Agents would be allowed to conduct physical surveillance in a public location, recruit and deploy informants, and conduct interviews without identifying themselves. Civil libertarians are worried.
- The Justice Department is finalizing rules that would allow FBI agents to solicit informants and use other new techniques to bolster the agency's intelligence-gathering operation in the United States, officials said Friday.
The changes would expand rules the department enacted after the Sept. 11 attacks that permitted the FBI to conduct "assessments" of threats of terrorism and espionage even in instances where little or no proof existed of criminal activity. ouch
If a tipster claims that a patron is dealing drugs, the guidelines for criminal investigations allow agents to conduct more intrusive preliminary interviews and take other action.
If the tipster claims the patron is raising money for a suspected terrorist group, an obvious national security concern, the alternative guidelines limit investigators to the more public methods, absent more evidence.The bureau has been criticized for how it has used some of the new powers it was granted after 9/11.
Justice officials said investigations would not be opened based solely on a person's race or religion.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld … 6825.story
- The Justice Department is finalizing rules that would allow FBI agents to solicit informants and use other new techniques to bolster the agency's intelligence-gathering operation in the United States, officials said Friday.
The changes would expand rules the department enacted after the Sept. 11 attacks that permitted the FBI to conduct "assessments" of threats of terrorism and espionage even in instances where little or no proof existed of criminal activity. ouch
If a tipster claims that a patron is dealing drugs, the guidelines for criminal investigations allow agents to conduct more intrusive preliminary interviews and take other action.
If the tipster claims the patron is raising money for a suspected terrorist group, an obvious national security concern, the alternative guidelines limit investigators to the more public methods, absent more evidence.The bureau has been criticized for how it has used some of the new powers it was granted after 9/11.
Justice officials said investigations would not be opened based solely on a person's race or religion.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld … 6825.story