{"id":26810,"date":"2016-05-30T11:00:59","date_gmt":"2016-05-30T01:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=26810"},"modified":"2016-06-08T17:41:38","modified_gmt":"2016-06-08T07:41:38","slug":"touchstone-border-security-law-enforcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/touchstone-border-security-law-enforcement\/","title":{"rendered":"Agenda for Change 2016: border security and law enforcement"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This piece is drawn from<\/span><\/i> Agenda for Change 2016: strategic choices for the next government<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/em><\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s law enforcement and border security operating environment is becoming increasingly complex and is evolving rapidly. For the strategic leaders of Australia\u2019s law enforcement and border security agencies, uncertainty in the current operating environment is matched by pervasive policy and funding uncertainties.<\/span><\/p>\n

International bodies<\/span><\/a> and<\/span> non-government organisations<\/span><\/a> alike describe transnational, serious and organised crime (TSOC) as a threat to national security and regional stability. The threat posed to Australia\u2019s security and interests by TSOC continues to expand and change. The increasing scope of the threat has been accompanied by an increase in the complexity of TSOC structures and activities. Syndicates rapidly acquire and employ new technologies at a rate that far exceeds that of law enforcement.<\/span><\/p>\n

TSOC business models and their inherent flexibility afford them the opportunity to rapidly identify risks and opportunities for exploitation. These groups have consistently demonstrated the capacity to rapidly change their operations or activities and take immediate action when an opportunity or unacceptable risk arises. And they are increasingly greying the line between legitimate and illicit economies as a means of deception and profit maximisation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recent policy experience<\/span><\/a> with TSOC issues such as \u2018<\/span>ice\u2019 (crystal methylamphetamine)<\/span><\/a> and money laundering have shown us that what worked in the past won\u2019t guarantee success in the present, let alone the future. The dynamic business models used by these groups are increasingly degrading the effectiveness of law enforcement\u2019s traditional strategies for detecting, preventing and investigating TSOC entities.<\/span><\/p>\n

The national security policy issues addressed by Australia\u2019s border security and national law enforcement agencies are consistently live issues for federal governments. The policy in this space is focused on the real-time disruption of pervasive TSOC threats. That means law enforcement agencies are tending more towards stopping TSOC from happening than going for arrests and prosecutions after the fact. While the latter actions are important, disruption is often a practical strategy where perpetrators are overseas, deeply hidden or in cyberspace.<\/span><\/p>\n

The risks associated with those threats are unlikely to be completely mitigated. Yet events such as<\/span> the Sydney Lindt Cafe<\/span><\/a> siege has shown that the public has zero tolerance for<\/span> policy failure<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Added to that complex threat mix is the reality of Australia\u2019s border security and national law enforcement arrangements. Those arrangements are comprised of a complex framework of often overlapping jurisdictions; legacy policy issues and budgeting models; organisational cultural challenges; and stand-alone thematic strategies. In the past, expediency during policy development has called for the establishment of ad hoc taskforce arrangements to temporarily address new or emerging issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite those challenges, the border security and law enforcement agencies have consistently achieved or exceeded the performance targets in their Parliamentary Budget Statements. This isn\u2019t surprising, given that they\u2019ve historically been focused on achieving \u2018siloed\u2019 operational outcomes such as arrests, seizures and successful prosecutions. The organisational pursuit of key performance measures doesn\u2019t leave much time, space or capacity to critically evaluate whether the intent of policy is being achieved. Nor do they actually measure practical crime fighting strategies like disruption, which tend to be harder to demonstrate quantitatively. For any government, change in this policy space is tough going.<\/span><\/p>\n

With this firm grasp of the law enforcement and border security strategic and operational reality, we offer five key recommendations for government:<\/span><\/p>\n