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Using force to intimidate or coerce society to
advance a sociopolitical agenda
 Creating change through violence
 Destabilize society & make authorities seem
ineffective
 Break a far more powerful enemy’s will by
fear, psychological exhaustion and attrition
▪ Example: Soviet experience in Afghanistan
 A way for powerless groups to multiply their force
Methods
 Individual terror: assassinations and kidnappings
 Mass terror: Bombings in public places
 Guerrilla warfare
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Political elite in tight control
Large group that...
 Is socially & economically deprived
 Has little opportunity to influence policy
Opposition develops
 “Revolutionary vanguard” with a dynamic leadership
 Explanatory ideology, with justifications for violence
 Recruitment of the dissatisfied, disenchanted and disenfranchised
Governments can lay the seeds of their own destruction
 Corruption
 Over-response & failure to respond
 Missteps can diminish support from public, police and military
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Russian Revolutionary terrorism
Italian left-wing terrorism (Red
Brigades)
German left-wing terrorism
(Baader-Meinhof)
Cuban revolution
Argentine Montoneros
Peruvian Shining Path
Northern Ireland (IRA v. the
“Loyalists”)
Present places of concern
 Ukraine & Georgia
 Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan,
Palestine
 Pakistan & Afghanistan
 And on and on...
On November 10, 2005 Amman was
rocked by a series of bomb attacks. A
suicide bomber set off a car bomb at
the Days Inn, another detonated a belt
bomb inside the Grand Hyatt, and a
husband-and-wife pair wore belt
bombs into the Radisson SAS. His
went off, hers didn’t. Fifty-seven
people were killed, mostly Jordanians,
including many attending a wedding
party at the Radisson.
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Al Qaeda plot to destroy the North Tower
Plot led by Ramzi Yousef, financed by
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who later
planned the 2001 attack
Yousef came into the U.S. with an Iraqi passport and applied for asylum. An
associate traveling separately on a forged Swedish passport was caught with a
bomb-making manual and arrested.
Yousef was helped to acquire the explosives and make the bomb by extremist
members of a New York City mosque
Ryder van contained a 1,300 pound urea/nitrate bomb, enhanced with oxygen
cylinders. It caused major damage, killing six and injuring more than 1,000
Technicians traced a hidden VIN on a van part to its renter. That eventually
led to the arrests of four who helped Yousef. Each was convicted and given life.
Yousef was arrested in Pakistan in 1995. He was returned to the U.S., tried and
got life without parole. Khalid Mohammed was arrested in Pakistan in 2003.
He and other are pending trial for terrorist acts, including 9/11.

Nineteen Islamic terrorists hijacked four airliners
in the Eastern U.S. They flew two into the WTC
twin towers, killing 2,600.

Another airliner was crashed into the Pentagon,
killing more than 100.

The fourth, supposedly intended for the Capitol, crashed in rural Pennsylvania after
its passengers revolted. All onboard were killed.
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All the attackers entered the U.S. legally on visitor and student visas, some passing
through Bangkok, others through Hamburg. One was already a commercial pilot.
Several took flight training in Arizona and Florida. Although unaware of the plot, a
Phoenix FBI agent had alerted FBI HQ about suspicious persons of Middle Eastern
descent taking flight training lessons.
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Many tips were received during the preceding months that Al Qaeda was plotting to
mount an attack using commercial airliners. The 9/11 Commission Report severely
criticized the FBI and CIA for failing to follow up on this and other information.
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Created Department of Homeland Security
 Consolidated agencies, created databases to vet travelers
and visa applicants
 FBI, CIA and NSA had too much political power and were
left out
Tightened issuance of visas to nationals from certain countries
Loosened guidelines for initiating foreign intelligence cases
 Removed “firewall” between intelligence and criminal investigation
Patriot Act - amended Federal law
 Loosened restrictions on gathering electronic surveillance and conducting
searches when foreigners are involved
 Expanded the right to detain foreign nationals
 Expanded authority to examine financial transactions
One-third of FBI now dedicated to counter-terrorism
 Established major intelligence center to analyze intelligence
BUT -- is intelligence analysis the solution?
 Police Issues: Doing Nothing Flying Under the Radar
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FBI torn between criminal investigative and intelligence roles
 How to demonstrate prowess and advance within
the organization without “making cases”?
“Rope a dope” cases to respond to public pressures and
demonstrate productivity
Police Issues
 Sears Tower/Liberty City Six Rope-a-Dope
 Fort Dix Six Making Terrorists
 Newburgh Four The Men Who Talked Too Much
 NYPD gets in the game Written, Produced and Directed
 An exception? The Najibullah Zazi case Dopes Not Roped
Shift of agents to intelligence impacted other investigations, especially
financial crime
Expanded legal powers can lead to abuses
 Making torture acceptable: the waterboarding debacle Police Issues
 Strained relations with Muslim communities
Common principles
 Ethnic/religious supremacy
 White, Christian, Anglo-Saxon origin
 Oppose immigration
 Guns and violence
Examples
 Ku Klux Klan
 Aryan Nations
 Aryan Brotherhood
 Identity Movement
 The Order
 National Alliance (neo-Nazi)
Police Issues
 The Face of Evil
 Is This What the Framers Intended?
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Precepts

Paramilitary and survivalist orientations

Reject government authority

Claim government conspiracies to enslave
free people

Claim rights to use violence for “self-defense”

Anti-tax and anti-regulation

Oppose gun control

Oppose immigration
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Militia groups in nearly every state

Notorious examples
▪
Militia of Montana
▪
Hutaree militia
▪
Police Issues: Is This What the Framers Intended?
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On the morning of April 19, 1995, Timothy
McVeigh parked a rented truck full of
explosives in front of the Federal Building.
At 9:02am a massive explosion killed 168.

Two hours later McVeigh was stopped by a
OK Highway Patrol officer for no rear
license plate. The officer noticed a bulge in
McVeigh’s jacket and arrested him for
carrying a loaded .45.

McVeigh, an Army veteran, was a Nazi
sympathizer, survivalist and unlicensed gun
dealer. Angry at Waco and gun laws, he
allied himself with Terry Nichols, acquired
the explosives and carried out the attack -by himself.
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Groups clustered around an infallible “prophet”
Apocalyptic, end-game visions
Highly authoritarian
 Obsessive control over membership, including
mating and pairing
 Relentless discipline, including beatings
 Leaders engage in sexual and psychological abuse
Similarities with supremacists and survivalists
 Hatred of Federal government
 Guns and violence
Examples
 Jim Jones’ “People’s Temple” -- Jonestown massacre
 The Manson Family - Charles Manson
 Covenant, Sworn and Arm of the Lord (CSA)
 Branch Davidians and David Koresh (Waco)
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Vietnam war

U.S. presence 1956 – 1973
(heaviest fighting 1964-1971)

More than 50,000 U.S. soldiers killed

Persistent racial and ethnic bias
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Economic problems

Recession, inflation and high
unemployment in the 1970’s

Poverty

Inequality

Students for a
Democratic Society
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Weathermen
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Symbionese Liberation Army
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Black Panther Party
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Black Liberation Army
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American Indian Movement
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1965 Watts riot
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Rutgers homepage on the
riots of the 1960’s
 1967 Detroit Riot
 1967 Newark Riot
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1992 Rodney King Riot
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2009 Oakland Riots
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CHP officers made a DUI arrest in
South-Central Los Angeles

A disorderly crowd gathered. They
were egged on by the suspect’s mother
and family members. CHP officers
arrived and dragged them away.
Rock and bottle-throwing began, then things quickly escalated.

More than 30 died, more than 1,000 injured, hundreds arrested. Widespread
looting and fire-setting leveled a large chunk of the Watts commercial district. The
area never fully recovered.
 Rodney King, drunk and high on drugs, was
speeding. After a high-speed pursuit he finally
stopped.
 He ignored orders and was nearly shot by a
nervous CHP officer. An LAPD sergeant and three
officers took over.
 They beat King with their batons to get him to
comply. All were fired but acquitted of assault.
 Their acquittal sparked rioting and looting in
South-Central Los Angeles. In the next seven days
55 persons died, 2,000 were injured and
12,000 were arrested.
 Two of the officers were later convicted of Federal civil rights violations and served
prison terms.

Rioting began in the Paris suburb of
Clichy-sous-Bois, where two youths of
African descent being chased on foot by
police were electrocuted in a power station.

Things got worse when a police tear-gas
canister was thrown into a Mosque and
then-Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy (now the President of France) made
comments disparaging youths.

Soon the unrest spread to other cities, with many structures and hundreds of
vehicles burned

Although the worst of the rioting was over in a week, a state of emergency
wasn’t lifted until January 2006
 The shooting death of a teen by
Athens police in early December
2008 propelled a week of rioting,
injuring scores, burning stores and laying waste to large areas of the city
center.
 The uprising was joined by citizens upset with poor economic conditions and
Government corruption.
 The two officers involved in the shooting, which took place during a
“routine” confrontation between police and student anarchists, were
arrested: one for the killing, the other as an accomplice.
 A defense lawyer claims that the fatal bullet was a ricochet from a warning
shot.
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On August 4 surveillance officers in north
London stopped a cab occupied by Mark
Duggan, a young Caribbean drug dealer and
gangster whom they thought was planning to
avenge the stabbing death of his cousin.
The youth, who had a gun, was shot dead after refusing to obey police orders to
“stop.”
Duggan’s death ignited a week of riots, arson and looting in lower and
working-class areas of London and in several other British cities.
 More than 3,000 people were arrested and more than 1,000 were charged.
 Nearly 200 police officers and numerous civilians were injured.
 At least five deaths were blamed on the disorder, including one incident
where wheree men were charged with murder for purposively running
down three others who were protecting their neighborhood.
Many of the rioters were unemployed minority youths who deeply distrust
police and are alienated from mainstream British society.
 However, there were also many opportunists.
 On January 1, 2009 BART officer
Johannes Mehserle, 27, shot and killed a
22-year old man whom he and other
officers had on the ground and were
struggling to search. Mehserle stood,
drew his gun and fired once into the
man’s back.
 The shooting led to demonstrations and
several nights of disturbances.
The D.A. charged Mehserle with 2nd.
degree murder, calling the shooting
unlawful and done purposefully.
 Mehserle resigned from the force. At his
trial he claimed that he accidentally drew
and fired his gun instead of a Taser.
Jurors convicted him of involuntary manslaughter.
 Police Issues postings: 1
2
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Bound through ethnicity and shared
values BUT with highly materialistic
goals

Fear of infiltration and ruthless
enforcement

Traditional profit centers: narcotics, prostitution and
gambling, extortion, racketeering, bribery

Emerging profit centers: alien smuggling, computer chip theft, international
car theft, credit card fraud, health care fraud, insurance fraud, identity theft,
money laundering

La Cosa Nostra - Italian Mafia
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Russian Mafia
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Prison gangs
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Criminal street gangs
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Motorcycle gangs – Hell’s Angels, Bandidos and Outlaws

Street gang, origins in El Salvador

Estimated 50,000 members in U.S. and Central
America
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Began in McArthur Park area of L.A., now in
33 States and D.C.

Loosely-structured federation

Concerns about increasing
cohesiveness and development
of a traditional OC structure
Armed and very violent

Many originally trained as Salvadoran
guerrillas

Extortion of immigrants and small businesses

Immigrant smuggling

Carjacking, robbery, false documents, drug
trafficking
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Traditionally white and ride HarleyDavidsons

Largest gangs in the West Coast include
Hells’ Angels, Bandidos, Hessians,
Mongols and Vagos

Heavily involved in drug trafficking,
especially the manufacture of
methamphetamine
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Many clandestine labs in the Inland
Empire region (San Bernardino &
Riverside counties)
Try to rehabilitate their image with charity
rides and toy drives
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Response styles
 Concentrated enforcement: “Sweeps”,
stop-and-frisk campaigns, serve warrants,
drug buys
 Mixed prevention & enforcement efforts:
Ceasefire, civil injunctions
 Coordination: L.A. gang czar
 Prevention: GREAT
Specialized gang units
 Why are they formed -- for objective reasons or public pressure?
 What do they do? What should they do? Enforcement? Investigation?
Intelligence?
 Are they properly guided? Officers well trained? Held accountable?
 Are they providing added value? Are their accomplishments measured?
 Are they excessively decoupled from their agencies? What are the
consequences?

Mayor Villaraigosa finally succeeded
in getting control of gang programs
away from the City Council

Programs placed under a gang “czar”
in the Mayor’s office

He was supported by City Controller
Laura Chick, who said that
uncoordinated programs were wasting
money

After one year, the impact of the new
system is an open question

Crime’s root causes are outside police control

Liberty interests

Narrow definition of criminal conduct

Legal constraints on police
▪ Limits on wiretaps and surveillance

Commercial interests
▪ Lax enforcement of environmental, commercial,
immigration laws

Practical limitations

Time, money and manpower

Too much information
▪ What information to collect? What to share? When to act?

Police better equipped to react than anticipating
▪ Focus on past crimes, not prevention
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According to the New York Times UC NYPD
officers infiltrate marches and bicycling events
Police videotapes show UC officers and
informers at seven major events between
8/04 and 12/05
Officers carried protest signs, rode bicycles and videotaped participants
Police admit the surveillance. They say its purpose is to “keep order and
protect free speech”
Protestors say officers distort their message and purposely provoke trouble
 Bike ride – sham arrest of UC officers led to the arrest of two protesters
who came to the UC’s defense.
 Poor People’s March, 8/30/04 – UC officer used to provoke disorder at
end of march
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Secret FBI program (1956-1971) to discredit groups
considered to be anti-Government

Black Panthers

Students for a Democratic Society

Socialist Workers Party

Native Americans

Anti-war protesters

NAACP and Dr. Martin Luther King
Methods

Infiltration by spies – the agent provocateur

Burglaries and illegal phone taps

Fake letters and phony propaganda to create rifts between individuals and
groups

Formed during the Red scare following WW-II

Spied on alleged Communists and sympathizers

Expanded to include anti-war protestors and “subversives”

Infiltrated undercover officers

Extensive physical and electronic surveillance

Created a huge records system

Cooperated with COINTELPRO

Targets included L.A.’s Mayor, members of the City Council, the Governor and
members of Congress, the National Organization for Women, the Beverly Hills
Democratic Club, religious, civil rights and environmental groups

In 1981 a lawsuit forced it to disband and open up its records

PDID functions were taken over by the Anti-Terrorist Division, with much
more restrictive guidelines for initiating investigations