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Date: November 25, 2024 Mon
Time: 9:06 pm
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Results for policing networks
3 results foundAuthor: Bayer, Michael D. Title: The Blue Planet: Informal International Police Networks and National Intelligence Summary: A fundamental doctrine of the United States is the system of checks and balances, a system wherein political power is dispersed among various governmental elements so that no particular interests or segments can dominate the government — or the people. One of the most strident criticisms of the former Bush-Cheney administration has been that in the time of crisis and immediately after, and in the years following the 9/11 terror attacks, executive (presidential) authority had been greatly expanded during the strategic response to those attacks and was, according to some, abused — thereby skewing our revered system of checks and balances. Certain segments of governments are acknowledged to be tools of political power — particularly subject to political influences. In the United States the military is exceptionally susceptible to the political designs of the President and the administration because he is their direct-line Commander in Chief. It is also widely acknowledged that intelligence services are part of the political epicenter of governments, because they too are a vitally important direct-line tool of national leadership. As it happened, these are the two segments of our government that benefited most, in terms of power, mission, and funding, from the prosecution of the United States’ Global War on Terrorism. In fact, it had been asserted by former Vice President Cheney on U.S. national television (FOX) that the war on terrorism was an effort to be waged by the U.S. military and the U.S. intelligence services and not law enforcement. This book maps out how bureaucratic maneuvering in the aftermath of 9/11 led to the U.S. military/intelligence apparatus assuming primacy and garnering near exclusivity in the international aspect of U.S. counterterrorism policy. This ultimately resulted in the fundamental exclusion of some of the most powerful components of the vast international resources at the fingertips of U.S. law enforcement. The book argues that allowing this to happen was a big mistake — and an unnecessary one at that. The existing networks of international law enforcement are powerful in their own right, but globalization and concomitant worldwide reconfiguration of national sovereignty have greatly empowered inter-governmental networks (such as those of international law enforcement). This book asserts that law enforcement is especially conducive to the advantages aff orded to international networks because the “culture of the badge” provides an immediate basis of trust and commonality to build upon — a commonality that can transcend borders, politics, religion, ethnicity, and other categories of segregation. Furthermore, some international policing scholarship asserts that law enforcement entities seek their own autonomy away from centers of political power by striving to find better, more effi cient ways to serve the state and the public (corruption influences notwithstanding) and in so doing are given the leeway to do so. One way they do this is by engaging in informal means of doing business — seeking one-on-one interaction with foreign counterparts rather than going through multiple layers of bureaucracy and government. Those who work in international law enforcement understand implicitly and explicitly that using informal networks is how most international police business is accomplished — especially in this day and age of e-mail and cell phones. But it is not the power of the network alone that brings value added to transnational policing. It is the sheer volume of numbers of police that are dispersed throughout nearly every nation in the world — and who live and work at all levels of societies, from the back alleys and villages from where terrorism breeds to the wealthiest levels, from where political/religious terrorism is financed. It is the numbers of police combined with their mandates to gather and acquire information — whether for investigative or public security purposes. Police have always had a vested interest in gathering and tracking information about local troublemakers and criminal activity in order to maintain public order and, as such, are a natural resource of acquiring terrorism information — particularly in regard to cells which might be financing or otherwise supporting operations through criminal activity. It is the ability to conduct their business among multiple levels of societies and within populations at large which makes international law enforcement very likely the largest and most potent counterterrorism network on the face of the earth. Hence, the title of this work — The Blue Planet. The worldwide network of police is a formidable asset — made even more formidable by the investigative and arrest authorities bestowed upon U.S. law enforcement and its foreign counterparts. This book will demonstrate that the willful disregard of such a spectacularly valuable asset was not only foolhardy, but also served to deny the American public the measure of national security they would have been entitled had the process been honestly brokered and strategically considered. Instead, in spite of the best of intentions, the parochial interests of the most powerful agencies prevailed at the expense of our own citizens. Police can and do cooperate with one another internationally to combat transnational crime. Organizations such as Interpol and Europol exist for this purpose — but those organizations, while valuable, bring with them the burdens and inefficiencies of their own diplomatic formalities, rules, regulations, and procedures along with the accompanying bureaucracies of participating member governments. Informal policing has been around for even longer than formal arrangements, and evolved as an efficient means to deal with the internationalization of crime. Transnational terrorism is an extreme form of international crime, but it is very often supported by other types of organized criminal activity such as drug trafficking, weapons trading, and document fraud. One of the main objections from abroad of the U.S.’s conduct of the war on terrorism has been the perceived disregard for the “rule of law,” particularly among our European allies. While some critics might find the worldwide unification of law enforcement cause for concern, this work will argue that the potential for human rights abuses are far more likely under war conditions and intelligence operations than by globally enabled police. While the potential for human rights abuses certainly exists, national law enforcement elements respecting their own “rule of law” and the laws of counterpart nations will find the means to cooperate within existing legal frameworks. Th is work will also argue that international police cooperation is one way that weak nations can serve to build their own governmental infrastructures and contribute in a positive way to international relations. There will be those who will assert that the current manner in which the United States deals with gathering terrorism information from our present intelligence posture provides adequate worldwide coverage of the problem. But even a cursory analysis of the numbers of sources available to worldwide police networks versus rational estimates of intelligence assets will show those assertions to be implausible. There are also those who might argue that international police interaction is problematic because police are an instrument of force and are endowed with powers that can be abused. This concern is valid in that abuse of police powers can readily impact human rights. The idea of informal international police relationships that are unregulated and therefore lack accountability can seem a slippery slope. However, the trend since 9/11 has been to attempt to integrate law enforcement with functions of intelligence services — as what occurred in the United States with the FBI. This linkage is gaining acceptance and is being implemented throughout Europe but it is implicitly far more slippery. The intelligence service/law enforcement dichotomy is primarily one of legal versus extra-legal constructs. Intelligence services are extra-legal forces unconstrained by legality and matters of sovereignty — and they too can be, and often are, instruments of force. When the two are integrated, the idea of rule of law becomes moot because of the extra-legal prerogatives of intelligence services — “poisoning” the law enforcement function and therefore the rule of law. It is no coincidence that one of the hallmarks of a police state is the convergence of the legal policing and extra-legal intelligence functions. Law enforcement, on the other hand, is legally sanctioned and generally permitted to exercise its authorities for the benefit of the greater good. This work advocates solely for the legal and legitimate exercise of the rule of law through international police cooperation, whether through formal channels or through the much more powerful and effective informal networking. If a nation’s laws forbid informal police cooperation, so be it. But national governments should recognize the positive role that international police cooperation can serve — not the least of which is serving the right of the people (or the people of other nations) not to be exploited, molested, or harmed by external criminal forces. Eight years later we are still experiencing the after-eff ects of the 9/11 attacks. When the consequences can be nuclear, biological, or chemical, especially in these precarious times, can we afford to deny our public the benefits of such a powerful instrument of counterterrorism—the informal networks made available to U.S. law enforcement? Details: Washington, DC: National Defense Intelligence College, Center for Strategic Intelligence Research, 2010. 205p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 16, 2011 at: http://www.ndic.edu/press/pdf/18507.pdf Year: 2010 Country: International URL: http://www.ndic.edu/press/pdf/18507.pdf Shelf Number: 121720 Keywords: Intelligence GatheringInternational CooperationInternational Law EnforcementInternational PolicingNational SecurityPolicing NetworksRule of LawTerrorism |
Author: Monroy, Matthias Title: Using false documents against "Euro-anarchists": the exchange of Anglo-German undercover police highlights controversial police operations Summary: Examination of several recently exposed cases suggests that the main targets of police public order operations are anti‐globalisation networks, the climate change movement and animal rights activists. The internationalisation of protest has brought with it an increasing number of controversial undercover cross‐border police operations. In spite of questions about the legality of the methods used in these operations, the EU is working towards simplifying the cross‐border exchange of undercover officers, with the relevant steps initiated under the German EU presidency in 2007. In October 2010 [1], “Mark Stone,” a political activist with far‐reaching international contacts, was revealed to be British police officer Mark Kennedy [2] prompting widespread debate on the cross‐border exchange of undercover police officers. Activists had noted Kennedy’s suspicious behaviour during a court case and then came across his real passport at his home. Since 2003, the 41‐year‐old had worked for the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU) [3], which had been part of the National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit (NETCU) since 2003. The NPOIU was formed at the end of the 1990s to surveil anarchist and globalisation groups as well as animal rights activists. NPOIU and NETCU report to the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), but recent media coverage [4] has led to the restructuring of undercover police operations in the UK with the Home Secretary withdrawing NPOIU’s mandate to lead. This decision follows on from the disclosure that some undercover officers had used sexual relationships in order to gain trust or extract information. Details: London: Statewatch, 2011. 16p. Source: Statewatch Analysis: Internet Resource: Accessed March 13, 2012 at http://www.statewatch.org/analyses/no-146-undercover-exchange-protests.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Europe URL: http://www.statewatch.org/analyses/no-146-undercover-exchange-protests.pdf Shelf Number: 124474 Keywords: Intelligence GatheringInternational CooperationInternational Law EnforcementInternational PolicingPolice OperationsPolicingPolicing Networks |
Author: Price, Michael Title: National Security and Local Police Summary: The September 11, 2001 attacks prompted a national effort to improve information sharing among all levels of law enforcement, including on the local level. Federal money poured into local police departments so they could fulfill their new role as the "eyes and ears" of the intelligence community. But how do local police departments go about collecting intelligence? What guidance do they use? What standards or policies, if any, must they adhere to? To learn how state and local agencies are operating in this domestic intelligence architecture, the Brennan Center surveyed 16 major police departments, 19 affiliated fusion centers, and 14 JTTFs. What we found was organized chaos - a sprawling, federally subsidized, and loosely coordinated system designed to share information that is collected according to varying local standards. As detailed in the following report, this headlong rush into intelligence work has created risks that hurt counterterrorism efforts and undermine police work. The lack of oversight, accountability, and quality control over how police collect and share personal information about law-abiding Americans not only violates their civil liberties of Americans, but creates a mountain of data with little to no counterterrorism value. Details: New York: Brennan Center for Justice, NYU School of Law, 2013. 86p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 13, 2014 at Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/publications/NationalSecurity_LocalPolice_web.pdf Shelf Number: 131768 Keywords: CounterterrorismIntelligence GatheringInteragency CooperationNational SecurityPolicing Networks |