The Siege: A Modern Look at the War on Terror

In 1998, a fictional movie was released, depicting a middle eastern terrorist cell in New York City In The Siege, two FBI agents, after a terrorist bombing that kills innocent men and women, are tasked with tracking down an elusive terrorist that blends into Arab population of New York. The movie, The Siege, brings up many possible scenarios of what could possibly happen if the government experienced terrorist attacks in California and the United States.
Associated with terrorist attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan, suicide bombings are conducted when one detonates explosives attached to themselves killing themselves and anyone around them. In one of the movie’s opening scenes, a terrorist has taken hostage innocent men, women, and children on a bus in down town New York. Sadly, the terrorist succeeds and kills everyone including himself aboard the bus. This type of suicide bombing, was seen in real life, three years after the release of The Siege. According to Encarta.com, on September 11, 2001, the international terrorist group Al Qaeda, hijacked four jet liners, two which crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York City. This terrorist attack killed more than 3,000 people including the 19 terrorist, making America rethink it’s idea of isolationism. With many densely populated cities in California suicide bombings are possible tactic for terrorist organizations to attract media attention to their cause and strike fear into the hearts of their victims.

As the bombings continue in the movie, the United States Army is sent to New York. However, their counter-terrorist activities clash with that of the FBI. Since it is hard to distinguish “Friend vs. Foe” the Army resorts to the tactic of rounding up all people of middle eastern ethnicity to prevent another terrorist attack. This idea is not just seen in the movies but happened in real life. In World War II, with the bombings of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, American soldiers rounded up all Japanese Americans and placed them in concentration camps throughout the United States. The general idea behind their incarceration was to prevent another terrorist attack and keep spies away from planning another attack. What the Japanese incarcerations proved is that it is hard to target an enemy that blends into the general population. Without the proper evidence, laws, and laws, finding the enemy could turn into a “witch hunt”.

One of the last ideas brought up by the movie, The Siege, is how far we are willing to go to find an elusive and clever enemy. Towards the climax of the movie, a possible terrorist is about to be tortured. Denzel Washington’s character, witnessing this action, makes a good point in that “How far is our military and law enforcement willing to go (to catch the terrorist) ?” The rules and laws of our society have been put in place to prevent unreasonable acts, and if people act not within our laws, the blood spilled by our fore father would be for nothing. Essentially, the War on Terrorism, is an impossible war to fight and without politicians supporting it, the United States will fail.
The movie, The Siege, depicts a modern America, where it is near to impossible without impeding on someone’s personal rights to fight the War on Terrorism. Unlike the previous world wars, where the enemy is clear marked and both sides support the traditional rules of warfare, the enemy the United States is fighting in the present, is smart, cunning, and uses different tactics. Instead of resorting to fighting the US soldiers head on, they send suicide bombers and leave improvised explosive devices by road sides. California without the help of the federal government and military is not equipped to deal with another September 11th like attack. California law enforcement and emergency rescue service s can only train in terrorist like scenarios to wait for the next attack. The best way to save California from a terrorist attack is rethink the way, they see the War on Terror.


Works Cited
· "September 11th attack." Encarta.com. Encarta,. Monday. 28 September. 2009. http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_701509060/September_11_Attacks.html
· The Siege Dir. Edward Zwick. Perf. Denzel Washington, Tony Shalhoub. Bedford Falls Production, 1995. Film.
Also used photos/video: “The Siege”

The Importance of Search and Rescue to Law Enforcement Operations - Blog Post 2

With the recent economic down turn, jobs in the law enforcement field are rare and are very competitive. One of the agencies instrumental in helping law enforcement personnel, even in the current rescission is SAR or Search and Rescue. By understanding the activities and duties of Search and Rescue to police work, one is better understand the unit’s importance to the law enforcement field.

To understanding the importance of SAR, one must first understand the actions of a Search and Rescue unit. Associated with any county or national park, a Search and Rescue unit is comprised of paid or volunteer workers. They are tasked with the main responsibility of assisting people in their greatest time of need. Each individual in the unit is trained in areas of Land Navigation, Wilderness Survival, First Aid, and CPR or Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation. There are also different sub-units in the Search and Rescue unit. There is a Mounted division that searches areas via horseback, a High Mountain rescue unit that rescues trapped hikers or climbers, and a Swift water rescue unit that deals with the lake and river rescues (Sacramento County Sheriffs).

A Search and Rescue Unit’s duties are not just inclined to finding missing people in urban and wilderness environments. In fact, in April of 2009, in Tracy, California, Search and Rescue units were deployed to Search for an 8 - year old missing girl(ABC News). She was later found deceased by a collaborative effort of Search and Rescue individuals and the local authorities. It was in this fine, that Search and Rescue units helped cordoned off the crime scene to await the appropriate law enforcement personnel.

There are other tasks law enforcement related tasks associated with Search and Rescue. One of the main one tasks are evidence searches. In the basic training of a SAR individual, they are taught in how to conduct a basic evidence search and what to do if one comes upon a piece of evidence associated with a crime. Also to aid Search and Rescue units are their dogs. Search and Rescue, not only trains their dogs on how to find live individuals, but to find deceased individuals and evidence specific to a certain crime. Scent dog were also used in the October 1993 Polly Klaas case where she was abducted from her home and later strangled to death (Polly Klaas Foundation).

One of the third duties Search and Rescue has to help law enforcement is their ability to locate dementia and Alzheimer’s patients. In fact, many urban searches have been conducted by walking door – to - door looking for the victim who went missing the day before. In July of 2009, Sacramento County Search and Rescue responded to the call of an elderly man who walked away. Surprisingly, the team found the victim through a quick search of the surrounding area (Sacramento County Sheriff’s).

It is through crime scene preservation, evidence searches, and conducting searches for patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s that Search and Rescue is and will forever be a vital assist to the law enforcement community. Participating in different searches, whether they be for an individual or evidence in a crime, the sacrifices of the Search and Rescue unit are made so “that others may live”.

Works Cited

• Sacramento County Search and Rescue. 2009. Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department. Sept 21. 2009 [http://www.sacsearchandrescue.com/]. + Photo
• Sandra Cantu Found in a Suitcase; Police Closing In on Suspect. April 2009. ABC News. Sept 21. 2009 [http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=7275611&page=1].
• Polly’s Story. 2009. Polly Klaas Foundation. Sept 21. 2009[http://www.pollyklaas.org/about/pollys-story.html].

California's Emergency Preparedness - Blog Post 1

California Emergency Preparedness – Blog Post 1

During the 1989 World Series , a massive 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the bay area. The quake left 63 people dead, 3,757 people injured, and 12,000 people home less. Two years later, a fire broke out in the Oakland Hills leaving 25 people dead and destroying thousands of homes. Presently, in the year 2009, it is said that California is due for another big catastrophe. In this next disaster people will be left without basic municipal services. Medical services will be overwhelmed with the number of calls for assistance and law enforcement will be spread thin across the state. When thinking of natural disasters, preparing for it with training is not enough. In analyzing past incidents, it is fair to conclude that the blame for problems during the disasters does not rely with the relief workers but the people who are managing the relief workers.
2005 Hurricane Katrina stands as a perfect example of how poor management lead to problems with the government. This hurricane left 1,836 people dead, and lefts millions of other people displaced or missing. Two days before the event, President Bush issued a state of emergency for Texas, Florida, and Louisiana, knowing that these states, especially Louisiana could face massive flood problems due to their weak and deteriorating levee system. At this time, it is easy to conclude that the president had far more information than what was known by the public. Orders should have been issued weeks before the hurricane hit to evacuate everyone. In that way, maybe the death tool of 1,836 people could have been avoided.
Another fault that can be placed on management, is that of the enactment of FEMA during the days after the hurricane hit. Despite cries for help by the Louisiana governor, days after Hurricane Katrina hit, President Bush refused to enact the services of FEMA or Federal Emergency Management Agency. Days after the Hurricane hit, Local law enforcement and rescue services were stretched very thin. Most officers instead of manning a patrol car, left the city of Louisiana and abandoning their jobs. Those who stayed work 24 - hour shifts pushing their effectiveness at keeping the peace to their limits. Blame for this part of the disaster lies with local and state agencies. Not only should evacuation order should have been issued prior to the hurricane but drills to manage personnel should have been issued so the local and state hierarchy would not fall apart. In short, stricter laws and orders should have been issued for law enforcement and rescue personnel so chaos would not ensue after the earthquake.
Besides all the physical preparations of emergency drills, preparing a disaster preparedness kit, and updating equipment, law enforcement and rescue crews should development better training programs for leaders and managers. Similar to Louisiana, California has an extensive network of fragile levees bordering densely populated areas. There is nothing worse in a disaster when order falls apart and because of the lack of experienced personnel. Noting only should training be done to prepare for disaster but training should be conducted to manage people in that disaster.


References
• Renteria, Henry. The California Mass Fatality Mangement Guide:
A Supplement to the State of California’s Coroner’s Mutual Aid Plan . CA: Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, September 2007.
• Hurricane Katrina . 2009. US Departments of Health and Human Services. 13 September 2009. [http://www.hhs.gov/disasters/emergency/naturaldisasters/hurricanes/katrina/index.html]