On September 11, 2001 the United States changed as a Nation due to the horrific and terrifying events that happened on that day. People no longer felt safe and worried about another terroristic attack would happen, travelers were afraid to fly because of what had happen which Americans looked to the government to find answers to protect them. This lead to the needing of government to have increasing responsibility and to take effective measures for preserving lives of people and ensuring independence of the society which lead to the USA Patriot Act. According to Gaines, 2012, Homeland Security, this legislation was passed by the Senate on October 11, 2001 and was passed by the House on October 24, 2001. President George W. Bush signed the …show more content…
According to the Department of Justice, 2015, The USA Patriot Act, before the Patriot Act courts could permit law enforcement to conduct electronic surveillance to investigate many non- terrorism crimes such as passport fraud, mail fraud and drug crimes but after the act was passed it enabled investigators to gather information when looking into full range terrorist related crimes. The act also allows law enforcement to conduct investigations without tipping off terrorists in which if they are they could flee, destroy evidence, intimate or kill witnesses or take on another action to evade arrest. Therefore, federal courts allowed law enforcement to delay for a limited time when the subject is told that a judicially permitted search warrant has been executed but with this delay it gives law enforcement time to identify criminal associates, eliminate threats and synchronize the arrests of multiple individuals without having them knowing or have an idea the action will take place. The Patriot Act updated the law to reflect new technologies and new threats, it allows victims of computer hacking to demand law enforcement assistance in monitoring trespassers on their computers. Likewise, the act allows law enforcement to obtain a search warrant anywhere a terrorist related activity has occurred and before the act often terrorism investigations had a number of districts making police need to obtain multiple warrants in numerous jurisdictions creating avoidable delays in the investigation. Similarly, the act increased penalties for those who commit terrorist crimes at both home and abroad. The act created a new offense that forbids knowingly protecting persons who have committed or are about to commit a variety of terrorist attacks such as the use of weapon of mass destruction,