FC: USA PATRIOT opens CIA, NSA, intelligence databases to police

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

One relevant excerpt:
>         The Executive Office of United States Attorneys is undertaking a 
> review of all law enforcement and intelligence databases in order to 
> identify those that should be made available to each of the districts.

---


Directives from Attorney General Ashcroft's speech before EOUSA's 
Anti-Terrorism Coordinators Conference


November 13, 2001



MEMORANDUM TO ALL UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS

FROM:   THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

SUBJECT:        Cooperation with State and Local Officials in the Fight 
Against Terrorism


        The September 11 attacks demonstrate that the war on 
terrorism  must be fought and won at home as well as abroad.  To meet this 
new threat and to prevent future attacks, law enforcement officials at all 
levels of government -- federal, state, and local -- must work together, 
sharing information and resources needed both to arrest and prosecute the 
individuals responsible and to detect and destroy terrorist cells before 
they can strike again.

         On October 26, 2001, the President signed into law the USA 
PATRIOT Act of 2001.  A key feature of this anti-terrorism legislation is 
its provisions requiring increased sharing of information among law 
enforcement and national security personnel at all levels of 
government.  These measures, proposed by the President, are critical to the 
common effort to prevent and disrupt terrorist acts.  To win the war on 
terrorism, federal prosecutors and law enforcement personnel must develop 
and implement effective procedures for information-sharing and cooperation 
with their state and local counterparts.  I therefore direct you to take 
prompt action in three major areas:

        1.  Designation of Chief Information Officer.  To centralize the 
process by which information relevant to the investigation and prosecution 
of terrorists can be shared with state and local officials,  I hereby 
direct you to designate a Chief Information Officer (CIO) to participate on 
the Anti-Terrorism Task Force (ATTF) in your district.  The CIO shall 
coordinate with the relevant Law Enforcement Coordination Committee (LECC) 
to ensure that the LECC acts as a formal conduit of information with state 
and local officials, including elected officials and local law enforcement 
representatives.  The CIO need not be a new employee and may be your LECC 
coordinator if he or she already has strong ties to state and local 
officials in your district.  Where information is provided by state and 
local officials to federal officials, the CIO should make every effort to 
apprise the state and local individual or agency of any follow-up action 
prompted by the information provided.  I further direct the CIO to assist 
in making state and local officials aware of the various counter-terrorism 
training resources available through the Department of Justice.

        2.  Information Sharing Structures.  To streamline the procedures 
for information sharing between federal, state, and local officials in a 
manner tailored to the needs of each district, I hereby direct the CIO in 
your district to solicit from state and local officials suggestions on the 
best way to disseminate information in your district.  After considering 
those suggestions, the CIO, through the LECC, will establish, by December 
1, 2001, communications protocols for sharing information with state and 
local officials on the ATTF, as well as with chiefs of police and elected 
officials who may not be members of the ATTF in their district.  At a 
minimum the protocol in each district must include a system to communicate 
information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  I also urge you to consider 
including in your protocols daily or weekly conference calls with members 
of the LECC, the ATTF, and with chiefs of police and elected officials who 
may not be members of these committees.

        The protocols established pursuant to this directive will not only 
provide a mechanism for federal officials to share information with their 
state and local counterparts, but also must include procedures by which 
state and local officials can forward information to federal officials.

        In fulfilling this directive, I further direct you to use, where 
practicable,  technologies already  available and currently in use by the 
Department to facilitate information-sharing, such as the Regional 
Information Sharing System (RISS).  The RISS system comprises six regional 
intelligence centers operating in various geographic regions, including all 
50 states and the District of Columbia.  The RISS system has created 
riss.net, the only secure internet-based national network for sharing of 
criminal intelligence among federal, state, and local law enforcement 
agencies.  RISS also operates secure WATS/patch and telephone 
communications for one-on-one contact with RISS.  RISS databases can 
provide criminal intelligence information and referral contacts for 
information exchange with other member agencies.

        The Executive Office of United States Attorneys is undertaking a 
review of all law enforcement and intelligence databases in order to 
identify those that should be made available to each of the districts.

        Information must be appropriately analyzed before it can be used 
to its full potential.  The proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2003 already 
requests funding for 93 analysts .   I hereby direct you to ensure that 
these analysts have access to the most recent and reliable information 
available through coordination with the designated CIO and your LECC.  All 
analysts must use the communications structures established pursuant to 
this Directive to facilitate their efforts in investigating and preventing 
terrorist acts.  The analysts will act as a conduit of information from 
federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies to local law 
enforcement.  For example, the information gathered through the interviews 
regarding international terrorism would be processed and then disseminated 
by the analyst.

        By working closely with state and local officials to strengthen 
and streamline our procedures for information sharing and analysis, we will 
make great strides towards preventing future terrorist acts and punishing 
those responsible for the September 11 attacks.  I thank you for your 
efforts in this ongoing fight to protect freedom through law and to deliver 
to the American people freedom from fear.



November 13, 2001



MEMORANDUM TO THE ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR THE OFFICE OF  JUSTICE 
PROGRAMS, THE DIRECTORS OF THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING 
SERVICES AND THE OFFICE OF INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, AND ALL UNITED STATES 
ATTORNEYS

FROM:   THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

SUBJECT:        Training in Counter-Terrorism: Federal, State, and Local 
Coordination


        The Department is currently engaged in a multi-front effort both 
to prevent future terrorist attacks and to investigate the horrific acts of 
terror that occurred on September 11.   As we implement new tools for 
fighting terrorism in the recently enacted USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 and 
continue our investigation, we must ensure that federal, state, and local 
law enforcement are properly trained to mobilize all available resources 
and deploy all appropriate weapons to win this war.

         The need for training encompasses all issues involved in 
combating terrorism -  from gathering information to formulating the "first 
response"; from identifying valuable intelligence information to sharing 
it; from countering traditional explosives threats to responding to threats 
of biological, chemical, and other weapons of mass destruction.  Although 
our overriding goal is to prevent any further terrorist activity, we also 
must be ready at all levels to respond to any attacks in the safest and 
most efficient fashion.  Training must be made available to all who are on 
the front lines of this war, including police officers, firefighters, and 
other "first responders," as well as prosecutors and elected officials.

        I have previously directed that guidance on the implementation of 
the USA PATRIOT Act, including the sharing of information with the 
intelligence community, be incorporated into the training of all 
Anti-Terrorism Coordinators within the U.S. Attorneys' Offices.  The first 
national training session of Anti-Terrorism Coordinators will occur 
November 13-15, 2001.  This training will supplement the training already 
being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with its Joint 
Terrorism Task Forces.  The materials from the training session occurring 
on November 13-15 and existing FBI counter-terrorism training should be 
made more readily available to these task forces.  Where appropriate, U.S. 
Attorneys' facilities should be made available to their FBI counterparts to 
ensure that such training is more accessible to local law enforcement.

        I hereby direct that, by January 15, 2001, training similar to 
that of the Anti-Terrorism Coordinators be made available to local law 
enforcement participants in the Anti-Terrorism Task Forces either at the 
National Advocacy Training Center in Columbia, South Carolina, or through 
remote training at the 94 United States Attorneys' offices.  Each district 
should determine whether chiefs of police or other local law enforcement 
officers should also receive such training.

        As the President has made clear, the war on terror must be waged 
on all fronts, by all hands, and using every available weapon.  The federal 
government will not fight this reign of terror alone.  Every American must 
help us defend our nation against this common enemy.  Every state, every 
county, and every municipality must join together to form a common defense 
against terrorism.  I thank you for making more effective our national 
alliance against terror.





-------------------------------------------------------------------------
POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list
You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice.
Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/
To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html
This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------