Thought Papers

HE Shyamal Datta

Former Governor of Nagaland

Two Sides of a Coin: Law Enforcement And internal Security

The response of the law enforcement agency in contrast to the internal security mechanisms are different. Now when it comes to law enforcement, the response has always been conventional, defensive, reactive, episodic and ad hoc. In contrast to that, the response of internal security which must deal with the matrix of security, embracing almost every aspect of human life (social, political, cultural, military) is slightly different. Because in dealing with such kind of threats law enforcement agencies must be capable of dealing with threats that are unknown, uncertain, unheard, unpredictable, and unprecedented. The mechanism of such a response cannot be conventional and defensive. It has to be proactive, creative, intuitive, anticipative, and should be based on the mechanism of aggressively acquiring intelligence.