The United States Patriot Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The United States Patriot Act - Essay Example The PATRIOT Act was enacted to protect US citizens by augmenting the tools by which law enforcement agencies fight crime and improves communication capabilities between these government agencies. In spite of the prevailing majority opinion, the PATRIOT Act protects, rather than degrades, civil liberties. The name of the act, the USA PATRIOT Act, is a shortened acronym for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. According to the Justice Department, the PATRIOT Act gives support to and encourages enhanced sharing of information among various law enforcement agencies at the local, state and federal levels. In addition, this law assists law enforcement in their efforts to â€Å"connect the dots† from a wider scope of agencies when assembling evidence so as to â€Å"develop a complete picture† regarding possible threats from terrorists. By enabling more fluid communications between the various agencies, information regarding a particular suspect can be matched up faster, often automatically by computer database, and more accurately identified. This assists in increasing the safety of citizens both by removing dangerous suspects from the general population before they are able to cause serious trouble and by ensuring innocent citizens are cleared and released in a timely and efficient manner if or when mistakes are made. Communications is the focus of the other major element of the act as well. The Act allows law enforcement officials more latitude when attempting to intercept transmissions of suspected terrorist’s discussions via electronic surveillance (Ward, 2002). This is not a blanket license for law enforcement to listen to anyone’s line based upon a simple whim or roll of the dice, but is instead intended to help investigators trace suspicious person’s through their more intimate and therefore