| 摘要 | Key Points
Countering violent extremism in America will require closer cooperation and integrating efforts between Muslim communities and local law enforcement.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should fund the creation of regional outreach groups (ROGs) that can serve as meeting spaces between local law enforcement and Muslim communities.
To efficiently use federal funds, these ROGs should be located in metropolitan areas already identified by the DHS as being at high risk of terrorist attack.
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Introduction
With the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) and its intent to direct, enable, and inspire attacks in the United States, improving how America deals with this latest threat is more vital than ever. In light of the Orlando terrorist attack in June 2016, such advances will allow law enforcement entities to develop deeper relationships within the Muslim community, enabling them to more effectively counter violent extremism (CVE).
Our communities clearly have gaps in which individuals are falling prey to the recruitment tactics of terrorist groups. In many cases, family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and acquaintances of individuals being radicalized have some suspicions of what is happening. The more connections that exist between local law enforcement and the Muslim community, the greater chance both groups have to deploy CVE resources.
Policymakers need to recognize that America can achieve success against terrorists only by deploying both a sword and a shield. My report Enhanced Human Intelligence Is Key to Defeating Terrorists made the case for significantly expanding local law enforcement’s use of human intelligence (HUMINT) to detect and stop terrorist attacks.[1] This report serves as a complementary piece aimed at increasing the connections and trust Muslim communities have with local law enforcement.
Most local law enforcement agencies have limited staff and expertise, and therefore it is unrealistic to expect every law enforcement agency in America to deploy resources for specific outreach to Muslim communities. For this reason, the resources of the federal government will be essential to improving outreach and trust.
Specifically, using federal terrorism funds from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to support and create Regional Outreach Groups (ROGs) to serve as meeting spaces between local law enforcement and Muslim communities would improve the mutual trust necessary for a successful CVE effort.
Basing these around the 28 jurisdictions eligible for Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) funds would consolidate resources and enable iterative learning.[2] The UASI grant program already focuses federal terrorism funding to cities deemed to possess the greatest risk of a terrorist attack based on threat intelligence, making it a logical source for funds and requiring only a small extension of the grant program’s authorities.
INFOGRAPHIC | Countering Terrorism Through Outreach
Why ROGs Are Needed
First, it is important that any CVE effort in the United States is not federally driven, but led and run by local law enforcement. Unlike the FBI, local law enforcement already possesses long-term relationships with diverse communities. These relationships provide local law enforcement with the best chances of closing gaps where radicalization can occur. Moreover, given local law enforcement’s long-term work with community policing and engagement, building trusted partnerships is far more likely and easier to do.
For example, the FBI has created Shared Responsibility Committees (SRCs) that aim to bring together officials from federal and local law enforcement, representatives from mental health and other city and school programs, social workers, and imams and other religious leaders to develop intervention strategies for those at risk of being persuaded by ISIS or other radical propaganda.[3] Aside from the FBI’s SRC program, there is no other nationwide federal CVE effort focused on improving the connections between local law enforcement and the Muslim communities within their jurisdictions.
While the FBI initiative is a good one, these activities will likely be viewed suspiciously if they appear to be federally driven and lack local leadership and buy-in.[4] In some cases, the only experience some communities have with federal law enforcement entities is negative. However, the idea behind the SRCs recognizes the importance of integrating Muslim communities in the United States.
The Obama administration conducted a national working group on the issue of how best to prevent radicalization and strengthen community ties. The White House’s 2011 report, Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States, recognizes that Muslim American communities are both the targets of recruitment by radical terrorists and the best positioned to take the lead in protecting themselves from radical ideologies. As it states, “Muslim American communities have categorically condemned terrorism, worked with law enforcement to help prevent terrorist attacks, and forged creative programs to protect their sons and daughters from al-Qa’ida’s murderous ideology.”[5] Ironically, the report does not even mention ISIS, but focuses on al Qaeda.
This realization has led to community-based efforts across the country. For example, the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) created the Safe Spaces Initiative in 2014 to assist in CVE. Recognizing that “many factors raise a person’s risk of moving from extreme thoughts into illegal and violent behavior,” MPAC identified five key factors. These are:
Emotions, rather than ideology, can affect many individuals’ decision to engage in violence. Thus, the intellectual details of an ideology are less important than the emotional appeal of “seeing oneself as a defender of Muslims against perceived Western aggression.”
For some individuals, the attraction to illegal and violent behavior stems from its perception as being exciting and “cool,” as well as the sense of adventure.
For some, being more defiant and violent is a path to increasing their status or part of adhering to an internal code of honor.
Committing violent acts can be a means to achieve greater status within like-minded groups.
A lack of alternative activities or information that dissuade individuals from committing violent acts also facilitates the movement toward violence. One of the most consistent features ofviolent extremists, who accuse other Muslims of apostasy, is a lack of religious knowledge and political activity.[6]
To combat the pull of these factors, MPAC recommends that Muslim communities “expand [their] community institution’s network of trusted contacts,” which “include[s] getting to know and building strong working relations with [their] local law enforcement agencies.”[7]
In follow-up to its report on homegrown violent extremism, the Obama administration released a road map in 2011 on how to build more resilient communities. The White House’s Strategic Implementation Plan for Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States echoed MPAC’s call for broadening contacts, such as incorporating “communities that are being targeted by violent extremists into broader forums with other communities” to amplify integration efforts.[8] The report concludes by expressly committing to “increase support for local, community-led programs and initiatives to counter violent extremism, predominantly by identifying opportunities within existing appropriations for incorporating CVE as an eligible area of work for public safety, violence prevention, and community resilience grants.”[9]
Read the full report.
Notes |
