NCJ Number
191443
Date Published
1998
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This chapter highlights the methods of investigation and prosecution of terrorism.
Abstract
The temptation to depart from familiar judicial proceedings and the established rules with regard to arrest, search, and interrogation is great in the case of terrorism. Other democracies have done so, sometimes openly and sometimes surreptitiously in the form of expanded rules with regard to the use of deadly force and suppressed investigations of the use of excessive force. To make changes in the protective practice of respecting civil liberties would not be foolish and unconstitutional in most cases. The major sources of information to which investigators can turn at any stage of any investigation are witnesses, the offense or offender’s prior action, the suspects, any physical evidence linking suspects to the crime, and surveillance of present activities or conversations. Investigators can often consult written records made by the suspect, another private party, or the government. They might also examine collected information on similar offenses and their perpetrators. The probability of successfully solving a crime is initially a function of several factors: the traces that are left by a particular crime and its perpetrator; the willingness of private individuals to call these traces to the attention of the investigators; the investigative resources devoted by officials to the particular crime; the intelligence with which the resources are used; and the activities that the investigators are permitted to engage in while using these resources. Recent cases in the United States, like the World Trade Center bombing and the Oklahoma City bombing, suggest that U. S. investigators and prosecutors can resolve cases of terrorism with the commitment of sufficient resources. Cases of terrorism should be investigated and tried with the same procedures that is used for trying cases of organized crime and other more familiar criminal matters.