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Volume 3, 2013, NEIA Connections Volume 3 , 2013 TRANSITION IN THE FBI IN THIS ISSUE: FBI Director 1 The Bureau’s leadership, most of you know by now, is in transitional mode. After 12 years, we Quantico 2 have to say goodbye and farewell to Robert FBINEIA/MCC Conf. 2 Mueller. Director Mueller has proven to be a European Meeting 2 friend these past years to our organization despite the necessity of having to reinvent the NEIA Elections 2 Bureau’s post 911 Mission. Up until that time, National News 3 the Bureau’s mission was primarily that of the International News 11 nation’s premier investigative service. After 911, Member Updates 14 President Bush mandated or added another key responsibility prevention of terrorist attacks, Rest in Peace 15 not an easy challenge. A challenge that has Interesting News 17 been met with a number of positive results. The director during this period of national concern and congressional scrutiny also had to challenge Cybercrime Attacks 22 demands for the creation of a separate Intelligence Agency that could Humor 26 impair the Bureau’s effectiveness in achieving its mission. Despite all the burdens of executive leadership thrust upon him, he found time to attend Positive Thoughts 27 and brief our annual conference every year he was in office. On behalf of the FBI NEIA membership we thank him for his service to the nation and Contact Information 28 wish him well in his future endeavours. Conference Dates 28 Sponsors 29 President Barack Obama nominated James B. Comey, 52, in June. He will succeed Robert Mueller, who stepped down in September after 12 years heading the agency. “In the face of ever-changing threats, he has repeatedly demonstrated his commitment to defending America’s security and ideals alike,” Obama said in a written statement about Comey. The new director was the Justice Department’s No. 2 official from 2003 to 2005 under President Bush. He gained attention during a brief stint as Acting Attorney General in 2004, when he and Attorney General John Ashcroft, who was ill, rejected an effort by White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and White House counsel Alberto Gonzales to have Justice renew a program that allowed eavesdropping without court warrants of domestic phone calls and emails. With the Obama administration under fire following recent revelations about the National Security Agency’s collection of records of domestic telephone calls and online communications, that 2004 episode and Comey’s credentials of serving under a Republican president helped make him an attractive candidate for the top FBI job. The new director comes from a police family, his grandfather was Police Commissioner of Yonkers during the early fifties. While we have no official role with the Bureau, we look forward to providing whatever training/ research support is appropriate in the new administration. www.neiassociates.org NEIA CONNECTIONS • VOLUME 3, 2013 QUANTICO Va. – FBI ACADEMY We don’t have much to report about what’s happening as the fiscal crisis referred to as the “Sequester” has put personnel and programs in a series of questions that have yet to be fully explored and dealt with. It will take some time to sort out how budget cutbacks, programs merged or eliminated and attrition will impact on the relationship we have had with the Bureau over the past 38 years. JOINT CONFERENCE MAJOR CITIES CHIEFS (MCC) / FBI NATIONAL EXECUTIVE INSTITUTE ASSOCIATES (FBI NEIA) / POLICE EXECUTIVE RESEARCH FORUM (PERF) Some folks are never too busy to come up with a good idea. For instance, last May, Commissioner Chuck Ramsey of Philadelphia and president of both Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA) proposed a trifecta in terms of having a conference with PERF, MCCA and FBI NEIA. Charlie Connolly and Dick Ayres met with Darrel Stephens, MCC and Chuck Wexler, PERF regarding having PERF in our annual conference. An agreement was reached that in 2014 we would have a joint conference with each organization participating in the conference’s training, a town hall meeting and the round table discussions. Discussion was held on this concept and how various details regarding training site, allotment of time or each organization, sponsorship, etc. needed to be negotiated to achieve this objective and provide a positive training experience. The Board supported this proposal and urged Connolly and Ayres to move forward with preparations to conduct a joint training conference in 2014 with the MCC and PERF. Discussions will be continuing during this year’s IACP’s conference in October. NEIA EUROPEAN MEETING The FBI NEIA held its first European Meeting in Dungarvan, Ireland, July 7 -10, 2013, in cooperation with Mercyhurst University’s Global Intelligence Forum. The NEIA President Charlie Connolly attended this conference to show NEIA support to our international members. It was an opportunity for the Association’s international members to meet with Connolly and bring their interests and concerns to the forefront, seek representation of the NEIA Board of directors, and plan and discuss future European NEIA conferences. Obviously, the financial situation in Europe and rising conference costs is no different than that of their North American counterparts. In discussion with those present, though limited in number, some ideas, comments, and some interesting options for a future International event did surface. NEIA ELECTIONS Consistent with our bylaws, board elections takes place every two years. Bud McKinley was instrumental in preparing and monitoring the 2012 elections which brought aboard Terry Hillard and Paul Pastor. I might add that we had other outstanding candidates such as Joe Monteith, Bob Olson and Grady Judd that added prestige to the election itself. The election will be held at our next conference in 2014. It’s not too early to think about it. Hillary Clinton appears to be getting ready to run in 2016. Why shouldn’t we think about 2014? 2 NEIA CONNECTIONS • VOLUME 3, 2013 NATIONAL NEWS The outgoing head of the FBI fears another 9/11-style attack on the US, saying the fallout from the Arab Spring has bred a number of “violent extremists.” Robert Mueller, who left his post on September 4, said that he fears terrorists will target planes, or attack America using a weapon of mass destruction. He warned that the US does not have the capability to defend a cyberattack on the country’s energy sector. Mr. Mueller said, “I always say my biggest worry is ... an attack on a plane. And secondly, it’s a weapon of mass destruction in the hands of a terrorist and that includes a cyber capability that trumps the defenses that we have.” The FBI director said terrorism has shifted from Osama bin Laden’s global brand in the aftermath of the 2001 attacks to splintering threats arising in the fallout from Middle East uprisings. He said, “Every one of these countries now has cadres of individuals who you would put in the category of extremists, violent extremists, and that will present threats down the road.” Mr Mueller, who started as FBI head a week before 9/11, has been credited as the architect of the bureau’s transformation into a terrorism-fighting agency in his 12 years at the helm. http://news.sky.com/story/1132290/fbi-director-fears-9-11-style-attack-on-us Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives reported that slightly less than 190,000 firearms were reported lost or stolen in 2012. The audit was ordered by the Obama administration in the aftermath of last year’s Connecticut school massacre. The overwhelming majority, 183,660 were stolen guns. That number is up from 145,300 firearms reported stolen previously reported for that year by a Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victims Survey. The ATF warned in its findings that this “likely reveals only a fraction of the problem” as many lost and stolen firearms are not reported. The report also declared “individuals who steal firearms are more likely to commit violent crimes with stolen guns, transfer stolen firearms to others and create an unregulated secondary market for firearms.” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey is justifiably upset that about 90 percent of police officers he fired for alleged wrongdoing have found their way back onto the force.“It’s very hard to maintain discipline in a police department especially when at every turn you have cases that wind up getting overturned, people brought back, and in many cases for some very, very serious allegations,” Ramsey told Harry Hairston and the NBC10 Investigators. Among those allegations have been shoplifting, stealing and even sexual misconduct, Ramsey said. “There are some cases where, in my opinion, a person has really lost their right to be a police officer, to enforce laws, because they themselves have broken laws”. Through arbitration about nine of every 10 officers Ramsey has let go have found their way back onto the force, the Fraternal Order of Police told Hairston. And, about 75 of reinstated officers also get their full benefits and full back pay, according to the FOP. Ramsey replied, “I would say that that’s nothing that they should be proud of because many of the people they bring back are people that should be fired and should stay fired.” This is not just a Philadelphia problem, six Boston cops fired after testing positive for cocaine have been ordered reinstated — with back pay — after a state board struck down hair tests as unreliable in a bombshell ruling that could have a far-reaching impact on how city workers are drug-tested. Chief Ed Davis is not alone in this battle as Mayor Menino has vowed to fight their reinstatement.
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