WJXT TV News-Jacksonville
Jacksonville, Fla. -- The U.S. Attorney’s office recognized the Clay County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday for their efforts in uncovering important information from hundreds of Iraqis.
According to the FBI, where men and women fought in Ira, some of the targets they locked in on, and the location of key Iraqi buildings were collected by departments like the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office helped interview natives of Iraq who are now living in North Florida.
“There is a heavy, Middle Eastern, Arab population, certainly when you have that number of people, we are certainly worried that there may be information they may want to provide to the government,” FBI agent Bill Falls told Channel 4’s Jennifer Waugh.
These interviews provided possible descriptions of Saddam Hussein’s entourage.
“It’s this whole picture of everybody working together to gain intelligence, share intelligence, and do analysis of that intelligence,” Clay County Sheriff Scott Lancaster said.
Lancaster said his deputies work with a variety of agencies including the FBI, US. Marshall’s Office, Secret Service, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Those honoring the department said Clay County’s work with bigger law enforcement groups is what brings many crime fighting efforts together.
“It’s where the rubber meets the road. Local law enforcement agencies are actually the ones that are interacting with the citizens every day,” U.S. attorney Paul Perez said.