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.. Ij) .oW..,"';, r ./1 \') " : ' Q F<*1f"" I 1 'j'" : ~1 ~1)~~ { Iv However, coffee in the commissio[ler's ©©©)])(§l~IID.'llin@ml. FACT SITUA TION: An NYPD informant hasinformation concerning a bank rob­ "'Cooperation is the office il> a world apart from the adreoa­ bery gang operating in the South lin-pumping action of a street corner in 0 ~, backbone of effective ~ Bronx. Two police officers have been Harlem, where decisions must be shot. Nearly $250,000 in loot; has been law enforcement.'" made on the spur of the .moment with­ '1' obtained in four separate robberies. out the benefit of amenities and when ! the integrity of an agency swings in the When a joint task force is in operation, In an effort to curb this upswing in '':'' ::; balance. who gets the information? How is it urban violence, a joint FBI/NYPD task handled? If necessary, wllo pays forit? force was formally announced on Au­ Joint FBI/NYED/1::: ,.....;:,' Memorandum of Understanding gust 6, 1979. It represented the culmi­ Competition is a natural human nat1dh of considerable precursory A formalized Memorandum of Un­ i,, . and social phenomenon. It is the basis work. Meetings with the U.S. Attorneys derstanding was exocuted between Forces: .. t~9on which our system Cif free enter­ the two agencies, addressing the pur­ TaSk for the Southern and Eastern Federal p'rise has grown and developed. How­ JuClicial Districts resulted in agree­ pose of the task force and identifying ever, when competition erupts ments delineating each agency's re­ its mission, namely, the investigation of between intiividuallaw enforcement of­ sponsibilities. The NYPD Major Case armed bank robbery viola:tions in New ticers and agencies, the ultimate goal Squad would investigate all unarmed/ York City and the subsequent appre­ I; A Studyi,! of law enforcement is lost in the laby­ note demand violations; the remaining hension of those individuals who com­ rinth of real or imagined slights. The "inCidents would be referreC! to the joint mitted these violations. The memo­ fact that an investigation is being con­ Depllty Assist~r.t Director Walton task force. All task force undertakings randum states the task force would Cooperation ducted to lead to a successful pros­ would proceed in accordance with the operate within the confines of the four ecution all too often becomes Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. boroughs of Manhattan, Bronx, Brook­ lyn, and Queens. Violations in Staten By 0 secondary. The task force is headquartered in Island would continue to be handled by KENNETH P. WALTON Over 40 YElsrs ago, the late J. the Criminal/Organized Crime Division Edgar Hoover, then Director ,of the of the FBI in New York. Identification the local police divisions and the FBI Deputy Assistant Director Federal Bureau· of Investigation, badges were supplied to the police office covering that borough. However, Federal Bureau of Investigation placed the entife issue in the open " members of the task force, as were as specified in the memorandum, the New York, N. Y. when he said, "Cooperation is the office equipment and supplies. Vehi­ task force would render any assistance and backbone of effective law enforce­ cles and communication equipment to Staten Island, as needed. PATRICK J. MURPHY ment." were furnished by the respective agen­ The agreement went on'to state Chfef of Operations cies to enable the group to become the NYPD would allocate 16 person­ New York City Police Department Forming a Joint Task Force operational as soon as possible. The nel, to include 2 supervisory person­ , New York, N. Y. Specific problems require specific end result was that the task force nel, while the FBI would provide 14 solutions. When armed bank robberies members be!:'l~n working side-by-side. Special Agents, including a Supervi­ in New York City reached epidemic However, all this was not accom­ sory Special Agent and sufficient sup­ plished by a mere stroke of the pen . port employees to meet the needs of .,',;:: proportions in mid-1979, both the FBI and the New York City Police, Depart­ Everyone knows that cerebral agree­ the task force. The assigned supervi­ ment recognized that the hi~J>ric prac­ ments betWeen heads .of two agencies sors would be responsible for address­ "1::; tice of concurrent separate have a way of disintegrating when they ing and resolving operational (> investigations by the NYPD's Mi'\jor are subjected to the stress of day-to­ problems. To insure that the task force Chief Murphy concept workdd, every effort was c, Case Squad and the FBI's Bank Rob­ day operations. The top men met infre­ '. bery Squad could no longer quell the quent,y in comfortable surroundings. made to cultivate an au'ra. of camarade­ problem. The commissioner of police rie and cooperative spirit between the and the chief of operations, in concert individuals and agencies involved. The drafters of the Memorandum with FBI officials, realized that armed of Understanding recognized the prob­ ...... bank robberies had emerged as a

" lems inherent in the joint task 'Iorce plague that transcended traditional concept and confronted them directly. remedies. Representative of this epi­ ·!.it - The information possessed by an in­ demic, in the last week of July 1979, 48 formant WOUld be accepted by a mem­ bank robberies occurred in the New York City area. ber of the task force, whether it be an FBI Agent or a police officer. The FBI " agreed to pay any reasonable and nec­ essary expense regarding informants, " providing tilere was compliane:e with the FBI's guidelinE!§l on informants.,

A New York FBIINYPD TflSk Force in operation at the command post.

~., _--:..______"- ______~ ______November 1981 I 21 , 20 I FBI'Law Enforcement Bulletin ------_____---'- ____~.3.._ "

i i ·· .. ·1 r NYP1) informants used by the task not know he had been identified. In the spring of 1980, the com mis- terrorists in the New York City area Therefore, the search warrant had to resulted in sufficient probable cause to force are a:::signed a numerical identifi­ "A formalized • sioner of police awarded the Bank " .. wh en f er (NYCPD 1 TF) and an appropriate be executed without his knowledge Robbery Task Force a unit citation for obtain indictments of five of the nation­ 1 {! Memorandum of and the results sealed. An early morn­ its work in 1980. This is the highest competition erupts alists who were participating in their ! informant file is opened and main­ J ! tained by the police department. All ing, search by members of the task recognition that a command can re­ proposed terrorist acts. Ultimately. five t Understanding was between individual 1 information, including the identity ()f the executed between force resulted in the acquisition of ad­ ceivefrom the New York City Police law enforcement were convicted in Federal court and 1 informant and recommendatior~ Jor ditional evidence that produced suffi­ Department. The award was accepted received sentences ranging from 25 to payment and receipt for informat(on, is the two agenCies, cient probable cause to obtain an by a Supervisory Special Agent and a officers and agenCies, 35 years .. entered into this file. For accounting addressing the arrest warrant. His whereabouts was police lieutenant, the task force com­ the ultimate goal Capital!zing on the results, the f \ and control purposes, an identical file, purpose of the task unknown and extended surveillance of manders. of law enforcement joint Terrorist Task Force continued its minus the identity of the informant, is his commonlaw wife by members of probe of terrorist acts by members of force and identifying .IS It" 1 maintained by the task force. Receipts the task force indicated that the sus­ Terrorist Task Force C: os .... this group. In June 1981, a racketeer­ of payment to the informant, signed in its mission. . . ." pect occasionally came to. his com­ In late 1979 and early 1980, New ing indictment named the hierarchy of his code name, are also maintained in monlaw wife's apartment late in the York City was racked by a series of The Croatian terrorists are some a Croatian organization as a racketf,er­ both informant files. RSI informants evening and left prior to sunrise. It was terrorist bombings, bomb threats, and ing enterprise. In nationwide arrests In mid-1980, the Bank Robbery of the most violent in existence today. would be treated in accordance with also determined that two German the assassination of a diplomat. Rec­ from Los Angeles to New York, includ­ Task Force was called into a case in Their efforts certainly represent the the provisions of the Attorney Gener­ Shepherds were maintained in the ognizing once again that a specific so­ ing one arrest in Canada, leaders and which a retired New York City police­ most violent terrorist acts encountered al's informant guidelines and !;'e rules apGl.rtment for security purposes. Act­ lution must address a specific problem, former leaders of this Croatian group man attempted to thwart a robbery and in the United States, They were re­ of the FBI regarding handling and pay­ ing in concert, FBI Agents and police and because of the success of the were charged with murder, extortion, was shot and seriously wounded in the sponsible for at least 50 deaths ment of informants. officers of the task force obtained an earlier joint Bank Robbery Task Force, throughout the world since 1972. As interstate transportation of incendiary process. He was able to wounc one of Also included in the memorandum arrest warrant which was to be execut­ a joint FBIINYPD Terrorist Task Force rightwing, anti-Tito fanatics, they used devices, and conspiracy in an overall the robbers, who was subsequently ap­ is the stipulation that all investigative ed at 3:00 a.m. on August 7, 1980. was formeci. bombings, blanket Racketeer Influenced and Cor­ prehended at the bank. Not surprising­ assaSSinations, extortion, records would be maintained in the FBI Using uniformed personnel from the Both agencies readily acknowl­ and skyjackings as their tools. In 1975, rupt Organization (RICO) indictment. ly, the wounded bank robber refused to office and would use FBI reporting pro­ New York City Police Department to edged that there was a lack of cooper­ The cooperation which exists be­ cooperate with authorities. the Croatian terrorists began appearing cedures. The NYPD record system set up a perimeter to seal off vehicular ation between the NYPD Arson and tween members of the NYPD and Investigation by the joint task in New York. On May 3, 1975, the would receive the Detective Bureau's traffic and other modes of escape in Explosion Unit, responsible for bomb­ Agents of the FBI as a result of the force soon developed information that Yugoslav Consul-General and his wife Unusual Occurrence Report in all as­ the area, the task 'force members en­ ing investigations, and the Terrorist formation of this task force was primar­ the wounded gunman and his escaped were assaulted. Slightly over a month signed cases. tered the apartment and arrested Squad of the New York FBI Office. ily responsible for this major investiga­ accomplice had been responsible for later, the Yugoslav Mission to the Another issue, perhaps the next White before he had an opportunity to There were instances where evidence tive accomplishment. nine bank robberies in New York within United Nations in New York was most sensitive issue, second only to flee. Found in the apartment at the acquired by one agency was not Problems which are indigenous to a short period of time and had escaped bombed. Five Croatian nationalists hi­ informants, was also addressed in the time of his arrest were a sawed-off promptly and appropriatelY.shared with New York are frequently viewed as with nearly $75,000. jacked a TWA aircraft enroute from Memorandum of Understanding-me­ shotgun, various revolvers, and auto­ the other. There was OP~11 animosity being solved by their mere recognition. One of the getaway cars used by Newark to Paris, and a New York City dia relations. No information pertaining matic handguns, including the firearm between the Agents and police offi­ In other words, historically, the FBI and this bank robbery team proved to be policeman died in a bombing related to to either the task force or task force used to shoot the retired police officer. cers. Only members of the terrorist that hijacking. During the period May the NYPD were viewed as friendly ad­ registered fictitiously to a taxi service. investigations is to be released formal­ This type of coordinated effort can only groups operating in New York profited 1975, through mid-1980, 13 terrorist versaries competing in many of the A large-scale effort by members of the ly or informally without mutual approval be accomplished when law enforce­ from this dissension. same general areas. Many people joint task force was mounted in an acts were attributed to the Croatians. i of the respective agencies. All re­ ment places professional competition As was the case with the joint thought it would always remain the attempt to locate the getaway vehicle, At the same time, FBI field offices 1 leases, press inquiries, or interviews, behind them in the interest of the Bank Robbery Task Force, a formal­ same because it has always been that i and in the process, a suspect-Chris­ in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chica­ as with information matters, are con­ greater good. ized Memorandum of Understanding, way. The formation of these two task topher White (not his true name)-was go, and Cleveland were continuing sistent with 'the existing Department of During 1979, there were 319 using much of the same procedural forces indicates unequivocally that on identified. Subsequently, a garage was their investigation of terrorist acts car­ Justice guidelines and regulations. armed bank robberies in New York data, was executed between heads of occasion, problems not only can be located where White allegedly stored ried out by the Croatians. The New City, of which 52 percent were cleared. the two agencies. Members of the identified but also addressed and cor­ the getaway vehicle. Police officers York City Office of the FBI became the Task Force Operations During 1980, the first full year of the NYPD Arson and Explosion Unit, who rected. PHI and FBI Agents acting together had focal point in ·this nationwide probe as All cases are jointly investigated; joint task force's operation,armed were designated to be members of the insufficient evidence to arrest the sus­ intelligence data were collected by the each task force team consists of a bank robberies had fallen -to 252. The task force, were provided the same jOint Terrorist Task Force, which led police detective and an FBI Agent. pect, but did have sufficient probable task force clearance rate for 1980 was services by the FBI as was the Bank them to believe an assassination at­ More impoi1antly, however, is the un­ cause at the time to obtain a search 85 percent. By mid-1 !;J81, the task Robbery Task Force. tempt was about to occur. In Novem­ derstanding between the members warrant. It was important that White forCe complement consisted of 15 '()Ipt surprisingly, when the task ber and December 1980, around-the­ that unilateral action on the part of '. Special Agents and 17 NYPD detec­ force was announced in a major press clock surveillance of known Croatian either agency is not in the best interest tives. Less than 2 years after its forma­ conference, terrorist incidents dropped of the task force. As the reporting rules tion, the number of armed bank substantially. Slowly, the Ter(orist Task .- - conform to FBI procedure, the task r")bberies which occurred during the Force grew into a cohesive, highly pro­ force investigative procedures conform 0' first 3 weeks of June 1981, averaged fessional unit. As the initial competitive to the requirements for Federal pros­ only 4.3 per week. antagonism gave way to a mutual co­ ecution. Use of informants also adhere operative spirit, results began to ac­ to FBI guidelines. crue.

, 22 / FBI.Law Enforcement Bulletin ______---- ______• ___ November 1981 /23

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