Terrorism and Public Safety Policing: Implications for the Obama Presidency

The trends, data, and battle-tested logic don’t lie. A perfect storm of extremist ideologies is on the horizon that threatens to challenge the current state of public safety-forcing police chiefs, public administrators, and security professionals to rethink their approach to policing the streets of America. Professor James Pastor, a recognized authority on policing and security, draws on three decades of experience fighting on the front lines against domestic terrorism to identify key indicators that point to an increase in extremist violence and terrorist threats here at home.

Merging public policy analysis with an understanding of human nature, Terrorism and Public Safety Policing: Implications for the Obama Presidency provides a unique and thorough examination of the current state of policing and reviews recent events to identify troublesome trends and potential vulnerabilities that must be addressed. This forward-looking guide introduces a new model of policing-Public Safety Policing-that accounts for the changes already underway and offers an organized and proactive response to the new breed of problems on the horizon.

Complete with supporting statistics, graphics, and photos, this book provides a realistic look into the future of law enforcement, public safety, and private security. By providing a narrative of the important decisions that need to be made, the author guides policymakers, police administrators, and security professionals with the vision needed to anticipate predicaments on the horizon.

Dr. Pastor is a nationally recognized authority on policing and security. He is an Associate Professor of Public Safety at Calumet College of St. Joseph, and president of SecureLaw Ltd., a Chicago based public safety and security consulting firm. Dr. Pastor also is an adjunct instructor at the International Law Enforcement Academy where he teaches security technology to police officials throughout the world. He formerly taught legal issues at the Northwestern University Center for Public Safety, and legal & ethical issues in security management in the graduate program at Webster University.

Dr. Pastor consults, writes and speaks on a variety of public safety and security issues. He also serves as an expert witness in police, public safety, premises liability and security matters. Previously, he practiced law for fifteen years, serving as legal counsel for two police unions and five security firms, including acting as Legal Counsel/Operational Auditor for SecurityLink. Dr. Pastor started his career with the Chicago Police Department serving as a tactical police officer in the Gang Crime Enforcement unit, and later as an Assistant Department Advocate dealing with police misconduct allegations including hundreds of use of force cases.

Dr. Pastor holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy Analysis from the University of Illinois at Chicago, a J.D. from The John Marshall Law School, and a M.A. in Criminal Justice from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has authored several articles on security, policing and public safety, and has previously published two books entitled Security Law & Methods (Elsevier, 2006), and The Privatization of Police in America: An Analysis & Case Study (McFarland & Co, 2003).