Policing Uncertainty: Countering Terror through Community Intelligence and Democratic Policing

Abstract

This article explores how counterterrorism policing strategies and practices in the United Kingdom have changed in the face of recent terrorist attacks. It considers the evident limitations of these developments and how a local, democratic style of neighborhood policing could be used to manufacture the community intelligence “feed” that offers the best probability of preventing and deterring future forms of such violence. These substantive concerns are set against a theoretical backdrop attending to how policing can respond to risks where the contours of the threat are uncertain. The analysis is informed by interviews with U.K. police officers involved in intelligence and counterterrorism work conducted during the early part of 2005.