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To Protect and To Serve pp 81–99Cite as

Cops and Spooks: The Role of Police in Counterterrorism

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Abstract

This chapter examines the role of full-service or general-duties policing in combating terrorism. In particular we are concerned with whether the counterterrorism activities of covert intelligence gathering and disruption are playing a larger role in the activities of police agencies today, and if so to what extent such a role is impacting the services that police are expected to provide in Western democracies. We begin with a comparison of national structures for conducting counterterrorism in Western democracies. Then, we explore the impact of counterterrorism post 9/11 on policing and specify specific factors that affect the strength of its impact. Finally, drawing heavily on information from the United States and Israel, the chapter discusses arguments for and against the involvement of police in covert terrorism prevention. Overall, we conclude that general duties police agencies should be cautious in adopting a strong counterterrorism function.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Tal Jonathan, Gali Aviv, Rochelle Schnurr, and Kristen Miggans for their assistance in the preparation of this manuscript. We owe a special debt to Tal Jonathan and Simon Perry for their comments and suggestions regarding high-policing strategies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Criminal Justice, State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA

    David H. Bayley & David Weisburd

Authors
  1. David H. Bayley
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  2. David Weisburd
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Correspondence to David H. Bayley .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst. Criminology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 91905, Israel

    David Weisburd

  2. National Institute of Justice, US Department of Justice, Seventh St. NW., 810, Washington, 20531, U.S.A.

    Thomas Feucht

  3. Ministry of Public Security, Jerusalem, 91181, Israel

    Idit Hakimi

  4. National Institute of Justice, US Department of Justice, Seventh St. NW., 810, Washington, 20531, U.S.A.

    Lois Mock

  5. Embassy of Israel, International Dr. 3514, Washington, 20008, U.S.A.

    Simon Perry

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Bayley, D.H., Weisburd, D. (2009). Cops and Spooks: The Role of Police in Counterterrorism. In: Weisburd, D., Feucht, T., Hakimi, I., Mock, L., Perry, S. (eds) To Protect and To Serve. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-73685-3_4

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