A terrorist registry can aid law enforcement

Communication and cooperation are essential for coordinating emergency services.

During the 9/11 attacks in New York, one problem encountered by first responders was that police and firefighter radio networks were not compatible, leaving many commanders and firefighters unable to talk to each other. Firefighters in the stairwells couldn’t hear the evacuation order, contributing to the high death toll among responders.

Of the 400 jihadists prosecuted since the 9/11 attacks, at least 61 people with terrorism-related convictions are due to be released from prison over the next five years. While the worst terrorists may be imprisoned for life, most terror-related convicts serve an average sentence of 13 years, usually in high-security federal prisons in Florence, Colorado; Terre Haute, Indiana; and Marion, Illinois.

A major concern is the rate of recidivism — the tendency to relapse into criminal behavior — for those being released. In one of the latest studies, federal prisoners have a rate of 44.7 percent after five years, while the rate for state prisoners is 76.6 percent.

It’s estimated that about 20 percent of former Guantánamo Bay detainees returned to the battlefield.

Legislators in some states are pushing for a registry for terrorists to make local law enforcement aware of those convicts moving into their neighborhood.

Louisiana, Florida and Missouri are considering bills to establish terrorist registries similar to the Megan’s Law registry that monitors the whereabouts of convicted sex offenders. Failure to register with local law enforcement would be a felony for those convicted of terrorism-related crimes — such as attempting to finance terrorism or seeking to join a terror cell.

The Missouri Sheriffs’ Association has long called for an improved level of communication between local and federal law enforcement agencies.

Louisiana state Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, a Republican, sponsored a 2018 resolution that created a task force to study the logistics of a state terrorist registry, explaining that it provides another tool for law enforcement to know when people are released for terrorism-based offenses.

There is opposition, however, to a National Terrorist Offender Registry.

Julian Sanchez, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, feels it would put local law enforcement unnecessarily on edge about a lot of people who don’t present any more risk to the community than any other ex-con.

Sanchez said that it is hard to see what local authorities are supposed to do with the information and that it could be easily misconstrued as harassment.

Two years ago, Congressman John Rutherford of Florida introduced HR 2471, the Terrorist Release Announcements to Counter Extremist Recidivism Act. The TRACER Act would require that state and local law enforcement be notified when federal prisoners convicted of terrorism charges are released from prison into their communities.

This makes perfect sense.

American law enforcement — the best in the world — would operate more efficiently with a terrorist registry.

By Jim Zbick | tneditor@tnonline.com