http://www.hstoday.us/content/view/15660/333/
Drudge Report, Critics Imply DHS Program Promotes Citizen Spying <http://www.hstoday.us/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=15660> PDF <http://www.hstoday.us/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15660&pop= 1&page=0&Itemid=333> Print <http://www.hstoday.us/index2.php?option=com_content&task=emailform&id=15660 &itemid=333> E-mail by Anthony L. Kimery Tuesday, 07 December 2010 The top Drudge Report headline Monday was big, bold, and seemed to alert to something ominous. Orwellian even. It stated: "Big Sis Invades Wal-Mart: 'If You See Something, Say Something.'" But the story that followed the Drudge Report headline was a regurgitation of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) announcement that Secretary Janet Napolitano had announced the expansion of DHS's national "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign to hundreds of Walmart stores across the country. Napolitano said the "launching [of this] new partnership between DHS and Walmart [will] help the American public play an active role in ensuring the safety and security of our nation." "Homeland security starts with hometown security, and each of us plays a critical role in keeping our country and communities safe," Napolitano said, adding, "I applaud Walmart for joining the 'If You See Something, Say Something' campaign. This partnership will help millions of shoppers across the nation identify and report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats to law enforcement authorities." The "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign - originally implemented by New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and funded, in part, by $13 million from DHS' Transit Security Grant Program - is a simple and effective program to engage the public and key frontline employees to identify and report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats to the proper transportation and law enforcement authorities. A DHS "If You See Something, Say Something" message also can regularly be heard throughout Washington, DC's Metro system, followed by another message by DC Metro transit police that provides riders with a telephone number to call to report suspicious activity. Over the past five months, DHS has worked with its federal, state, local and private sector partners, as well as the Department of Justice, to expand the "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign and Nationwide SAR Initiative to communities throughout the country "to help America's businesses, communities and citizens remain vigilant and play an active role in keeping the county safe." Tuesday, DHS announced that in partnership with the Federal Protective Service (FPS) the 'If You See Something, Say Something' campaign has been expanded to approximately 9,000 federal buildings throughout the nation. Earlier, DHS, in partnership with Mall of America and the state of Minnesota, applauded the expansion of the "If You See Something, Say Something" public awareness campaign throughout Minnesota to include Mall of America as well as other public venues across the state. "Homeland security begins with hometown security, and every citizen plays an important role in ensuring America's safety," Napolitano said. "The 'If You See Something, Say Something' campaign will provide the citizens of Minnesota and the many shoppers and visitors to Mall of America with the tools to identify and report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats to the proper law enforcement authorities." Counterterrorism and law enforcement authorities said there's nothing ominous at all about the 'If You See Something, Say Something' campaign, noting that more than 80 percent of foiled terrorist plots between 1999 and 2009 resulted from observations by citizens or law enforcement officials, or from law enforcement investigations, according to a new report, Building on Clues: Examining Successes and Failures in Detecting US Terrorist Plots, 1999-2009, from the Institute for Homeland Security Solutions (IHSS). The report reviewed open-source information on 86 foiled and successful terrorist plots against US targets from 1999 to 2009. "Since 2001, the Intelligence Community has sought better ways to detect and prevent domestic terrorist plots, said Kevin Strom, senior research scientist and the report's lead author. "What this report reveals is the vital role played by citizens as well as state and local US law enforcement agencies in uncovering such planned attacks." As HSToday.us previously reported, years ago, Robert David Steele, a noted veteran intelligence officer, had told it that "fifty percent of the 'dots' that prevent the next 9/11 will come from bottom-up [local] level observation" and unconventional intelligence from "private sector parties." Since 9/11, DHS and law enforcement in the Washington, DC capital region have actively urged citizens to report "suspicious activity." Mobile electronic signs urging people to report suspicious activity are routinely placed at strategic locations throughout the metro area. Similarly, in Canada law enforcement authorities increasingly are training for spotting potentially suspicious activity and behavior that may indicate terrorists are conducting surveillance or other goings-on in preparation for targeting a specific structure or location for attack. The Oklahoma City-based Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT) has even developed a training program for law enforcement the goal of which is to improve the quantity and detail of observation and reporting of suspicious activity by street cops. As MIPT Executive Director David Cid previously noted in an HSToday.us "Best Practices" department report, the program helped stop an individual making and selling homemade bombs in Oklahoma City. MIPT has pointed out that the IHSS report reinforces the value of MIPT's law enforcement training program and its belief that officers are the first line of defense against terrorism. "This report is an incredible validation of the work MIPT has been doing since 2007," said MIPT Executive Director David Cid. A former FBI counterterrorism specialist, Cid noted that "our training is right on point with what the line officer needs and we stand ready to deliver that training." MIPT's Information Collection on Patrol (InCOP) course improves the quantity and quality of reporting by the line officer, a methodology that is supported by the recent IHSS report that examined open-source material on 86 foiled and executed plots against US targets over a ten year period to determine the types of information and activities that led to or could have led to their discovery. 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