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Community Policing In Counterterrorism

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This topic is important and relevant to modern society: because it discusses how law enforcement addressing of civil liberties pertain to adherents of domestic extremism. The reason for its importance is because it gives law enforcement the tools that are needed and the ability to address civil liberties issues regarding adherents that are involved in domestic extremist activity. Sahar F. Aziz (2014) an associate professor at Texas A&M University School of Law mentions in his article, that “over the past few years, federal government officials have expressed concerns over an increasing “Islamist homegrown terrorist” threat. High-profile cases involving “lone wolves” accused of terrorist plots on U.S. soil, coupled with public perceptions of Muslims as prone to terrorism, have triggered a flurry of Congressional hearings and executive reports recommending harsher counterterrorism enforcement focused on Muslim communities. Meanwhile, critics of “hard” counterterrorism tactics propose increasing community outreach to Muslim communities, through community policing in particular, as the solution to homegrown terrorism” (p.148). The use and implementation of community policing has become popular among policy makers seeking to be more preventive in …show more content…

Community policing in counterterrorism as currently envisioned betrays its rhetoric of empowerment and mutual trust, and serves as another weapon in the federal government’s toolkit that perpetuates the “Terrorist Other” stereotype. Until this stereotype can be stripped away from “hard on terror” preventive counterterrorism strategies, the benefits gained in the traditional local community policing model of the 1990s are unlikely to be realized” (p. 149

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