Global crime, cybercrime and terrorism in new and evermore dangerous form will threaten the safety of Americans and the security of the United States in the next century. Globalized crime knows no borders; it can undermine business competition, corrode enemies, and destabilize political systems. Cybercrime can assault any country’s physical and information infrastructure. Terrorists can kill and destroy for maximum effect. In addition, increasingly sophisticated drug trafficking uses advanced information and telecommunications technologies to import and distribute illegal drugs without detection. For the first time in recent history, a Congressional Commission has set out to study the integration of widely disparate and often conflicting issues to strengthen the law enforcement fabric of the Federal Government while protecting democracy and the rights and liberties of individual citizens. The Commission saw its role as calling the Nation’s attention to the broadest concerns in national and international law enforcement. It also urges the Nation and its Federal law enforcement establishment to break down the barriers of institutional thinking and find new ways to approach the challenges of crime in the new century. Over its 2-year tenure, the Commission met more than 20 times and took verbal and sometimes written testimony from some 70 witnesses, including two members of President Clinton’s Cabinet and numerous presidential appointees. They identified that reforms are needed in six major areas: 1) To combat global crime, cybercrime, and terrorism; 2) Make it clear that the Attorney General has broad coordinating authority for Federal law enforcement, and minimize overlap and duplication 3) Provide the intelligence and information needed to combat terrorism; 4) Make global crime a national law enforcement priority; 5) Reverse the trend toward federalization; and 6)Focus on professionalism, integrity, and accountability.

This book untangles the components of police education and advocates a robust community-based training model with significant civilian oversight. The recommended approach recognizes that the citizenry needs to be included in the provision of basic police education, for it is they who must both support and be served by their police. The police must be role models for society, demonstrating that freedom and rights come with obligations, both to the community as a whole and to individuals in need within that community. Ultimately, the quality of police training and the public’s safety depend not only on the leadership of police executives as well as the quality of educational institutions and police candidates but also on the building of a community’s trust in its police. The issues of police recruitment, education, and retention have greater consequence in an era when protests and other signs of negativity surround law enforcement. Several incidents, including, most notably, George Floyd’s murder by police, have sparked new training initiatives regarding police de-escalation and community engagement. At the same time, the proliferation of gun violence and a contentious political climate have led some officers to refrain from undertaking proactive types of policing. In this context, reform of the police education system is urgent. This book examines police training at all levels of government—local, regional, state, and federal. In addition, citizen participation programs, including the role of the media and programs for furthering law-related education (LRE), are highlighted. The proposed police education model recognizes that ordinary members of the American public need to contribute to the provision of basic police education, for it is they who must both support and be served by their police. The focus is on teaching a "guardian style" of policing at the local level. Police education would combine higher education, necessary practical proficiencies, and intensive field experiences through a gradual level of greater responsibility—likely extending over a 2-plus-year period for trainees with less than a year of previous college credits. This book will be of interest to a wide range of audiences such as law enforcement professionals and trainers, including those in executive development programs in police departments; community leaders, scholars, and policy experts who specialize in policing; concerned citizens; and students of criminal justice, especially those interested in police organization and management, criminal justice policy, and the historical development of police.

Amy Zegart examines the weaknesses of US intelligence oversight and why those deficiencies have persisted, despite the unprecedented importance of intelligence in today's environment. She argues that many of the biggest oversight problems lie with Congress—the institution, not the parties or personalities—showing how Congress has collectively and persistently tied its own hands in overseeing intelligence.