In the wake of the January shooting at the office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and the beginning of the trial for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a report compiled by a panel of former security officials has revealed a push for increased counterterrorism efforts in the United States.
The report, released Jan. 22 and titled “Domestic Security: Confronting a Changing Threat to Ensure Public Safety and Civil Liberties,” was written by a group of more than a dozen former officials, including former Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis . It placed an emphasis on protection against “homegrown” terrorism in the United States.
Domestic security and counterterrorism must be improved, the report stated. Several recommendations are made, including fusion centers in high-threat areas, a greater focus on domestic intelligence structures and the strengthening of intelligence culture at the Federal Bureau of Investigation . The report also calls for the creation of a national domestic intelligence director in Washington, D.C.
The Business Executives for National Security, the non-profit organization that put together the task force to compile the report, assessed a series of reforms enacted after the terrorist attacks of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. With the research for the report spanning over three years, members of the committee found that domestic security measures need to be updated in light of recent terror attacks around the world.
Charles Stith, an international relations professor at Boston University’s College of Arts and Sciences, served as the ambassador for the United States Embassy in Tanzania following the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, Kenya . When dealing with terrorism, Stith said working with communities is essential to preventive action.
“I was in a position where I was forced to get a sense of the issues pertaining to that incident,” he said. “It’s something that I’ve been thinking about to a significant degree since then. At the end of the day, it comes down to intelligence and dealing intelligently with communities that have the potential to spawn terrorism.”
When planning improvements to counterterrorism policies, Stith said, proactive actions are essential to preventing the emergence of homegrown terrorists.
“The deeper issue is trying to get a better understanding of the conditions that lead to the radicalization of homegrown terrorists,” he said. “The reason is pretty obvious and straightforward and that is it’s better to have strategies that are preemptive rather than reactive.”
Stith said strong relationships at a community level will put the country in the best position to deal with terror threats, whether they are homegrown or foreign.
“The collateral point to that is that if we get a better understanding of the environments that breed domestic terrorism, it puts us in a better position to deal with some of these issues,” he said. “By definition, it means we’re going to look at how we develop relationships at the community level.”
Joseph Wippl, a professor at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, said there is no way to ensure the United States is 100 percent safe.
“We already spend an enormous amount of money trying to protect ourselves from terrorist activity, and there should be more awareness of this in our public officials and police forces,” he said. “I don’t think we should necessarily go much beyond that.”
Wippl said a domestic intelligence collection service would benefit the United States, but would probably not be implemented unless there was another major terrorist attack. However, he said, intelligence exchange is significant in stopping homegrown terrorism among radical communities.
“Intelligence exchange is important,” he said. “A citizenry that is aware of the potential for terrorism, especially in those sectors where these types of people get radicalized, especially in those sectors where there is a lot of Islamic Fundamentalism and people are traveling to Syria to fight with ISIS, and so on.”
BU Police Department Sergeant Jeff Burke said the report is, in a way, an attack on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s relationship with local officials, including Davis, who oversaw the local security measures following the Boston marathon bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260 on April 15, 2013.
“Historically, that’s been the FBI’s main job, of domestic intelligence gathering. So he’s taking a swipe right at them. This goes back, for him, to the marathon bombing, the lack of sharing of information, the accusations of that sort from the FBI to the [Massachusetts] State Police,” Burke said.
Burke said the FBI has always had some degree of distrust with local and state law enforcement agencies.
“It’s not just Ed Davis and his whole company that feels this way. Clearly it’s this whole committee that seems to be a national effort that’s building momentum,” Burke said. “I would agree with a central collector of intelligence, with the inclusion of more local agencies.”
Burke stressed the importance of local agencies relaying counterterrorism information to the FBI.
“The local agencies are the ones with boots on the ground in the cities and towns, so they know better of what’s going on,” Burke said.
Burke and his counterparts at BUPD have a personal connection to counterterrorism efforts, he said, having had direct involvement in the hunt for Tsarnaev , in the hours following the Boston marathon bombing.
“The BU Police were there that night, and one of our officers was only feet away from [Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority] Officer [Richard Donohue], the transit officer who was shot,” Burke said.
Several residents said the report will hopefully serve as the first step toward strengthening counterterrorism efforts domestically and internationally.
Savannah Armstrong, 28, of Brighton, said counterterrorism efforts are important, but they can’t control the lives of Boston residents.
“It’s important to be informed and to be aware of what’s going on in our country, and if there are things popping up as red flags and threats, of course, we need to be more informed,” she said. “However, I don’t believe living in a state of fear all the time is productive. It kind of depends on what their plans are and how they plan on going about gathering the intelligence.”
Jessica Chicka, 32, of Brighton , said terrorism is sometimes an issue greater than increased domestic intelligence.
“The problem with terrorism is that it’s difficult to pinpoint,” she said. “So even if we have more advanced security measures, that doesn’t necessarily mean that we are going to be as vigilant as we need to be.”
Paige Smith contributed to the reporting of this story.
