Law Enforcement

Europe suffered from international terrorist organizations in the 1960’s and 1970’s. French terrorists got into the game early, with several diverse groups trying to assassinate Charles de Gaulle through his long political career. I’m probably hopelessly biased, but I think the main reason why those groups were dismantled and the major players either caught or killed was due to aggressive and professional law enforcement.

But, of course, times change. A pair of France’s most notorious and dangerous criminal bosses were freed from prison a few years ago by their henchmen. One of the prison breaks, that of Italian mobster Antonio Ferrara, closely resembled a military operation, with machine gun fire being used to suppress the guards while RPG’s were reportedly used to blow open the gates of the facility. What is troubling is that this all took place at Fresnes Prison right outside of Paris, arguably the most secure in the entire country.

This news item reports that gangs of youths have been rioting after dark for the past two days in Clichy-sous-Bois, which is yet another suburb of Paris. The spark that caused this urban unrest was the deaths of two youths who reportedly climbed the fence of an electric substation and were electrocuted. They did this while fleeing the scene of a suspected burglary after the police showed up.

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On October 1, a suicide bomb went off on the campus of the University of Oklahoma at Norman. The only death was the person who was carrying the bomb, Joel Henry Hinrichs III. There were no injuries.

Both Federal and local law enforcement officials have been investigating the crime, and so far they have been very cautious about the information they release to the news media. This has generated a fair amount of frustration from pundits who see the incident as a clear attempt at an act of terrorism. The police should simply give voice to the obvious, they say. A good example of this is given by Firehand at Irons in the Fire.

“As to the disclaimers from the feds(“No, no, no evidence of anything like terrorism”), they do not give me a great deal of confidence.”

Speaking as someone who once worked in law enforcement, I can say with confidence that the police are required to operate under rules and restrictions that are alien to the general public. Speaking in the broadest possible sense, if you haven’t been in the trenches then you just don’t have a clue.

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Like most of you, I’ve been following coverage of the relief efforts in and around New Orleans. But, unlike most of you, I’ve felt a great deal of pride from those efforts. It appears that everyone is doing the best they can with what they have. I certainly don’t want to offend anyone, particularly fellow Chicago Boyz ken who wrote a post that inspired this one. But it seems to me that while some criticism of the government response is warranted, the majority is not only unjustified but unrealistic.

Why would I feel this way? Because I once had a job in law enforcement, and I have a little inside knowledge of the difficulties that present themselves when preparing for disaster.

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The state of Maryland has spent a great deal of money collecting a database of fired cartridges. The idea was that a gun used in a crime could be traced by examining the unique markings left after a gun is fired.

This sounds like a great idea to people who aren’t familiar with the technical side of firearms, and they’ve been very vocal about how the database is worthwhile because it will solve crimes.

Those of us who actually work with firearms on a regular basis have always considered the concept to be somewhat less respectable than those espoused by the Flat Earth Society.

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Theodore Dalrymple has another excellent column up at The Spectator. (Free registration required.) Unlike most of his work, this one is rather short.