Dec 17, 2002 3 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – The FBI could be perceived as “a kind of secret police” if allowed to continue carrying out traditional law enforcement duties while also gathering terrorism intelligence, a federal commission said in a report issued Monday. The panel suggested creating a new agency to conduct surveillance and gather intelligence. The National Counter Terrorism Center would include analysts now working for the CIA, FBI and other agencies.

“It is … important to separate the intelligence collection function from the law enforcement function to avoid the impression that the U.S. is establishing a kind of “secret police,”‘ said the commission, comprising federal, state and local officials and chaired by former Virginia Gov. James Gilmore.

Justice Department officials opposed the recommendation. Attorney General John Ashcroft “believes that the FBI is well suited to serve as the domestic intelligence and terrorism-prevention agency in the United States,” spokeswoman Barbara Comstock said.

And FBI Director Robert Mueller said in an interview last week that the FBI was “uniquely positioned” to do the job because it could both detect the threat and arrest any individuals involved.

“There has to be a mechanism for deterring those individuals,” Mueller told The Associated Press. “We have the same people who have knowledge of intelligence and knowledge of criminal activity being undertaken by these individuals.”

Gilmore said intelligence agencies still are having problems sharing information, and a new agency could help resolve those difficulties.

“The threats to the country are not diminishing,” he said. “There are still people out there who seek to do us a great deal of harm.”

The panel warned that efforts to fight terrorism must not infringe upon Americans’ civil liberties.

“If we pursue security to the point where we give up that which makes us Americans, the enemy has won,” Gilmore said.

In its fourth annual report, the commission, created after the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, made 59 recommendations, including:

– The House and Senate should each designate one committee to oversee the Homeland Security Department, and one committee, probably the intelligence panel, to oversee the National Counter Terrorism Center, if it’s created.

– The federal government should spend $1 billion a year to improve state and local health systems, including efforts to help local authorities and hospitals cope with potential bioterrorism, nuclear and chemical attacks.

– A separate independent commission should be set up to study ways of protecting ports, railroads, bridges, dams, computer networks and other infrastructure. A White House cybersecurity panel released a draft report recommending new federal mandates and voluntary efforts to improve computer security.

– The government needs to look at possible terrorist attacks directed against U.S. farms and the U.S. food supply. The panel called for information on how serious the threat is, and suggested new laboratories be set up to test for animal diseases.

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On the Net:

Commission report: http://www.rand.org

srd/terrpanel