Battling Terrorism Threats on a Daily Basis: Florida Law Enforcement Agencies' Case Study

September 11, 2001 (herein referred to as 9/11) was a day in American history, which will be remembered as the most horrific attack on American soil. This attack, carried out by nineteen Islamic extremists, was associated with al-Qaeda, and involved the hijacking of four airplanes. Two of those airplanes were hijacked and flown directly into the World Trade Center in New York City, New York. The third plane’s target was the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and the fourth plane was brought down in Pennsylvania where it is believed the passengers aboard fought the hijackers. This horrific day in history cost over 3,000 people their lives, and was labeled the worst attack on American soil since the attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II.

Foreign and domestic policies are not linear, rather the policies are connected in a circle, with each policy reinforcing the values of another. Domestic American terrorism in the prison and detention systems and governmental reforms are influenced by the mobilization and ethnocentrism abroad. The militarization internationally is justified by the domestic handling of the same cultural issues within the United State borders. The United States has strangely used a near Catch-22 to handle dilemmas. The United States has allowed perspective to become reality, whether with oneself or regarding issues abroad, specifically in the Middle East. Terrorism is the use or threat of fear for political or economical gain. An internal characteristic of terrorism is how dependent it is of perspective, one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. To understand “terrorism,” a focus must be applied to the history, what drove an organization to commit such acts. Respectively, the Middle East has been a hotbed for the key word “terrorism,” especially because of 9/11. Subsequently, Muslims have been stigmatized by the United States as terrorists. The consequences spawned because of 9/11 require a look to the past to understand the present.

On September 11, 2001, a series of terrorist attacks were directed for the United States by means of four hijacked planes. Two of which hit the twin towers of the World Trade Center, one hit the Pentagon, the headquarters of the Department of Defense, and the fourth crashed in a field near Pittsburg after it was meant to hit the White House. The terror spread in the United States and brought concern and fear to the citizens. The impact of these terrorist attacks caused serious and detrimental damages within the country, and their result on the people were enormous; insecurity, helplessness, and susceptibility spread. Especially after the release of a videotape in which Osama Bin Laden, head of Al-Qaeda, admitted that he was responsible for the terrorist attacks. Hence, President George W, Bush declared the “war on terror” against all terrorists in the Arab world, specifically Afghanistan and Iraq. In the following paper, we will be discussing how the war on terror was waged, its effects on the target countries, and how it was perceived by political thinkers, where some saw it as a conspiracy theory against the Arab countries, and others believed the USA was the victim.

September 11, 2001 was one of the most influential days in the history of the United States to date. Although the physical attacks only happened in New York City, Washington DC, and a field in Pennsylvania, not a sliver of our country has been left untouched. 16 years later, our country is still facing challenges that can be directly tied back to the effects of 9/11. It was not just an event that changed the United States, but also has completely changed how the entire world has come to interact and cooperate. As a consequence, the way that we view terrorism and certain ethnicities have been drastically altered as a means to justify the excruciating crisis that our country went through at the turn of the new millennium.

Law enforcement officers need to be aware of the characteristics and the personalities of the terrorist(s) in order to combat terrorism in the U.S. (Fagin, 2005). Therefore the Law Enforcement officer’s role in combating terrorists is to be involved within the community and have the ability to recognize when something is out of place or does not belong in the community (Fagin, 2005).

The images of the 9/11 attacks are still fresh and vivid in the minds of Americans who were alive to witness that tragic day. As a result of these attacks, the United States has undergone a transformation socially and politically as it seeks a remedy to the threat of Islamic terror. The years following the events were not great for the United States and for the West countries either. Even though the attacks almost 16 years ago, witnesses still remember it, like if were yesterday. The attacks also changed stereotypes for Muslims in general, which Al Qaeda was responsible.

8). Therefore, although the attacks of 9/11 generated alterations in our national defense strategies, it additionally adjusted law enforcement policies immensely (Brooks, B. E., 2010, p. 113). It is now more common to have squads of police officers, such as SWAT teams, with specialized training in preventing future terrorist attacks. With exceptions to some officers at the local level, many of these specially trained teams are made up of state and national law enforcement. There are several local law enforcement agencies throughout America that do participate in anti-terrorism training, but on a larger scale many of these local departments lack the necessary training needed to prevent such threats. Therefore, local police departments, who lack special training, depend on the departments that are qualified to aid them. Likewise, the training these lower level law enforcement officers obtain varies greatly than that of state and national law enforcement. Despite the quantity of officers in local law enforcement departments, it is essential that each individual officer undergoes the preparations that are essential to be well equipped for reacting to a threat of terrorism. These preparations are crucial in that local law enforcement officers are often the first responders to these attacks, therefore they should be familiar

The United States experienced one of the biggest scaled Domestic Terror Attacks on eleventh September 2001. These assaults against our incredible country were done with the capturing of numerous aircraft transporters. The repercussions of these appalling demonstrations left the aggregate decimation of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and other relevant areas. After these occasions the USA Patriot Act of 2001 was passed, and the Department of Homeland Security started to devise and execute the first of numerous missions and conventions to alleviate any further dangers to the United States. Since the sanction of the Patriot Act, there have been various indications of fear based oppressor plots and thwarted assaults against the United States

Terrorism was traditionally viewed as a term ascribed to others. Prior to the events of 9/11, it was applied to foreign conflicts that were read about and briefly covered by media outlets, thus viewed as an abstract concept and someone else’s problem. Some would argue that the events of 9/11 was the fourth act of terroristic activities on American soil. The first was perpetrated on Native Americans, second would be the horrors and hells of the North American slave trade and third is lynching.

Since 9/11 terrorist attacks have become more and more common around the world. There has been hundreds of attacks by extremist groups since September 11. 9/11 and the continued growth of terrorist attacks have changed people's views of each other and impacted world relations. Since 9/11, North Americans have expressed a sceptical interest in Islam and all things Muslim. There was a divide created between some non-muslims and muslims as xenophobic ideas towards all things islam because prevalent in the lives of some non-muslims. Those fears have dramatically increased since the arrival and rise of ISIS, where decentralized and unpredictable terror attacks have now reached global levels. Overall, 9/11 created a divide between people as their ideas about foreign relations changed. As a continued number of terrorist attacks have occured, they begin to seem like nothing since they happen so often. Imagine what the world will become in the following years if we don’t do something to stop these terrorist attacks that have been on the rise since September 11,

The events surrounding the September 11 attacks on the United States of America have often been shrouded in a cloud of controversy and mystery, with no one individual seemingly able to apprehend the “true” details of the terror attack. Many proposed theories have been brought forth, the most widely accepted being that of co-ordinated attacks by terrorist organisation “Al-Qaeda”. “9/11”, as the event is commonly known, is simply one of many global terrorism attacks that have seemingly consumed the contemporary world. Thus, it is up to the acts and responsibilities of governments and legal organisations to undertake action in attempt to achieve justice and equality throughout the world, ensuring the safety of all people. Although, it is

Will history judge the events of September 11, 2001 as acts of unwarranted terrorism, or as the retaliatory acts of Islamic patriots and freedom fighters? There has been much speculation as to the root cause of 9/11. Most Americans, and indeed much of the Western World view that these were unwarranted acts of outright terrorism that justified the “War on Terror” in response. However, to many in the rest of the world, especially those living in predominantly Muslim countries, the events leading up to and including 9/11 were caused by the West, especially the United States. An analysis of the facts by reveals that the events of 9/11 are seen differently because our fundamental collective ways of thinking are vastly different. The truth of the events of 9/11 will only ever be understood properly if we objectively look at the history of both the West and the history of Islam.

As one of the most efficient States in fighting terrorism, Florida has avoided the Department of Homeland Security all together. Instead, Florida has an Office of Domestic Security and an Office of Statewide Intelligence in order to stop terrorist, respond, and recover from terrorist attacks (2). Aside from these organizations, Florida has more than a dozen other organizations/centers including the Research and Analysis Unit (RAU) Financial Crimes and Analysis Center (FCAC), and Florida Investigative Support Center (FISC) ("Florida Department of…” 1). What Florida has done well that the nation has not done well as a whole is communication. By splitting Florida into seven regions, communication between the regions has been effective and can be compiled easily. Each quarter, the information is compiled and then sent back to the agents in order to analyze crime and determine where distribution of resources will go (1).

The purpose of this paper is to define and give as much detail information about Homeland Security in the United States and law enforcement and how they are integrated. I hope after reading this paper you will be well informed on the duties and responsibilities of these agencies. People have always lived in fear but with the help of these agencies we will no longer have to live in fear. I will try to give as much detail information as possible to help with any problems or situation that might come up. Homeland Security in the United States and law enforcement have extensive research skills and knowledge in serving and protecting citizens and other important groups and agencies. Homeland

After the attack of 9/11 many American citizens sought out an answer to why one would hijack a plane and run it into the Twin Towers, killing millions. According to the Huffpost, Islam became the main reason for the attack and furthermore labeled religion as the inspiration for many terroristic attacks (Gibson, 1). According to many Muslims, however, the attacks are anti-Islamic because the Quran states not to harm civilians who are not involved with war and to avoid it at all possible times (PBS, 3). The conflict between Muslims and Americans is growing and many issues in the Middle East has become the focus for religious terrorism.