Transformation: The Emergent Growth of Cooperation amongst Police Agencies

Abstract

If the events of September 11, 2001, could not have been predicted, and the ensuing trauma was entirely to be expected, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the continuing rhetorical “war on terrorism,” do not appear to be the result of a strategically planned, problem-solving approach to protecting national security.¹ What should be done, or what is being done to increase national security is still being debated.² The long-term effects of these events and their sequelae on security governance (Johnston and Shearing 2003) are yet unknown. In this chapter, I outline some of the consequences of the events of September 11 with respect to reorganizing policing in the United States at the local level and the emerging cooperative arrangements between local police forces and specialized federal police. I assess some of the most visible changes, largely a result of attempts to refine airport security and monitor immigration. I argue that this focus on antiterrorist policing post-September 11 has obscured important changes in policing that emerged in North American cities during the past fifteen years. I suggest that these changes have resulted from innovations transnationally in policing massive public occasions (MPOs) over the past fifteen years that include the potentiality of damage to places, people, or meetings of national and/or international value.³ These changes suggest that police have developed refined antiterrorist plans and preventive tactics.