Local Policing after the Terror

Law enforcement authority naturally varies with the nature and size of the crime problems police must combat. A glance at the recent history of criminal procedure shows as much. The terrorist attacks on New York and Washington raised the demands on law enforcement. Those increased demands have already led to some increases in law enforcers' legal authority, and that trend will - and probably should - continue, at least for a while. Why should the war on terrorism lead to change in the doctrines governing ordinary searches and seizures when Congress has already created targeted authority for fighting terrorists? Fourth and Fifth Amendment law is likely to move toward greater authority for the police - not just for the FBI, and not just when fighting terrorists. The natural conclusion is that a loss of individual liberty and privacy will be seen. After all, this trade off seems to be zero-sum. Giving ground on one side means losing ground on the other. Yet that need not be so. Now may be the time for a grand trade - greater power to catch criminals coupled with rules that limit the harm greater power can do.