Terrorism Within Comparative International Context: The Counter-terrorism Response and Preparedness

Throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century the legitimacy of law enforcement practices has been cited as a major concern for international criminal justice. As policing practitioners and scholars throughout the world shifted focus from a traditional reactive, crime control stance, to the need for accountability mechanisms to ensure the support of citizenry in combating crime and terrorism, the democratization of policing was seen as the best mechanism for achieving long-term gains in public order at the same time as protecting human rights.As policing moves away from its traditional responsibilities related to the control of local disorder, it will become increasingly less effective in meeting its objectives. Although local law enforcement has changed its practices, in response to viewing itself as the front-lines and first responders in the "war on terror", the dangers of further building a military ethos for policing challenges the very legitimacy that makes it effective. Many law enforcement agencies struggle to find effective ways to mobilize diverse communities and generate their support and elicit information to assist the agency in international crime control and counter-terrorism. In a quest to provide for some baseline understanding of the underlying queries, the authors conducted extensive research in a number of countries and held a series of interviews and focus groups to find answers to the following questions:What policies and practices have proven to be effective in combating terrorism in countries that have had many years of experience coping with the issue?What have been the positive and negative consequences of different strategies and approaches?Under what political and/or social contexts have specific strategies proven to be effective?How do training practices vary internationally related to counter-terrorism, human rights, community mobilization, and other related areas? To what extent do law enforcement agencies mobilize the community and other sectors of society in crime control efforts generally, and homeland security specifically?This book attempts to identify the necessary components to the creation of effective law enforcement training that would be beneficial for the local police and at the same time fully accepted and supported by the community they serve.

M.R. Haberfeld is a Professor of Police Science in the Department of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. She was born in Poland and immigrated to Israel as a teenager. Prior to coming to John Jay, she served in Israeli Defense Forces, in a counter-terrorist unit and left the army at the rank of a Sergeant; she then joined the Israel National Police, and left the force at the rank of Lieutenant. She also worked for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, in the New York Field Office, as a special consultant. She holds two Bachelor of Art degrees, two Master degrees, and a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice. Her main interests and expertise are in the area of police training and professional development, with particular emphasis on: police ethics, integrity, leadership, counter-terrorism and use of force in multicultural environments. Her recent publications include a book on police training, titled Critical Issues in Police Training (2002), a co-edited book titled Contours of Police Integrity (2004) Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement, the International Volume (2005) Police Leadership (2005), a co-authored book titled Enhancing Police Integrity (2006) and a co-edited book on Comparative Policing: The Struggle for Democratization (2007). She is currently completing a co-edited book, A New Understanding of Terrorism: Case Studies and Analysis (forthcoming fall, 2008). She also recently co-authored two articles on counter-terrorist response: "Proper Proactive Training to Terrorist Presence and Operations in Friendly Urban Environments", in Understanding and Responding to the Terrorism Phenomenon – A Multi-Dimensional Perspective (2007) and "Police Activities to Counter Terrorism: What We Know and What We Need to Know" (forthcoming Fall, 2008). For the past seven years (2001-2008), she has been involved in developing, coordinating and teaching in a special training program for the New York City Police Department, where she teaches courses in police ethics, leadership and counter-terrorism. Currently, she is also an Academic Coordinator of the Law Enforcement Executive Police Institute for the State of New York, where she oversees the delivery of the training modules and teaches leadership courses. She is involved in two major research studies, one on Use of Force by the Police in 10 different countries, and the other Counter-Terrorism police training response post 9/11, which also involves comparative studies of a number of countries around the world.Dr. Joseph King received his Ph.D. from CUNY. His doctoral dissertation was on the history, development and centralization of the police in the United Kingdom and the United States. He served for 33 years as the Supervisory Special Agent in Charge of the Terrorist and Middle East Division, US Customs, NY and 2 years as Chief, National Security Section, DHS, NY. He has extensive Criminal Investigative, Undercover, and Court testimonial experience in the European Union and the Middle East. He joined John Jay College in September, 2003 in the Department of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration. The works published by Dr. King include, The Development of Modern Police History in the United Kingdom and the United States, Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellon Press (2004). "Police Unions" in the Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement, Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA, 2005. "US Customs Service" in the Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement, Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA, 2005. "Observation on Border Interdiction and Ireland’s integration into the EC," Security Journal, Vol. 11, No. 3, 1998. "Reorganization of Irish Customs and the Single Market Agreements of the European Economic Community." Paper presented to the McCabe Foundation, Dublin, Ireland, March 1998. "Case Study of Iraj Bami Rafies (Iranian Weapons Trafficking in the U.S.)." Transnational Crime: Investigative Responses. Office of International Criminal Justice: