Decentralized environment
Pomerantz discussed how law enforcement also needs to work in a decentralized environment (a desirable result of our Federal system), with over 18,000 police agencies in the United States, most with 25 officers or less. To illustrate the challenge of getting law enforcement agencies just to communicate with each other, Pomerantz suggested that the next time one passes a crime or accident scene, note the number of different antennas on the vehicles at the scene; more often than not, the radios work on different frequencies which makes communication difficult.
Pomerantz added the measure of success in intelligence work is the number of terrorist incidents prevented. Other law enforcement functions react to crimes that trigger investigations, such as bank robbery or kidnaping. Like public health, law enforcement has to operate under a complex environment, with the need to distribute intelligence information to state and local authorities, yet at the same time protect civil liberties of people not accused of crimes.
John Flaherty recounted the events of 11 September at the Department of Transportation, and soon thereafter the gaps in airline security became clear, with the incident involving the National Guardsman just one example. Flaherty discussed the challenges is creating an entirely new agency for transportation security, but one of the agency’s first hires was its Chief Information Officer, which highlighted the importance of information systems and management to its day-to-day operations.
A new kind of diplomacy
The State Department deals with government-to-government communications, but in a different direction than the domestic agencies. Anthony Wayne told of the various activities engaging the State Department since 11 September, notably hunting down terrorist finances and pulling together a conference on Afghan reconstruction, chaired by the U.S. and Japan. However, one event removed from the war on terrorism pointed out how diplomacy in the future could be conducted. The latest round of trade talks took place in Doha, the capital of Qatar, a small Arab Gulf state. Because of security concerns, the U.S. could send only a small number of delegates, but State Department was able to put together a larger virtual delegation that communicated with the on-site delegates almost as effectively as being in the same room. The conference was able to agree on a new agenda for trade liberalization.
