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What the future may hold Essay Law enforcement is heading for uncharted waters. Beyond deals with criminal activity and enforcing state statutes, law enforcement personnel are at the time of this writing in the throes of war with Ð ° frontline that has no defined latitude or longitude. The enemy is often faceless and leaderless. What will the future hold? Although no one person or group can predict the future; one certainty is that technology will be at the forefront. Another certainty is that international and domestic terrorist groups are here to stay, but they will no longer be treated as two distinct factions. There are no boundaries with terrorists or organized hate groups. Law enforcement has embarked on Ð ° new frontier that cannot be disregarded and appears to be endless. Times have changed and so must law enforcement. Chances are that the greatest terrorist impact wills come from technology or science, such as cyber- or bioterrorism, rather than from conventional bombs. No matter what the source of the impact is, agencies are cautioned against Ð ° simplistic approach. History has demonstrated that most terrorist attacks are events that are planned, often over the course of months and years. Therefore, we must use extreme caution when gathering information and must avoid overlooking any seemingly harmless aspect of situations or events presented. The smallest, seemingly meaningless, communication, transmission, purchase, or inquiry could be the missing component that links events. Agencies should take this information into account as well as all the categories mentioned in previous chapters when developing their database structures. Relegating minor items to Ð ° â€Å"comments† section or omitting them altogether may have adverse effects in the future. Also, database managers should include information on the various forms of terrorism, especially cyber and biological. â€Å"To fully appreciate the implications of terrorism today, it is appropriate to review and assess terrorism within the context of history. Grant Wardlaw argues that â€Å"Part of the solution to the question of whether or not contemporary terrorism poses Ð ° unique threat to social order lies in an appraisal of its degree of continuity with previous manifestations of political terrorism. † It is not possible in this study to produce Ð ° complete history of terrorism. However, in order to place contemporary terrorist activities in Ð ° proper perspective, it is germane to identify some of the major historical bench-marks of terrorism. † (Paul 2002 11)