Thank
you. It is good to be here among friends. The friendship between
the FBI and the International Association of Chiefs of Police
goes back more than 75 years. You may not be aware, but J. Edgar
Hoover's first speech, after becoming Director of the FBI, was
to the IACP. As I stand here today, I cannot help but think that
the FBI's first director would hardly recognize today's Bureau.
We have changed so much over the last 95 years of our existence.
And perhaps the most important of these changes has been in the
evolution of our relationship with state and local law enforcement.
Today,
I want to discuss with you several of our joint achievements
over the last couple of years. And I also want to look at how
the FBI continues to change to better work with you, and with
our other partners in law enforcement.
By working
together over the last two years, we have identified, disrupted
and neutralized hundreds of terrorist threats. We have broken
up terrorist cells from Buffalo to Bali, from Seattle to Singapore,
and from Tampa to Thailand.
We have
deprived al Qaeda of its sanctuary in Afghanistan -- a huge
loss to al Qaeda. Together, law enforcement and the intelligence
communities have detained thousands of al Qaeda operatives.
More than two-thirds of its senior leadership have either been
killed or captured. We have conducted over 70 investigations
into terrorist money trails, and frozen more than 125 million
dollars in assets. Because of our efforts al Qaeda has been
disrupted and diminished, and there is greater security in the
United States. And when I speak of our efforts, I mean the efforts
of all of us in law enforcement.
But the
war is not over. Terrorist groups continue to evolve and threaten
us in new ways. While America has not seen another attack, overseas
it is another story. Repeated terrorist attacks around the world
have been stark reminders of the deadly threat posed by those
with the desire and the ability to kill Americans.
Although
we have made progress, terrorism is still present in the United
States. Not one of our 56 field offices has gone without a threat.
Al Qaeda is working hard to recruit new members and continuing
to plot attacks on American targets at home and abroad.
In our
lifetimes, the world has changed dramatically. Since the end
of the Cold War, borders between countries have opened. People
and goods move freely from place to place. Technology has made
communication and travel much faster.
As the
world has changed, so have the threats. Nearly a century ago,
the FBI was created because crime had begun to cross county
and state lines. Today, criminal activity not only crosses state
lines, it traverses back and forth over international boundaries
at breakneck speed. And those crimes are as diverse as terrorism
and corporate fraud; identity theft and illegal weapons trade;
money laundering and the trafficking of humans.
Dangerous
asymmetrical threats have emerged. Most significant is the potential
for a terrorist organization or hostile nation to obtain weapons
of mass destruction. And certain foreign powers are working
harder than ever to penetrate our government and are targeting
our corporations. As the value of proprietary information and
new technology increases, so do the opportunity and motivation
for economic espionage. We are seeing a rise in cyber crimes
such as denial of service attacks as well as traditional crimes
that have migrated online, such as identity theft and child
pornography.
There is
a growing convergence of these threats both old and new. We
see organized crime laundering money for drug groups. Drug groups
selling weapons to terrorists. Terrorists committing white-collar
frauds to raise money for their operations.
An example
of this occurred last year in Charlotte, North Carolina, where
Sheriff's Deputy Bob Fromme worked with ATF to uncover a cigarette
smuggling ring. Police Detective Ken DeSimone, a charter member
of the local JTTF, assisted in the joint operation, known as
"Smokescreen." Working closely with the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police, the task force linked the cigarette smugglers to a terrorist
cell. Its members were found guilty of visa fraud, and guilty
of financial crimes committed to raise money for Hizbollah in
Lebanon.
We face
an increasingly complex criminal landscape. Experts say that
with globalization, the role of nation/states is diminishing
along with their ability to effectively respond to criminal
conduct. To confront this dangerous new landscape, law enforcement
must change.
We in the
FBI are changing to meet these new threats. For starters, we
have shifted our mission and our priorities to protect Americans
by preventing attacks -- both terrorist and criminal. Immediately
following 9/11, our top three operational priorities became
counterterrorism, counterintelligence and cyber security.
To effectively
confront these new threats, the FBI began to use its resources
strategically. We focused on areas where we brought something
special to the table. For example, the FBI has a unique jurisdiction
in both public corruption and civil rights. Therefore these
remained high priorities. We also continue to have a role in
attacking organized crime, white collar crime and significant
violent crime.
To meet
the challenges of the future, the law enforcement community
must become more international. We must continue to expand our
capability to address crimes that cross borders. Our 46 Legal
Attaché offices, or "Legats," in countries around the world
provide the network for this international cooperation. Through
them, the FBI shares information with our international law
enforcement and intelligence partners, and assists our international
counterparts in investigations. The Legats are vital to the
FBI's counterterrorism efforts and to addressing international
crime.
The number
of cases with an international nexus is growing. As an example,
we recently had a homicide case in Kirkland, Washington. The
local police had a suspect and blood evidence, but no body.
They needed to obtain DNA from the victim's parents to make
their case. Because the parents lived in Indonesia, the detective
contacted our Seattle office for help. They, in turn, contacted
the FBI Legat in Singapore who, through the Indonesian police,
arranged a meeting with the victim's parents. The DNA from the
parents confirmed the killer. As a result of this collaboration,
justice was served. Kim Mason was convicted of Aggravated Murder
in the 1st Degree.
We see
a growing sense of international cooperation. While in the Middle
East, during meetings with heads of state, law enforcement and
intelligence agencies, all assured me of their commitment to
working together to fight both terrorism and international crime.
The visible devastation from terrorist attacks in Riyadh and
Morocco helped all of us recognize that we could no longer wait
to meet at crime scenes. Our relationships must be closer and
our cooperation stronger before attacks can be launched.
We are
making progress. Last May, after nine Americans lost their lives
in the bombing in Riyadh, the Saudi government allowed the FBI
to send a large forensic team to assist in their investigation.
There was unprecedented cooperation. One reason was that the
FBI had trained more than 100 Saudi police in the National Academy.
We were using the same methods of evidence collection and the
same terminology. As they told us, "We were taught together,
now we can work together."
And at
the end of the day, as we look at this changed world, it does
not matter whether we prosecute a case in the U.S. courts or
help the Saudis prosecute their own case in their own country.
What matters is that justice is served, and we are one step
closer to defeating terrorism.
At home,
we needed to build bridges. Since 9/11, we have been working
to strengthen our partnerships at all levels.
The men
and women of the FBI and the IACP have helped each other in
countless investigations. This year, two members of local law
enforcement - one a police officer and one a deputy sheriff
- helped take two fugitives from justice off our "Top Ten" most
wanted list.
For five
years, Eric Rudolph evaded the FBI. You found him. Murphy N.
Carolina Police Officer Jeffrey Postell, on the job at 3:30
in the morning, spotted Rudolph rummaging through a dumpster
and made the arrest.
In Arkansas,
Searcy County Deputy Sheriff Lang Holland stopped murder suspect
James Singleton for driving without a license plate. Deputy
Holland found a shotgun in the trunk of the car. And after a
year on the run, Singleton was arrested. Our Lab was able to
match his fingerprints, and now Singleton is facing capitol
murder charges for the brutal murder of his adopted parents
in Dallas.
I ask that
we honor both of these officers for the work they did. Our thanks
to Deputy Holland and Officer Postell.
And we
are continuing to work together in the fight against terrorism.
We have expanded the local Joint Terrorism Task Forces from
35 to 84. We understand that you are the eyes and ears in communities
across the country -- make that countries across the world.
Your officers are the front line against an enemy who can hide
in any one of our communities -- or in any one of our countries.
We continue
to strengthen relationships between the FBI and the law enforcement
community. Our new Office of Law Enforcement Coordination, headed
up by Louis Quijas, has helped open the lines of communication,
and we have heard what you have said.
You said
you needed more security clearances for your JTTF members. Our
Security Division created a unit entirely dedicated to processing
clearances for law enforcement executives and JTTF members.
Since 9/11, over 2000 chiefs and sheriffs have received their
requested clearances. Over 1200 officers have received top secret
clearances.
You have
asked that the training we provide be up-to-date. The Training
Division at Quantico is working to ensure that our training
remains cutting edge and appropriate to your needs. We have
working groups, on which many of you now serve, that are advising
us so that we can continue to improve the National Academy,
NEI and LEEDs.
You have
asked to hear updates from us before you see them in the media.
We are working with the Department of Homeland Security on the
next phase of the Alert Notification System. It will be available
to thousands of JTTF members across the country. Before long,
you will get pop-up messages on computers - like instant messaging,
but in a secure environment. It will also reach your cell phones
or pagers.
You said
you need better information. We all understand the importance
of intelligence. We are working to prioritize what we disseminate
and make sure it is information you can act upon.
For that,
we set up the Office of Intelligence. Over the years, America
built an intelligence capability perfect for a world of nation/states
and for winning the Cold War. Now the world is changed.
Critical
to preventing future terrorist attacks is improving our intelligence
capability. We have increased the number of analysts working
to produce a better intelligence product, and we are sharing
it more effectively with our partners.
I also
would like to recognize the IACP for your hard work in spearheading
the National Intelligence Sharing Project to improve the capacity
of local law enforcement. The plan will serve as a blueprint
as we continue to develop our overall national strategy for
sharing information.
We have
begun to analyze not only what we are collecting, but what we
should be collecting. This will allow us to identify existing
gaps and determine how they can be closed.
Success
requires that we use the intelligence we have gathered effectively.
In prosecuting La Cosa Nostra, together we developed sophisticated
intelligence- gathering abilities, using informants and surveillance
techniques. These are the same methods used to collect intelligence
on terrorists. And we have the law enforcement options to act
on that information. We no longer work intelligence as a case,
we work intelligence into every case. Intelligence is key to
our future success in the war against terrorism.
Finally,
to improve our capabilities, we must continue to develop our
technology. New combined databases and analytical tools are
helping us draw patterns and connections from a sea of data
in ways we could not prior to September 11.
The tremendous
changes which have resulted from the war on terrorism lead us
to ask the question, where will we be in five years? Although
it is impossible to state with certainty, what is clear is that
the trends toward globalization and international cooperation
will continue.
The time
when a police department or a sheriff's office or the FBI can
act on its own is gone. We must rely on each other for what
each brings to the table, whether that be manpower, technology,
or expertise. The future will require law enforcement to work
together with seamless coordination.
When former
Director Hoover made his first speech in 1925, he said that
any effort to successfully combat modern crime must be "founded
on the rock of universal cooperation." That is even more true
today than it was back in 1925. We are exceptionally proud to
work with you as partners in making America and the world a
safer place in which to live.
Thank you,
and God bless you.