Domestic Intelligence to Counter Terrorism within the Homeland
For this final paper, prepare a single research paper and then add 3 substantive recommendations on how you propose that domestic intelligence can be employed more effective to support the HSE to stop terrorist attacks.
Develop a comprehensive 6-8 page paper summarizing the content and research from your first two papers, and then make at least three substantive recommendations on how to prevent or thwart your selected terrorist group from succeeding in their hypothetical attack on the United States homeland.
Use the Organizational Profile (Red Cell paper) you prepared for your Midterm Assignment and combine it with the Progress Assignment you prepared about collecting and analyzing on that group (making all necessary changes based on instructor feedback) and melding them both into one seamless research paper that also adds a major new section to address your specific recommendations to counter your selected terrorist organization’s planned attack in the homeland.
Make sure your recommendations are focused only on what happens within the homeland as this is not a foreign policy or international relations course. The recommendations need to be something new or enacting a policy or procedure that is not already in place (do not describe how we already protect the homeland or discuss what current agencies do).
Be original or cite ideas from others on how to adapt or reform how intelligence can better support homeland security here domestically to stop your hypothetical attack. Also, make sure your recommendations address a role for state and local agencies (as we discussed in week 4).
The focus of this paper is to address how intelligence, law enforcement and homeland security officials from all three levels of government can prevent or disrupt this attack here in the U.S. (not overseas) by clearly specifying your recommendations of counter-measures to stop or interdict the terrorists here at home before the attack occurs.
Employ all that you have learned about intelligence to support Homeland Security and feel free to express your own opinions when making recommendations for Homeland Security intelligence.
Recommend a change to policy, procedure or an organizational change to how the IC (or an individual agency) supports the homeland which directly contributes to stopping a terrorist attack. Make radical proposals or even changes to existing laws, but do not make proposals that are illegal or unconstitutional (but you can propose changing a law).
Clearly identify your three homeland security intelligence and law enforcement recommendations at the end of your paper before your conclusions, and include specific section headings for each recommendation with the short title for each recommendation. Your proposals to stop a terrorist attack are the heart of your final assignment, this will be the primary criteria for grading this paper and the comprehensive and culminating event for this course.
You must use sections headings like these:
Recommendation 1: Your idea to improve homeland security (domestic) intelligence and law enforcement to specifically stop this impending attack; only what you think should be done at home — DO NOT make overseas recommendations. All three must be homeland intelligence focused proposals and not address anything going on abroad — that is not the subject of this course.
Recommendation 2: Make sure at least one recommendation includes a role for the all-important state and local agencies (week 4).
Recommendation 3: Intelligence is about collecting, analyzing, collaborating, sharing/disseminating, etc, so your recommendations must fall somewhere within the intelligence cycle/process we covered about in week 3. Do NOT make recommendations about increased security measures or ‘force protection’ and defensive approaches — remember this course is about INTELLIGENCE (which is proactive / preventative, not protective / reactive).
Make sure your ideas are original and something you think the government can do better related to intelligence — not status quo or what we are already doing. If you are at a total loss for ideas about how intelligence could stop an attack or be improved with domestic homeland security intelligence, then look back over the required reading in week 4 on Fusion Centers for Homeland Security in the section on recommendations on page 24, or consider Challenges and Way Ahead (chapter 12) in the book by Buckley (2014) titled Managing Intelligence: A Guide for Law Enforcement Professionals available as an ebook in our library.
