Dive Brief:
-
The FBI is counting on local law enforcement to detect emerging terrorism threats, Director Kash Patel said during the National Sheriffs’ Association Conference in Florida this week. “There is no better ground-level intelligence than cops,” he said.
-
The remarks come as the Iran conflict is “causing a heightened threat environment in the United States,” the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a national terrorism advisory on June 22, effective through Sept. 22.
- Los Angeles, New York and other major cities report they are increasing patrol checks and police presence at religious, cultural and other sensitive sites to protect them against potential attacks.
Dive Insight:
“Multiple recent Homeland terrorist attacks have been motivated by anti-Semitic or anti-Israel sentiment, and the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict could contribute to US-based individuals plotting additional attacks,” DHS stated.
The FBI is moving resources back to counterterrorism from immigration enforcement in response to the threats, Bloomberg reported.
“We’ve got to protect the homeland,” Patel told the sheriffs. “We’ll do it at the federal level. But in order to accomplish that mission, we must partner with state- and local-level law enforcement.”
Patel said U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who appeared at the sheriff’s conference with him, “recognizes the importance of local law enforcement.”
“When you partner at the local level with federal prosecutors and state prosecutors, that is the core mission to achieve securing our community,” Patel said. “If you do it town by town by town, … then it has an effect cascading on the rest of the country.”
Federal officials are listening to local law enforcement, Patel added. “We need to hear from you more.”
Earlier this month, more than 700 mayors signed an initiative of the American Jewish Committee and the U.S. Conference of Mayors calling upon mayors, municipal leaders and other elected officials to “recognize the ever-present need to be vigilant about efforts to prevent and report acts of antisemitism and other hate crimes.”
The initiative was a response to a terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, directed at a group calling for the release of hostages from Gaza; the firebombing of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s official residence; and the shooting deaths of two Israeli Embassy staff members in Washington, D.C.
