Firefighters A Part Of New Information Sharing Program
Dec 26, 2007 10:54 AM
Firefighters are being trained to not only keep an eye out for illegal materials in the course of their duties, but even to report back any expression of discontent with the government, reports The Raw Story (rawstory.com), a Web site that reports on news and politics.
According to a blog posted on the Web site, a year ago, Homeland security gave security clearances to nine New York City fire chiefs and began sharing intelligence with them. Even before that, fire department personnel were being taught "to identify material or behavior that may indicate terrorist activities" and were also "told to be alert for a person who is hostile, uncooperative or expressing hate or discontent with the United States."
Unlike law enforcement officials, firemen can go onto private property without a warrant, not only while fighting fires but also for inspections.
The Raw Story reports that Keith Olbermann raised the alarm about the program on his show, "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," noting that, "if the information-sharing program works in New York, the department says it will extend it to other major metropolitan areas, unless we stop them." He then asked Mike German, a former FBI agent who is now with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), "This program seems to be turning [firefighters], essentially, into legally protected domestic spies, does it not?"
"That's the entire intent," German replied, noting the serious legal issues involved. "There is actually still a fourth amendment," he pointed out, "and what makes a firefighter's search reasonable is that it's done to prevent a fire. If now firefighters are going in with this secondary purpose, that end-run around the fourth amendment won't work, and it's likely that they will find themselves in legal trouble."
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