Coakley vows to keep pushing on security measures for US

While Congress has enacted some of the suggestions in the 9/11 Commission report, which outlined steps to improve security after the 2001 terrorist attacks, “I believe more work needs to be done to keep America safe,’’ Coakley said in a nine-page white paper on homeland security issued yesterday by her campaign.

Coakley said her experience as Middlesex district attorney and the state’s attorney general have given her a “first-hand understanding of the tools members of law enforcement need to keep Massachusetts and our nation safe.’’

While pushing for stepped-up security, Coakley said she would protect civil liberties.

“We must resist security measures that only appear to advance public safety aims, but, in actuality, lack the capability of keeping us safe,’’ she said. “We must balance keeping America safe with protecting individual civil rights and liberties.’’

Coakley outlined her security priorities yesterday as she picked up several law enforcement endorsements, including nods from the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association and the Massachusetts Coalition of Police.

Coakley faces three opponents in the Democratic primary on Dec. 8: City Year cofounder Alan Khazei, Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca, and US Representative Michael E. Capuano. State Senator Scott Brown of Wrentham is vying with Jack E. Robinson for the Republican nomination. The special election is Jan. 19.

Brown, trying to draw attention amid the competitive Democratic race, blasted Coakley’s plan. “I’m shocked that Martha Coakley would issue a white paper on national security and fail to mention the necessity of winning the war in Afghanistan, preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and the need for a vigorous system of missile defense to protect ourselves and allies from a catastrophic attack,’’ he said in a statement.

Noting that Kennedy was a strong advocate for men and women in uniform, Coakley also promised in the plan to protect American troops, both while they are deployed and when they return home. She said she would lead the fight to ensure that more Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan to protect troops from roadside bombs.

She promised to work, too, to ensure that troops who have returned home are provided with transition counseling, are able to get their benefits, and see that their families are able to stay in their homes.