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PARTNERSHIPS
PROTECTING AMERICA
Assistant Director Louis Quijas Discusses the Importance of Federal, State, and
Local Law Enforcement Partnerships
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01/30/04
 How
do you prevent terrorist attacks on U.S. soil
in a post 9/11 world? With a shield .. made
up of agents, police, and sheriffs standing
shoulder-to-shoulder.
How
do we create such a shield?
...By
shaping national strategies and approaches in
tandem;
...By
working seamlessly at the ground level to investigate
potential threats and suspicious activities
in local communities; and
...By
fully sharing terrorist-related information
... details on everything from wanted suspects
to potential targets, from threats on communities
to terrorists' methods and operations.
On
Wednesday, Louis Quijas -- the FBI's Assistant
Director for the Office of Law Enforcement
Coordination -- sat down with the press to
talk about specifics.
Among
those specifics:
-
Standing
up Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) --
made up of local, state, and federal experts
-- in 56 FBI field offices to investigate
terrorist-related matters together;
-
Creating
Director Mueller's Law Enforcement Advisory
Group, with members representing 11 national
law enforcement organizations, to discuss
ideas and develop strategies;
-
Setting
up JTTF Executive Boards in each of the
FBI's 56 field offices; these boards keep
local and state law enforcement up-to-speed
on counterterrorism matters in their respective
districts;
-
Granting
more than 4,000 secret and top secret security
clearances to law enforcement executives
and JTTF members so they have access to
the classified information they need to
protect their communities;
-
Initiating
an Executive Fellows Program that brings
police and sheriffs into FBI Headquarters
for six months for operational work; and
-
In
concert with the Department of Homeland
Security, holding national conference calls
with state and local officials on vital
issues.
Through
these and other efforts, AD Quijas says that
the FBI has made "giant steps in getting
information out of this building [FBI Headquarters]
and into the hands of our state and local
partners."
Better
yet, terrorism is increasingly being addressed
by a single, informed community of equal partners.
Says Quijas: "Prior to 9/11, there was
the FBI. There was county policing. There
was municipal policing. After 9/11, it became
'policing.' We're all in this business together."
Related Link: Office
of Law Enforcement Coordination
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