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.
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