment or expertise. All of these entities have to be managed by an Incident Commander.Recognizing the hazards and the incident record quickly is important. During the 1995 bombing of the Alfred Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, first responders noticed the crater left by the bomb and immediately consulted the FBI. (Cook, 2009). Originally the incident was thought to be a natural gas explosion. By recognizing the incident as terrorism, the proper agencies were then brought in to protect and handle evidence as well as provide some protection to the first responders. In the case of a mass casualty incident, a critical incident stress team may be needed as well.It is important for first responders to protect themselves during a terrorist incident. A secondary winding wrench may be present to kill or injure them in order to hamper rescue and recovery efforts. Eric Rudolph put a secondary device during a bombing at an abortion clinic. This device was planted where the incident command center would be set up. (Ostrow, 1998). Rudolph has observed first responders during multiple false alarms and noticed where command was set up. All Hazards repartee was a system that came about after the attacks of 9/11.The Nation rejoinder Plan was creat ed to facilitate an efficient response to a major incident. (Bullock, 2013). This fashion model helps agencies responding to an incident to integrate with other agencies and pool resources to mitigate the incident. Many agencies may be responding to an incident and a plan to handle the response was necessary. By using NIMS, ICS and the National Response Plan, agencies are coordinated the same way across the country. No matter where the incident takes place, agencies can know what to stockpile for a system in place before their arrival on the scene.Exercises like Vigilant Guard take agencies such as the National Guard, first responders, state and federal agencies and put them together to practice a response to an incident. In order to become better at responding, these exercises must be held, and agencies willing to take part, to be successful. Domestic terrorism is a real threat to the country. The history of this country shows that this is nothing new and it can be expected to be a threat in the future. suitable planning and the use of exercises are needed to practice the coordination of various agencies.Intelligence and pursuance of offenders has to be a priority to prevent future attacks. The public has to be vigilant and notify the authorities of any suspicions. Prevention of domestic terrorism is a real threat and it is the responsibility of the whole country to prevent attacks as well as respond properly to them. References Bullock, J. , Haddow, G. , & Coppola, D. (2013). origin to homeland security Principles of all-hazards risk management (4th Ed. ). Waltham, MA Butterworth-Heinemann. Starita, Cynthia. (2009).Mounting Threat of Domestic Terrorism Al-Qaeda and the Salvadoran Gang MS-13. El Paso, TX LFB Publishing. Retrieved from http//site. ebrary. com/lib/ashford Cook, Alethia. (2009). Emergency Response to Domestic Terrorism How Bureaucracies Reacted to the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing. New York, NY Continuum International Publishing. Retrieved from http//site. ebrary. com/lib/ashford Cordesman, A. H. (2002). Terrorism, crooked Warfare, and Weapons of Mass Destruction Defending the U. S. Homeland. Praeger. From http//web. ebscohost. com Smith, B. L. (1994).Terrorism in America metro Bombs and Pipe Dreams. State University of New York Press. From http//web. ebscohost. com Kamien, D. (2010). The McGraw-Hill Homeland Security Handbook. (1st Ed. ). USA McGraw-Hill Les Benedict, M. (2006). The Blessings of Liberty. Boston, MA Wadsworth, Cengage learnedness Del Carmen, R. (2009). Criminal Procedures. Mason, OH Cengage Learning Ostrow, R. (1998, October 15). Survivalist Charged in Olympic, Other Atlanta Blasts. Los Angeles Times. p 20. Retrieved from http//search. proquest. com. proxy/library. ashford. edu/docview/421436549? accountid=32521