The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - The city’s police and health departments and the FBI have agreed on rules for investigations of suspected biological warfare that will define the roles played by the agencies’ and the sharing of confidential medical information.
In Sunday editions, the New York Times reported the agencies have developed what they call the “protocol.” In it, law enforcement officials will have the lead in investigating terrorist crimes, but the investigations must be conducted jointly with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene since doctors would be the first to identify biological warfare.
The agreement was signed last month by health commissioner Thomas Freiden, police commissioner Ray Kelly, and Pasquale D’Amuro, the assistant director of the FBI’s New York office. Its first phase, training of health and law enforcement officials, begins in January.
The agreement does come with some notable compromises.
For example, law enforcement officials investigating bioterrorism will have access to medical information that is usually confidential. At the same time, in order to encourage the sick to seek medical attention, law enforcement agencies will overlook a sick person’s immigration status or minor criminal activities.
Other parts of the agreement include law enforcement agents conducting patient interviews not wearing uniforms in order to avoid potentially intimidating victims, and doctors being authorized to ask police and federal agents to leave the room while an interview is being conducted.
“Both law enforcement and the public health community have made some tough compromises on what they consider sacred ground,” said Michael A. Sheehan, the police department’s counterterrorism commissioner. “But New Yorkers will be safer and healthier for it.”