After 9/11 there were significant events that occurred that still affect our world today. These events were set in motion to try and rid the world of terrorism. Efforts to rid to world of terrorism have cost Americans some of their civil liberties in order to protect the greater good. The War on Terror is the common term for the American foreign policy regarding terrorists after 9/11. It was first used by the Bush Administration to describe the operations around the world used to combat terrorism. The common assumption about the War on Terror is that it is all about the major operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, but that the war on terror not only changed things outside the U.S. but within it too. The two major changes that occurred in the United States after 9/11 are the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Patriot Act.
After 9/11 there was an outcry from the public for the government to make us safer. The Bush Administration felt it necessary to make an organization that would be able to work cohesively and be able to communicate better to protect the United States against terrorism and disasters. For this reason his administration created the Department of Homeland Security. This is an organization that is a conglomerate of 36 previously independent government bureaucracies. The DHS combined together mostly all the agencies that had to deal with protecting American citizens at home. One of the most significant parts about this new agency is that it was made into a cabinet position.
Having the DHS gives America a better chance in preventing another terrorist attack All of the agencies that were joined together now have a spot at the presidents table, to communicate issues within the United States. Previously these loosely allied agencies only shared critical information with each other on a need to know basis. Its creation also made one of the biggest departments in the United States. According to their website there are currently around 230,000 employees from 36 different departments that currently work for the agency. This makes it the fourth largest president cabinet position.
One downside to having a large bureaucracy is that it inhibits the response time if an incident occurs. One of the biggest criticisms that was made about the DHS was its response to Hurricane Katrina. Its response was very slow because since it is such a large agency, it took a long time to figure out who was in charge in that area. The DHS brings consolidation, but with this consolidation comes bureaucracy. Bureaucracy requires strict rules and planning to operate so it naturally will take more time to function. This was not the only significant change to the U.S. in the post 9/11 America though. After 9/11 America has gone through one of the most important changes in the way we police our citizens.
One of most significant changes, in the past few decades, to law enforcement power was the Patriot Act. This Act was passed in the days following September 11th to provide better security to our nation. Within the title of the law itself it states its purpose: “to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and for other purposes.” As it states in the title, Patriot Act largely expands law enforcement's surveillance and investigative powers. This has largely been the controversy surrounding it.
The U.S. Patriot Act’s enhancement of law enforcements surveillance and investigatory power is very significant because it restricts American citizens 4th Amendment rights. The 4th Amendment prohibits unlawful searches and seizures. It helps define law enforcements powers when they are conducting routine police activities. The Patriot Act adds more powers to a police officer’s belt in restricting the persons 4th Amendment rights, if they suspect the person might be a terrorist. This restriction makes everyone, regardless if you are a criminal, more vulnerable to police intrusion.
When defining the Patriot Act in relation to its effectiveness, it is necessary to get all aspects of how it affects us as citizens. The Patriot Act is the classic crime control model of policing policy. It prioritizes the greater goods safety over the rights of the individual. A lot of pro-police people, like me, are very much in favor of this type of bill, but there is a necessity for individuals to know just how intrusions of the government affect your civil liberties. Government has the ability to greatly restrict our rights. If we allow the government to become too strong then we will get a government like the Soviet Union had: a government with unlimited power.
I’m not going to go into a philosophical debate about how big government is bad, but I think that there needs to be restrictions of the government intrusions into our lives. We need to hold true the values that our forefathers created. The Patriot Act is a great tool for law enforcement, but I think that it should only be used when necessary. Over stretching of the acts intended use should be heavily sanctioned. One of the best parts of this act is its ability to be extended or stopped. It has been extended by Bush and Obama because they felt that it is necessary in order to protects U.S. citizens.
The Patriot Act and the creation of the DHS give American law enforcement an advantage in dealing with suspected terrorists. We wanted change in policing America after 9/11. There were things that needed to change because we failed to stop 9/11. I think that we made the right choices in the Patriot Act and the creation of the DHS, but we need to be wary of the intrusion of the government into our lives.
If you are an advocate for the crime control model then ask yourself “how much government intrusion am I willing to have in my life to protect the public?” If you are a due process model thinker ask yourself “are my personal freedoms, without government intrusion, so important that I am willing to have another 9/11?” The thing that I am trying to express is that there is no clear answer in law enforcement. There needs to be sacrifices with the two sides in order to have the right balance. The government, therefore law enforcement, forms its laws based on the public’s ideology at the time, so it is important to know where you stand. I think that the most important part of American democracy is public outlook, if you want to be part of the solution ask yourself, “What is my opinion?”
References
http://www.justice.gov/archive/ll/highlights.htm
http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/
