| The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, underscored local law enforcement's critical role in responding to terrorism. Despite increased concern over law enforcement preparedness against terrorism, little empirical research has been conducted. There is neither a universal definition of preparedness, nor have factors of preparedness been clearly outlined by disaster management experts. The purpose of this research was to complete a quantitative, descriptive study of law enforcement preparedness against terrorism in the state of Florida. Research questions focused on defining preparedness, identifying the related factors, and determining the preparedness in the state of Florida. Based on an initial instrument developed by RAND, a web-based survey was completed by Florida law enforcement terrorism experts. The results include a detailed definition of preparedness and the data were analyzed using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) decision-making method to score and rank preparedness factors. The factors in order of importance are personnel, communications, training, planning, equipment, and procedures. Overall, Florida law enforcement agencies were rated at about 33% preparedness against terrorism, with county law enforcement agencies being slightly more prepared than municipal law enforcement agencies. Specific recommendations for next steps include: Increasing personnel; modernizing equipment, plans, and procedures and improving communications interoperability. The results of the study could benefit Floridians' residents and tourists, as well as serve as a possible model for other law enforcement agencies to increase citizens' protection. |
