Running Head: LAW ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS TO COMBAT TERRORISM 1

Effectiveness of local and federal law enforcement efforts to combat terrorism.

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LAW ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS TO COMBAT TERRORISM 2

Effectiveness of local and federal law enforcement efforts to combat terrorism.

Introduction
Terrorism is a major threat to humanity, causing numerous social, political and economic
problems not only in the United States but also elsewhere in the world today. Given the
dynamics or the complexities often associated with terrorism, its fight and counter strategies
adopted by the law enforcement agencies are often challenged. A lot of variables have
contributed to the dominance of terrorism in the world today, including some political landscapes
where terrorists are accorded sanctuaries, and safe havens. The government of the United States
and its law enforcer's despite those looming challenges has shown great efforts and is leading the
way in the fight against terrorism. This is very evident in their national strategies for combating
terrorism. Every presidency/ administration has always ensured that the federal budget
significantly reflects the fight against terrorism and national security in terms of budget
allocations. This paper provides comprehensive and evidence-based discussions on the
effectiveness of local and federal law enforcement efforts to combat terrorism. The discussions
revolve around the determination of how the financial expenditures regarding counter-terrorism
are effective, how to ensure accountability and transparency of the financial resources allocated
for combating terrorism and finally how to know whether the allocations are sufficiently being
made for this purpose.
Determining the effectiveness of money spent on combating terrorism
Considering the response of the government and its law enforcement agencies after the 9/11
terror catastrophe, historical documentation indicates that both the local and federal agencies
adopted numerous strategic steps to combating terrorism. These strategic steps included but not
limited to; the increase of the number of personnel in the emergency response planning,
reallocation of the internal capital resources and increase of the departmental spending to
emphasize on combating terrorism and terrorism preparedness. This catastrophe sped up risk
assessment activities, particularly at the local level and the number of agencies involved in risk
assessment tripled. Therefore, apart from assessing or rather evaluating the reports on
expenditures and fundings geared towards countering terror, achieving the effectiveness of how
the money is spent will significantly depend on assessing the effectiveness of various agencies,
how their strategic steps on counter-terrorism resonate with their support needs.
Similarly, narrowing down to specific activities procured for and whether they are under counter-
terrorism and coming up with a comprehensive audit report on every allocation can ensure the
funds are spent effectively. The support required to strengthen planning and response
mechanisms must be clearly defined, for instance, in terms of training or equipment. According
to the National Strategy for Counter-Terrorism published in the aftermath of 9/11 2003, indicates
that protecting and defending American land, the American people, and their resources are
regarded as the top-notch agenda and solemn obligation of both the local and federal law
enforcement agencies. Hence, the structure and duties of these agencies must be defined to
conform with such obligation such that when money is spent, it can be accounted for.
LAW ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS TO COMBAT TERRORISM 3

According to (Hewitt, 2014), to ensure effectiveness on money spent in combating terrorisms,

the law enforcement agencies and policy experts must recognize and classify the police actions
and assess the best-applied tactics that were successful in isolating/ identifying and apprehending
terrorists. In so doing, the best plans and actions of countering terror will be financed, and the
best prevention strategies adopted.

References
Hewitt, C. (2014). Law enforcement tactics and their effectiveness in dealing with American

terrorism: Organizations, autonomous cells, and lone wolves. Terrorism and Political

Violence, 26(1), 58-68.

Kincaid, J., & Cole, R. L. (2017). Issues of federalism in response to terrorism. In War on

Terrorism (pp. 135-145). Routledge.

Walsh, P. F. (2015). Building better intelligence frameworks through effective

governance. International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, 28(1), 123-

142.