By Joel Stashenko, The Associated Press
Albany, N.Y. (AP) -- Police officers in New York and Vermont will be the first in the nation to get nearly instant access to federal counter-terrorism information under a pilot program to be announced Tuesday.
Officers can check whether there is information about suspects on anti-terrorism databases maintained by the FBI, CIA, State Department, immigration services and other federal agencies, as well as report activities of suspected terrorists to the FBI. The information will be passed through the Upstate New York Regional Intelligence Center, located outside Albany, using data maintained by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces in New York City, Buffalo and Albany.
If a police officer has reason to believe a person might be involved in terror-related activities, state officials with security clearance will share the data with their counterparts at federal agencies in Washington. The procedure is designed to keep sensitive information from becoming public.
“When it is passed to the cop on the street, it is no longer classified (information),” said James Kallstrom, former FBI agent and top counter-terrorist adviser to New York Gov. George Pataki.
Pataki has been among state and local officials who were critical of the FBI and other federal agencies for what they felt was their unwillingness to share information with local authorities, especially in the months following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Recently, Kallstrom and Pataki have said the federal government has gotten better at sharing information about terrorist threats.
FBI Director Robert Mueller, Pataki and Vermont Gov. James Douglas planned to announce the information-sharing system Tuesday at the FBI’s Albany office, which also is responsible for Vermont.
Douglas said the new initiative should create “a seamless system for the exchange of counter-terrorism information across all levels of law enforcement.
“State or federal officials can’t be the primary decision-makers in our counter-terrorism efforts,” Douglas said in prepared remarks. “Local officials will always be first on a scene, know the area best and be able to direct resources to where they are needed.”
Kallstrom said if the New York-Vermont model works, the FBI wants to quickly expand it to the five other New England states, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.
“The fight against terrorism cannot be battled by the federal government alone,” Pataki said. “We must empower state and local police to help our federal partners detect, prevent and deter acts of terror.”