How to identify terrorists, per the WA State Patrol

DoreneFC at aol.com DoreneFC at aol.com
Sat Mar 22 19:28:10 PST 2003


WA State Patrol just issued an 8-point how to find terrorists card. The 8 points wouldn't paste.

Of course, for balance I wish they would ask the civil libertarians how to avoid having the cops find your extremist papers in the first place.... Nor do they issue disclaimers such as "just because it's in Arabic doesn't mean it's a terrorist publication.

DoreneC

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134659210_idcards22m.html

Saturday, March 22, 2003 - 12:06 a.m. Pacific

Terrorist tip sheet is issued to Patrol

By Ian Ith and Ken Armstrong

Seattle Times staff reporters

The State Patrol is providing

troopers with a tip sheet for

identifying potential terrorists, a list

that includes indicators as specific

as an altered passport and as vague

as a driver exhibiting "unusual"

behavior.

The wallet-sized training cards,

containing an eight-point test to

detect signs of possible terrorist

activity, were issued this week just

as the war with Iraq was beginning.

Patrol leaders said the cards are

simply meant to provide guidance as troopers assume new roles in

homeland security by looking out for behavior that might indicate

terrorism or terrorist ties.

"It's just a card," said Capt. Glenn Cramer of

the State Patrol. "It's not meant to be a legal

document. Just because someone has an

altered ID does not mean they're a terrorist.

All it means is the trooper needs to be more

inquisitive."

But some civil libertarians see the potential

for abuse in such indicators as the

presence of anti-government literature.

"Certainly law enforcement needs to be on

the lookout for evidence of terrorist

activities," said Doug Honig, spokesman for

the American Civil Liberties of Washington.

"But it all comes down to how intelligently it's

applied in practice. We would be very

concerned if people get targeted as terrorist

suspects based on their political views that

are critical of the government."

In compiling its indicators, the State Patrol

studied similar lists used by such other

law-enforcement agencies as the New

Mexico State Police.

Lt. Rob Shilling of the New Mexico State

Police said his agency drew up its list to

encourage officers to move beyond their

traditional duties.

"We want our officers to go beyond just

writing a traffic ticket," he said.

If a driver exhibits behavior that shows up on

the list, officers are encouraged to run the

driver's name through a criminal-information

database that would turn up any outstanding

warrants, Shilling said. Officers also pass

along whatever suspicious activity they see

to the New Mexico State Police's

counterterrorism unit, Shilling said.

In Washington, the card will be used much

the same way, Cramer said. The presence

of an indicator will mean the officer should

investigate further — but will not, by itself,

provide sufficient grounds for an otherwise

unlawful arrest or search.

"Certainly the card does not mean we are

going to search people without probable

cause or reasonable suspicion, because

we live in a democracy and we are part of

that democracy," he said.

Within the past year or two, such how-to-find terrorist lists have

popped up from small towns in Ohio to a kit distributed by the

Australian government.

That kit included a refrigerator magnet with crisis contact numbers

and a booklet asking citizens to report behavior such as unusual

videotaping or photography of official buildings.

In the United States, special classes or programs have been

created to instruct such groups as truckers, landlords and

neighborhood-watch groups on how to find a potential terrorist.

Landlords, for example, are taught to be wary of prospective

tenants with little or no rental history.

Ian Ith: 206-464-2109 or iith at seattletimes.com

Ken Armstrong: 206-464-3730 or karmstrong at seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company



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