Domestic Terrorism: Assessment of State and Local Preparedness in the United States, 1992

This project sought to analyze states' and municipalities'
 terrorism preparedness as a means of providing law enforcement with
 information about the prevention and control of terrorist activities
 in the United States. To accomplish this objective, a national survey
 of state and local law enforcement agencies was conducted to assess
 how law enforcement agencies below the federal level perceive the
 threat of terrorism in the United States and to identify potentially
 promising anti- and counter-terrorism programs currently used by these
 jurisdictions. For the purposes of this survey, the researchers used
 the legal definition of terrorism as provided by the Federal Bureau of
 Investigation (FBI), which is "the unlawful use of force or violence
 against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the
 civilian population, or any segment of either, to further political or
 social objectives." However, incidents reported by state or local law
 enforcement agencies as potential terrorist incidents often are
 reclassified as ordinary crimes by the FBI if the FBI investigation
 does not reveal evidence that more than one crime was intended to be
 committed or that a network of individuals had prepared to carry out
 additional acts. Since these reported potential terrorist incidents
 may provide important early warnings that an organized terrorism
 effort is emerging, the researchers broadened the official definition
 to include suspected incidents and state and local officials'
 perceptions of crime due to terrorism. Three distinct jurisdictions
 with overlapping responsibilities for terrorism preparedness were
 surveyed in this study: (1) state law enforcement agencies, in most
 cases the state police, (2) organizations with emergency preparedness
 responsibilities and statewide authority but with limited powers of
 law enforcement, and (3) local law enforcement agencies, such as
 municipal police and sheriff departments. Similar questions were asked
 for all three jurisdiction groups. Variables pertaining to the
 organization include questions about contingency plans, guidelines,
 and special police training for dealing with threats of terrorism, the
 amount and types of information and resources exchanged among various
 agencies, and whether the agency had a special terrorism unit and, if
 so, its duties. Variables dealing with threat assessment include
 whether the agency had identified right-wing, left-wing,
 international, ethnic/emigre, or special-issue terrorist groups within
 their jurisdiction and how many incidents were attributed to each
 group. Additional variables provide information on whether the agency
 was involved in investigating any terrorist incidents and the type of
 support received from other agencies for these investigations. The
 risk assessment section of the survey sought information on whether
 the agency had conducted a risk assessment and what potential
 terrorist targets were present in their jurisdiction. Questions in the
 threat environment section cover the respondent's assessment of the
 impact of the Persian Gulf War, the agency's sources of information
 pertaining to terrorism, the likelihood of terrorist attacks on
 various major installations nationally, and the likelihood of a major
 attack in their jurisdiction. Administrative variables include the
 number of sworn officers or professional staff, number of support
 staff, department's budget for the current fiscal year, whether the
 agency received federal funds, and what percentage of the federal
funds were used for anti-terrorism efforts.

Tags: anti-terrorist-laws, counterterrorism, fear-of-crime, national-security, persian-gulf-war, risk-assessment, terrorism, terrorist-attacks, terrorist-threat
Organization: Department of Justice