Preparing for Incidents of Terrorism at the Local Level
Abstract
The issue of terrorism prevention is one of the most challenging and important issues of nowadays, and the local communities can prepare themselves to avoid or minimize negative consequences of incidents. Terrorism is not clearly defined by legislation nor by academic literature, and it can be confused with other types of violence conduct. There are several explanations of the causes of terrorism and its conditions. Although the counterterrorist measures are determined by the federal authorities, there is a significant lack of direction and clear policy for local agencies. The big and influential institutions, such as Saint Leo University are able to participate and improve the implementation of policies to resist terrorism at the local level.
Preparing for Incidents of Terrorism at the Local Level
The importance of preparing for the catastrophic incidents of terrorism in the local communities has been heightened in the light of recent terrorist attacks in the U.S. The issue of terrorism prevention is one of the most challenging issues confronting the law enforcement authorities (Pelfrey, 2007). It is not easy to determine clearly what constitutes terrorism, information about the incident of terrorism may be sketchy, and it can be interpreted in different ways (Mahan & Griset, 2008). The findings of the analysis provided by Smith (2008) demonstrate that 44 percent of all terrorists in examined incidents lived within 30 miles of the target of the attack. Although there are some differences related to the types of terrorist groups, both international and right-wing terrorists typically live, prepare and act in cities nearby their targets.
The terrorist attacks are usually scrupulously planned and most commonly the terrorist prepare for their attacks with intelligence gathering and surveillance, thefts and robberies to attract funding for their organizations, bomb manufacturing, and weapon violations. Most of these activities take place within the local communities close to the targets of attacks. Terrorists typically stay close to their homes because of lack of knowledge of the city, lack of transportation, or new immigration status (Smith, 2008). Since the prevention of terrorism significantly depends on the efforts of the local community, because the terrorists usually live closely to their targets and preparation to the attacks often involves other unlawful conduct that can be identified and precluded, the preventive measures should be planned and implemented at the local level to minimize possible negative consequences.
Definition of Terrorism
The definition of terrorism is the issue that reflects the complex and controversial nature of this phenomenon. There are different approaches to this definition, including scholarly and US Government definitions. The term terrorism is still commonly interchangeably used with a word terror causing confusion in definitions and blurring the differences between terrorism and other types of violent crimes. The definitions of terrorism change over time, being mutable and can be ideologically or politically influenced. Different definitions of terrorism are proffered by terrorist themselves, the media, scholars, and government officials. Mahan and Griset (2008) emphasize that the task of defining terrorism is crucial, …