Policing Aviation: Keeping the Peace Intelligence-Fed Security!

This article discusses the development of Intelligence-Led Policing as applied to the ‘policing’ of transport systems. It explores the adaption of ILP, particularly when justified as a mechanism to keep air travelers secure by minimizing the risk of terrorism. The focus is on lessons learnt from aviation, the systems and processes, that have been argued to minimize the reoccurrence of such events: ‘Intelligence-Fed-Security.’ The scope covers the United Kingdom and the European Union, with wider discussions given to the implications of the United States approaches, particularly after 9/11. Various governance structures are considered so as to provide contextualization. The methodology is predominately by way of a historical-socio-legal approach.

Finding are: that intelligence gathering via the transmission of aviation passenger data, runs the risk of returning to past inefficient practices that breach human rights, and, at the same time, are not viewed as an effective mechanism to keep the peace and prevent terrorist attacks.