CRJS499IP2 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

CRJS499IP2 - Research Paper Example The spirit of the act is founded on the notion of providing all that is required by law enforcement, within the limits of the constitution, to effectively combat the war on terror (Doyle, 2002). The main purpose of the Patriot Act is to punish and prevent terrorist acts within the United States and in the world. The Act also enhances the investigatory powers of law enforcement and accomplishes other purposes which include strengthening of the country’s measures in the detection, prevention and prosecution of international money laundering and financial terrorism schemes. The act gives law enforcement power to scrutinize foreign institutions, jurisdictions and classes of transactions or accounts that are vulnerable to abuse. It also strengthens measures aimed at preventing the use of the country’s financial systems for personal gain through corruption by foreign officials as well as facilitating the repatriation of stolen assets to the owners of such assets. Additionally, the act requires all financial service providers to report all elements of probable money laundering activities (Jaeger, Bertot, & McClure, 2003). The Patriot Act made several changes to the laws that existed prior to its enactment. Some of the legislations that were affected by the Patriot Act include the Electronic Communication Privacy Act, the Money Laundering Control Act, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Bank secrecy Act. The changes introduced to allow investigators to make use of already existing tools to investigate drug trafficking and organized crime, especially through the use of surveillance and conducting investigations without alerting terrorists (Doyle, 2002). The act facilitates the sharing of information and increase cooperation between government agencies in order to operate effectively in solving cases. The act also updated the existing laws to reflect new threats and technologies as well as