SECURING
THE FUTURE
Together is the Only Option
09/26/05
On
Monday, in his annual
speech at the national conference of the International
Association of Chiefs of Police, Director Mueller
posed a series of urgent questions to the several
thousand police chiefs, sheriffs, and law enforcement
executives gathered in Miami.
"As
the world grows more interconnected and more dangerous,
how do we respond effectively? How do we combat
criminals and terrorists who are operating without
borders or boundaries? How do we anticipate and
stay ahead of changing threats?," he asked.
In other words, how do we do our jobs?
The
answer, the Director said, comes down to one word:
partnerships.
Why?
The purely "local" crime handled by a
single agency within a single jurisdiction is fast
disappearing. In today's world, high tech hackers
can strike from anywhere on the planet without warning...global
terrorists can plan an attack in one country, finance
it in another, and unleash it in a third...organized
crime rings can ship and sell stolen and counterfeit
goods across continents. Even violent street gangs
have national and international connections.
Which
is why, instead of updating the law enforcement
executives on what the FBI is doing to help them--through
initiatives like LEO,
IAFIS,
and CODIS--the
Director focused on how they and their agencies
are helping the FBI.
Just
two examples the Director cited in his speech:
