Thread: INTERDICTION PLUS INITIATIVE ANNOUNCED FOR TENNESSEE

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Breaking News

Interdiction Plus Initiative Announced For Tennessee

posted October 1, 2007

A new initiative was announced Monday involving a combined local agency approach to interdiction with direct support from federal and state agencies. United States Attorney James R. Dedrick and Commissioner of Public Safety David Mitchell, along with other local, state and federal law enforcement representatives, held a press conference to introduce the "Interdiction Plus" Initiative.

"Interdiction Plus" will initially consist of three teams located in the Eastern District of Tennessee in the Tri-Cities, Knoxville and Chattanooga regions, with future expansion plans to cover the entire state.

The mission of the Tennessee "Interdiction Plus" Initiative is to enhance regional highway interdiction operations; to disrupt and dismantle terrorist and criminal organizations operating within Tennessee; and, to preserve citizen safety on Tennessee Highways through effective traffic and commercial vehicle enforcement, officials said.

Targets will include foreign and domestic terrorism; foreign and domestic drug trafficking organizations; kidnapping/bank robbery/carjacking/Amber Alerts/interstate theft; detection and enforcement of firearms and explosives; human trafficking/immigration violations; fraudulent documents/counterfeit money and documents; enforcement of state law violations and highway enforcement; and, fugitive apprehension.

"Interdiction Plus" will focus on vehicles, including commercial vehicles, traveling interstates, U.S. highways and state highways. Law enforcement agencies will provide a 24/7 response to investigate criminal activity discovered by the interdiction stops, with full investigative support provided when federal or state interests are detected.

Under the leadership of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, city police departments and county sheriff's departments will form regional teams consisting of between 10-12 officers with K-9 support. The teams will work with other state and federal government agencies by directing activities toward the interdiction of all criminal activity, including drugs, currency, illegal immigrants, weapons, counterfeit documents, terrorist activity, etc. The teams will have direct coordination with state and federal intelligence data bases/systems, including the new Tennessee Fusion Center in Nashville.

United States Attorney Dedrick stated, "Interdiction Plus is an exciting new initiative which will team up the Tennessee Highway Patrol with our police and sheriff's departments to mount a protective shield for our citizens from those involved in illegal activities on our transportation routes. These professional agencies will work with our other state and federal agencies to mount an aggressive investigative response against the many forms of criminal and terrorism activities we are faced with in today's times."

Commissioner Mitchell said, “The Department of Safety and Tennessee Highway Patrol are very excited about working with our local partners in this initiative. As the commissioner of safety and director of Homeland Security, I have been very impressed with the team work and partnerships that exists in East Tennessee. The sharing of intelligence and information with the men and women who protect our citizens and enforce the laws on our roads and highways will be the key to the success of Interdiction Plus.â€

Related article:

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Tuesday, 07/24/07
State-run anti-terror centers ineffective
Congress says little data shared

By MIMI HALL
USA Today

More than 40 state-run operations set up after 9/11 to help uncover terrorist plots are proving to be a costly but largely ineffective weapon against terrorism, according to congressional investigators.

Homeland Security has given states $380 million to set up the high-tech centers designed to help law enforcement officials do what they were not able to do before Sept. 11, 2001: recognize suspicious activity, patterns and people and use the information to prevent terrorist attacks.


However, the centers "have increasingly gravitated toward an all-crimes and even broader all-hazards approach," focusing on traditional criminals and local emergencies, according to a July 6 report by the Congressional Research Service.

Built with state and federal homeland security money, the "fusion centers" are designed to allow local, state and federal law enforcement and Homeland Security officers to share information with police, the FBI and other agencies, as well as with centers in other states.

Nashville has 2 centers

Nashville is home to the Tennessee Regional Information Center and the Regional Organized Crime Information Center.

Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, says federal agents are reluctant to share information with state and local police. "This is the complaint I hear whether I'm in Maine or Los Angeles," she said. She says federal agencies should be required to post officers and analysts in state fusion centers to improve the trust level.

Charlie Allen, Homeland Security's chief intelligence officer, says he'll have 35 Homeland Security analysts in centers around the country by the end of 2008.

As more fusion centers are being built and staffed, some say they're concerned that the centers are too expensive to maintain and aren't able to do enough of the counterterrorism work they were set up to do.

The Congressional Re search Service report found "little true fusion, or analysis of disparate data sources, identification of intelligence gaps and pro-active collection of intelligence" at the 42 centers now set up in 37 states.

Centers lack links

Bart Johnson, chairman of the Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council, says the centers need more computer connections among states and better links to federal databases and watch lists.

"Fusion centers make connections that might otherwise not be made — potentially leading to an arrest and stopping an unfolding terrorist plot in its tracks," says House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. "That kind of situational awareness — if we build in privacy and civil liberties protections — is exactly what we need if we're ever going to secure the homeland."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Harvey Eisenberg, who runs Maryland's Anti-terrorism Advisory Council, says paying for the state's fusion center, which costs close to
$2 million a year to operate, is a constant struggle and that the center doesn't have enough analysts.

He says officers at the center do a lot of work on "general crime." But when it comes to "putting together those dots" that might lead investigators to potential terrorists, "we need to do better at that."

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Psalm 91

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Counterterrorism centers in USA

Here are the locations of the 42 criminal intelligence fusion centers set up to help in the war on terrorism:

Ala.: Criminal Information Center, Montgomery

Alaska: Statewide Law Enforcement Information Center, Anchorage

Ariz.: Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center, Phoenix; Rocky Mountain Information Network, Phoenix

Calif.: State Terror Threat Assessment Center, Sacramento; Western States Information Network, Sacramento
Statewide Law Enforcement Information Center

Colo.: Colorado Information Analysis Center, Centennial

Conn.: Connecticut Intelligence Center, New Haven

Del.: Delaware Information Analysis Center, Dover

D.C.: Multiple Threat Alert Center, Washington; Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force, Washington

Fla.: Counter Terrorism Intelligence Center, Tallahassee

Ga.: Georgia Information Sharing and Analysis Center, Atlanta

Ill.: Statewide Terrorism & Intelligence Center, Springfield

Iowa: Iowa Fusion Center, Des Moines

Kan.: Kansas Threat Integration Center, Topeka

La.: LSP Fusion Center, Baton Rouge

Maine: Maine Intelligence Analysis Center, Augusta

Md.: Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center, Woodlawn

Mass.: Commonwealth Fusion Center, Framingham; New England State Police Information Network, Franklin.

Minn.: Minnesota Joint Analytical Center, Minneapolis

Mo.: Missouri Highway Patrol Intel Unit, Jefferson City; Mid-States Organized Crime Information Center, Springfield

Mont.: Montana All-Threat Intelligence Center, Fort Harrison

N.J.: Regional Operations Intelligence Center, West Trenton

N.Y.: Upstate New York Regional Intelligence Center, Latham; Rockland County Intelligence Center, New City

N.D.: North Dakota Fusion Center, Bismarck

Ohio: Strategic Analysis and Information Center, Columbus

Ore.: Terrorism Fusion Center, Salem

Pa.: Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center, Harrisburg; Middle Atlantic-Great Lakes Organized Crime Law Enforcement Network, Newtown

S.C.: South Carolina Fusion Center, Columbia

Tenn.: Tennessee Regional Information Center, Nashville; Regional Organized Crime Information Center, Nashville

Texas: Texas Fusion Center, Austin

Utah: Utah Criminal Intelligence Center, Salt Lake City

Vt.: Vermont Fusion Center, Williston

Va.: Virginia Fusion Center, Richmond

Wash.: Washington Joint Analytical Center, Olympia

W.Va.: West Virginia Joint Intelligence Fusion Center, St. Albans

Source: National Criminal Intelligence Resource Center
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