give the FBI the tools they need to catch the bad guys and prosecute them for violating our trust and any crimes they commit
On Jun 15, 9:27 am, Jonathan Ashley <[email protected]> wrote: > *FBI Expands Agents� Investigative Power * > > The New York Times > First published Jun 12 2011 07:40PM > Updated Jun 12, 2011 11:28PM > > Washington � The Federal Bureau of Investigation is giving significant > new powers to its roughly 14,000 agents � allowing them more leeway to > search databases, go through household trash or use surveillance teams > to scrutinize the lives of people who have attracted their attention. > > The FBI soon plans to issue a new edition of its manual, called the > Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide, according to an official > who has worked on the draft document and several others who have been > briefed on its contents. The new rules add to several measures taken > over the past decade to give agents more latitude as they search for > signs of criminal or terrorist activity. > > The FBI recently briefed several privacy advocates about the coming > changes. Among them, Michael German, a former FBI agent who is now a > lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, argued it was unwise to > further ease restrictions on agents� power to use potentially intrusive > techniques, especially if they lacked a firm reason to suspect someone > of wrongdoing. > > "Claiming additional authorities to investigate people only further > raises the potential for abuse," German said, pointing to complaints > about the bureau�s surveillance of domestic political advocacy groups > and mosques and to an inspector general�s findings in 2007 that the FBI > had improperly used "national security letters" to obtain information > like people�s phone bills. > > Valerie E. Caproni, the FBI general counsel, said the bureau had fixed > the problems with the national security letters and had taken steps to > make sure they would not recur. She also said the bureau � which does > not need permission to alter its manual so long as the rules fit within > broad guidelines issued by the attorney general � had carefully weighed > the risks and the benefits of each change. > > Some of the most notable changes apply to the lowest category of > investigations, called an "assessment." The category, created in > December 2008, allows agents to look into people and organizations > "proactively" and without firm evidence for suspecting criminal or > terrorist activity. > > Under current rules, agents must open such an inquiry before they can > search for information about a person in a commercial or law enforcement > database. Under the new rules, agents will be allowed to search such > databases without making a record about their decision. > > http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/51992858-68/agents-fbi-search-bure... > > -- > > Freedom is always illegal! > > When we ask for freedom, we have already failed. It is only when we > declare freedom for ourselves and refuse to accept any less, that we > have any possibility of being free. -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
