Justice Department eyes domestic spy role for local police

The proposed rule change was first set out for public comment on July 31, and drew little attention:

As law enforcement agencies, including local and state units, watch for signs of terrorist activity, they could target groups as well as individuals, and begin criminal intelligence investigations "based on the suspicion that a target is engaged in terrorism or providing material support to terrorists." And they could spread around the law enforcement world the fruits of the investigation.

In short, it would move local police forces into the realm of intelligence-gathering that had been the work of the FBI and other federal agencies.

The proposed shift was noticed by the Washington Post, which reported Saturday that the Justice Department's proposal "would make it easier for state and local police to collect intelligence about Americans, share the sensitive data with federal agencies and retain it for at least 10 years."

The newspaper noted that the administration was in the process of revising domestic intelligence-gathering in its waning months in office, and would lock in policies for President Bush's successor, completing the greatest expansion of executive branch authority since the Watergate era.

Jim McMahon, deputy executive director of the International Assn. of Chiefs of Police, was quoted by the Post as saying the changes would "catch up with reality," updating rules from the early 1990s to the post-9/11 world.

He said police agencies would still have to demonstrate a "reasonable suspicion" that a target was involved in a crime before collecting intelligence, the paper said.

But, it noted, Michael German, policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union and a 16-year veteran of the FBI, said police agencies could misunderstand it as allowing them to collect intelligence "even when no underlying crime is suspected."

He cited as an example an investigation into a charitable donation to a group later designated as a terrorist organization.

It risks turning police officers into "spies on behalf of the federal government," he said.

-- James Gerstenzang

Photo: Matthew Cavanaugh / EPA

Comments

[J Reece]

Oooh, I'm so frightened! The federal gummint might ask local cops to spy on a few foreign extremists discussing another 9/11. Oh, the horror, the horror! On the other hand, the IRS has been employing local bankers and brokers to spy on the financial transactions of every single US citizen since the Roosevelt administration, just to make sure you don't claim Fido as a dependent. So what's the fuss?

[edward]

Here we go into a police state, only out in the open. We will be forced to suffer at the hands of idiots, I know cops and their not all that bright. All that aside, it is all UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

[John Locke]

Good to see Soviet ideals alive and kicking again after the Cold War. So just to recall Justice Dept- Soviet style torture is not torture, its robust interrogation. Domestic spying is for our own protection from ourselves and in no way will it ever be abused. Only devout party loyalists are qualified for Justice Dept career positions. The president has limitless power during a time of (indefinite) war, he and everyone that worked for him are immune to any questioning let alone prosecution for alleged wrongdoing in the course of their work.

Sweet land of liberty.

[Edwin L. Jones]

The FBI has been spying on US citizens since the agency was created. Remember the thousands Hoover spyed on? So what else is new?

Over the last 18 years, the government has treated me like Steven Hatfill of the Anthrax case only much worse. At least his case was properly adjudicated, was cleared and received money. I was also arrested and detained without probable cause based on charges procurred by prejured "testimony". This so-called testimony was collectively know to police, prosecutor, and judge to be false before my arrest and 5 month incarceration. During that incarceration, police invaded my home several times creating several crime scenes reminicent of how evidence was planted in OJ Simpsons' case. In Addition, not one piece of discovery was in affidavit form as required by State and Federal law. NOT ONE PIECE. That includes the Affidavit for Probable Cause, Search Warrant Affidavit, and witness statements.

To silience my voice, I was systematically separated from family and friends, and somehow all forms of media were prevented from covering my story. I am followed everywhere, my phone conversations and mail are tapped and censured. There is also an ongoing attempt to injure me in person and reputation. The FBI does more than just "spy".

[Zeon]

It's good to see the Soviet Union alive and well in the U.S.A. We've got it all: Torture, a war in Afghanistan that we can't win, an economy that's living on borrowed time and now domestic spying by some of the most incompetent organizations in the country, your local police force.

[August]

One mistake on their part could get YOU KILLED.

[Sludge]

Here we have Edward, giving his little opinion, saying he knows cops and "their not all that bright." Hey Ed, if you're going to talk about how certain people aren't that bright, at least know the difference between their, they're and there, ok?