45 days after New York City experienced the horrific act of September 11, 2001, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act, a piece of legislation designed to uncover and prevent terrorism . One major result of this Act is that the law eradicated any walls that prohibited law enforcement, intelligence agencies, and national defense organizations from swapping information and uniting their efforts to protect American citizens’ national security. Instead of a few agencies working separately, now law enforcement and intelligence organizations can help each other put the puzzle pieces together, so that terrorists conspiracies and planned attacks can be thwarted as quickly as possible .
Several sections of the USA PATRIOT Act detail how the law helps to encourage interagency information sharing. Section 218 eliminated the “primary purpose” requirement that once interfered with law enforcement and intelligence agencies from sharing information. Section 905 lays things out in black-and-white, requiring all federal law enforcement officials to quickly inform the Director of the Cultural Intelligence Agency about any foreign information discovered while the individual was conducting a criminal investigation ( The United States Department of Justice, 2004). Section 203 states that any information sharing between law enforcement and intelligence agencies is permitted, if it relates to performing one’s job duties that pertains to foreign intelligence or counter intelligence information. The law also eliminates the need for court orders to share data (The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, 2004).
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The USA PATRIOT Act has helped disband several terrorist plots, including an al Qaeda operation discovered in Lackawanna, New York. Several organizations worked together to help arrest six men involved in a terrorist plan, five men pleading guilty to the charges, which resulted in seven to ten years of imprisonment ( The United States Department of Justice, 2004).
- The United States Department of Justice (2004). Report from the field: The USA PATRIOT ACT at work. Washington, DC: Department of Justice.
- The USA PATRIOT Act: preserving life and liberty . (2014, April ). Retrieved from The United States Department of Justice : http://www.justice.gov/archive/ll/highlights.htm
- The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (2004). THe USA Patirot Act: Impact on the Arab and Muslim community. Clinton Township: The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding . Retrieved from www.ispu.us: www.ispu.us
- United States of America USA Patriot Act of 2001. (2009). Retrieved from usuapatriotact.com: http://usapatriotact.com/
