Terrorism and Community Policing

Abstract

Commentaries on the diversity of the role of police in the liberal democracies and, indeed, of the difficulties in identifying all of its components are manifest Whilst there are developments, like the tendency for investigative functions to become the province of specialized agencies, which have the potential to ease this problem other conflictual duties remain. Among these “other” duties is the need to respond to terrorist violence, a capability which requires skills quite different to those of the competent, community-oriented police officer. The outcome of this requirement is that at least in the early stages it is the community-based, local officers who will have to face the terrorists. The consequence, it is argued, is that counter-terrorist capabilities must continue to sit uneasily beside community-based skills. This can be seen as something of an Achilles heel in the development of community policing.