Introduction to the Special Issue on Policing and Homeland Security

Addressing Challenges to Homeland Security Information Sharing in American Policing: Using Kotter’s Leading Change Model

“…. been resistant to sharing information, many local police agencies lack the intelligence capacity necessary to prevent terrorism, and intelligence surveillance activities pose a potential threat to civil liberties, which makes some law enforcement officials reluctant to undergo surveillance efforts (D. Carter & Carter, 2009;Shernock, 2009;Thacher, 2005). (p. 162) It has been a difficult task to expand the role of local and state police agencies to include homeland security functions including information sharing.…”

An Exploratory Analysis of Terrorism Prevention and Response Preparedness Efforts in Municipal Police Departments in the United States: Which Agencies Participate in Terrorism Prevention and Why?

“…Terrorism prevention and response preparedness Homeland security functions generally fall into three categories, consisting of terrorism response, terrorism preparedness and crisis management responsibilities (Shernock, 2009). Alternatively, homeland security functions can also be divided into terrorism prevention and terrorism response activities.…”

“…The Department of Homeland Security National Preparedness Guidelines (DHS, 2005) identify terrorism intelligence gathering and analysis, counter-terrorism investigations, risk assessment and the possession of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives (CBRNE) detection equipment as key components of terrorism prevention and response at the state and local level. Additionally, agencies are expected to be prepared for a terrorism incident and to serve a central role in crisis management and order restoration activities after an incident occurs (Shernock, 2009). The national homeland security strategy places heavy emphasis on 'national preparedness', which is defined by Homeland Security Presidential Directive 8 (Executive Office of the President, 2003) as, 'the existence of plans, procedures, policies, training, and equipment necessary at the federal, state, and local level to maximize the ability to prevent, to respond to, and recover from major events' (Pelfrey, 2007: 314).…”

“…Although an increasing number of local law enforcement agencies are making progress in the area of terrorism response preparedness (Donnermeyer, 2002;Giblin et al, 2009;Marion & Cronin, 2009;Randol, 2012;Schafer et al, 2009;Stewart & Morris, 2009;Thacher, 2005), evidence suggests that local police agencies have made limited progress in implementing adequate terrorism prevention measures (Carter & Carter, 2009;Pelfrey, 2009: 261). Scholars have hypothesised that local police agencies are less likely to make progress in the area of terrorism prevention because policymakers and local officials place greater emphasis on response than prevention, and because prevention is arguably much more incompatible with traditional policing functions than terrorism response preparedness activities (Bellavita, 2005;Pelfrey, 2009;Shernock, 2009). The capacity of our 'national terrorism prevention system', which heavily relies upon the efforts of state and local law enforcement agencies, is challenged by a variety of factors and contains many 'inherent flaws' (Pelfrey, 2009: 261).…”

Terrorism Preparedness: A Law Enforcement Perspective

“…Local and state law enforcement agencies have primary responsibility for managing the result of a domestic terrorist attack. These agencies also serve a role in ordering restorative efforts after an attack occurs (Randol, 2013;Shernock, 2009).…”