Instructions: Fully utilize the materials that have been provided to you in order to support your response. Please respond to at least two other students. Responses should be a minimum of 250 words and include direct questions. You may challenge, support or supplement another student’s answer using the terms, concepts and theories from the required readings. Also, do not be afraid to respectfully disagree where you feel appropriate; as this should be part of your analysis process at this academic level.

Forum posts are graded on timeliness, relevance, knowledge of the weekly readings, and the quality of original ideas. Sources utilized to support answers are to be cited in accordance with the APA writing style by providing a general parenthetical citation (reference the author, year and page number) within your post, as well as an adjoining reference list. Refer to grading rubric for additional details concerning grading criteria.

Respond to Madison:

Racial profiling. Racial and ethical profiling is controversially one of the largest issues within the criminal justice field, with a focus on state and local police officers. Racial profiling is when there has been an arrest, contact or detention, or search based solely on the persons race or ethnicity rather than the behavior of the individual. Critics contend that RP encourages unjustified detentions to do fishing expeditions, which violates the civil rights of the public. Overall, law enforcement personnel must be allowed to exercise their professional judgement through observation of a suspect while on duty, however, nobody is naive to think there are not “dirty cops.” Limits should not be placed on police officers observations simply because someone wants to state it is based on a racial manner.

Balancing civil liberties and security. After the attacks on 9/11 the United States began to implement new procedures and policies to prevent any future attacks. Within the realm of security, policy makers are continuously attempting to ensure that there is a balance of the freedoms that are lost versus defending the nation against any future terrorist attacks. From a state and local point, they must adhere to federal policies and regulations, however, ensure that their citizens’ safety and civil liberties are of uppermost importance. State and local politicians are elected and must be seen by the public to do something that would improve security within their jurisdiction.

Community policing. The United States Department of Justice stated that a community policy should focus on crime and social disorders through the delivery of any police services, to include the aspect of traditional law enforcement, prevention, problem- solving, partnerships, and community engagement. Through state and local law enforcement agencies must have a tactical strategy as well as a philosophical approach to how policing is conducted. At the core, a community oriented policy must be based on law enforcement and the community coming together to identify the high crime areas, the larger criminal issues, and any social disorders.

Intelligence functions. At a state and local, fusion centers are fairly new, however, many states have had a centralized intelligence system for decades. These are typically housed in state police agencies with the focus on violent gangs, prostitution, weapons smuggling, drug trafficking, child exploitation, theft rings, and many other crimes. The large concerns are the actions needed to be taken in the absence of a cohesive federal strategy, access to sharing networks, and the inability of the DHS and the FBI to work together in the event that cooperation is essential to a state or local level. State and local stakeholders in control of these fusion centers often times are overwhelmed with providing then necessary information to the two federal agencies; the FBI is a critical partner, while the DHS provides the necessary funding.

References:

Matthew M. Johnson, “Number of Databases Bogging Down Fusion Centers,” Congressional Quarterly, October 9, 2007, www.cq.com. See also General Accounting Office, Federal Efforts Are Helping to Alleviate Some Challenges Encountered by State and Local Information Fusion Centers, GAO-08-35, October 2007, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0835.pdf.

Schneier, B. (2003). Beyond fear: Thinking about security in an uncertain world. New York: Copernicus Books.