Good old fashioned police work has been far more effective in thwarting terrorist plots than high-tech data mining schemes, said a recent report from the Institute for Homeland Security Solutions.
Law enforcement agencies need to improve the way they identify, analyze and deal with possible terrorist activities. One solution that emerged in the years after the 9/11 attacks was data mining — automated technology that uses algorithms to sort through large data banks and flag suspicious behavior patterns.
However, the wide assortment of data collected in these data banks — ranging from credit card transactions to travel information — quickly raised privacy concerns. “Civil liberty advocates were alarmed … these methods represented a dramatic escalation of government intrusion into the lives of U.S. citizens,” said the report.
Also, the algorithms often drew faulty conclusions, leading to dead-end investigations and a waste of resources.
The report recognized the limitations of technology and noted, “Technology itself cannot stop a terrorist attack.” However, “it can play a key role in managing data efficiently.”
Where technology fails, law enforcement officials must step up. Police at the state and local levels can be effective in rooting out terrorist plots. The primary challenge they face is finding the initial clues of possible terrorist activity. These clues can come from concerned citizens, unrelated police investigations, and sometimes, sheer luck.
The report emphasized that police must receive more extensive training to distinguish between criminal and terrorist activities. One of the most difficult tasks facing law enforcement is organizing suspicious activity reports in a way that allows patterns to emerge. The Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism has compiled a list of activities that almost always precede terrorist attacks, including acquiring explosives, weapons, or chemical precursors and conducting surveillance. However, these incidents are often mislabeled as criminal activities, which may lead to the failure to piece together expansive terrorist schemes.
The researchers suggested that a formal guide be written to keep law enforcement officials up to date with technology and to provide specific guidelines for dealing with a wide range of suspicious activities.