State Supreme Court to review body armor ban

The California Supreme Court decided Wednesday to review a state law that prohibits convicted felons from owning body armor.

An appeals court overturned the ban last year on the grounds the law was too vague.

State Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, whose office appealed the ruling, called the state high court's decision to examine the law “a clear victory for police officers everywhere.”

A ruling by the court, which did not comment on its reasons for taking the case, is probably a year away.

The ban was passed in 1998 in response to a North Hollywood shootout between police and two heavily armored bank robbers. The 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles struck down the ban in December in a challenge brought by Ethan Saleem, a parolee who was arrested after he was found to be wearing a 10-pound bulletproof vest under his shirt.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/

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Parolee with 19 arrests underscores dangers of new parole law, L.A. police union says

Yet he was classified by the state Department of Corrections and Parole as a low-level offender and had most recently been paroled in February 2009, according to sources.

Oscar Hidalgo, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said the new system is designed to prevent “a revolving-door effect” by providing incentives to local law enforcement to charge parolees with new crimes, potentially resulting in longer prison sentences.

“Every parolee and probationer has levels of supervision,” Hidalgo said. “This new system does provide a new category of parole, in which many individuals are placed on 'non-revocable parole,' allowing agents to focus their attention on the higher-risk population that they oversee.”

The average caseload for parole agents statewide before the law was passed was 70 parolees for every agent, Hidalgo said. When fully implemented, that caseload will drop to 48 parolees to every agent.

O.C. dentist who killed three patients could be released from prison

An Orange County dentist linked to the deaths of three people in the 1980s could soon be freed from prison.

Tony Protopappas, 63, of Costa Mesa, was convicted of three counts of second-degree murder in 1984.

The 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana ruled Tuesday that the dentist must be freed unless there is new evidence that he's a danger to society, according to the Daily Pilot.

Writing for the three-judge panel, Associate Justice Raymond Ikola said that after serving more than 25 years of a 15-year-to-life sentence, Protopappas should be granted parole.

In late 1982 and early 1983, Protopappas killed Kim Andreassen, 23, Cathryn Jones, 31, and Patricia Craven, 13, by giving them fatal doses of a general anesthetic. 

In the first years after his conviction, Protopappas continued to distance himself from the crimes and shifted responsibility to others' poor judgment. But in a 2008 parole board hearing, Protopappas took responsibility and explained that he was arrogant and afraid of admitting he didn't know what he was doing when he gave the three patients anesthesia.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/03/oc-dentist-who-killed-three-could-be-released-from-prison.html#more

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From the Daily News

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Sex offender with letter carrier job reassigned

A letter carrier who is a registered sex offender has been reassigned after concerns were raised that he was delivering mail in a San Diego suburb with many children, a Postal Service official said Wednesday.

Dana Kennette, 53, is now in a job that does not deal with the public, service spokeswoman Eva Jackson said. "We've taken him off his route."

Kennette had been delivering mail in the Rancho Bernardo area of San Diego, where he lives.

According to the Megan's Law Web site, he was convicted of lewd or lascivious acts on a child under 14. The circumstances, location and date of the offense were not listed.

Kennette has been a Postal Service employee since August 1983, Jackson said.

Kennette could not be immediately reached for comment. A telephone listing for him could not be found.

Concern is high in the area after a sex offender was charged with murdering 17-year-old Chelsea King, of Poway, whose body was found in Rancho Bernardo this month. Police also are investigating the death of Amber Dubois, 14, of nearby Escondido, whose remains were found last weekend, more than a year after she vanished.

Earlier in the day, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, whose district includes the area, sent a letter to Postmaster General John E. Potter demanding to know how the service concluded Kennette was not a threat to the community.

Issa quoted a statement attributed to the Postal Service that said an extensive review was conducted at the time of Kennette's offense and that the service "has no reason to believe there is a threat to the community."

"Has the Postal Service examined the appropriateness of assigning such individuals to carrier routes that bring them into communities with children?" Issa wrote in his capacity as ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Issa also asked for the service's general policy when it learns an employee is on a registered sex offender list and whether any personnel policies or union agreements "restrict the ability of the USPS to provide a thorough explanation to concerned residents or remove Mr. Kennette from his current duties."

Kurt Bardella, a spokesman for Issa, said the congressman had only just learned of the situation, which was being reported in the news media.

Jackson had not seen Issa's letter and could not immediately comment on it.

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_14650719

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Sharon Louise Pullar		Police ask for help in finding missing woman last seen in NoHo Daily News Wire Services  03/10/2010 Police asked the public's help today in locating a 44-year-old woman who has been missing for more than two weeks. Sharon Louise Pullar was last seen around 12:30 a.m. Feb 21 in the 11800 block of Runnymede Street in North Hollywood. Police said she has not been in contact with her family since. Pullar frequents 24 hour Fitness Center gyms and Whole Foods Markets. Her father said she may be en route to Palo Alto in the Northern California area. She is a white woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. She is 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 120 pounds. She drives a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta station wagon with the license plate 5PMT401. Anyone with information was asked to call Missing Persons Unit Detective Marla Ciuffetelli at 213-996-1800.
The Los Angeles Police Department requests the public's assistance in locating 44-year-old Sharon Louise Pullar. Pullar was last seen on February 21, 2010, at around 12:30 a.m. in the area of the 11800 block of Runnymede Street in North Hollywood. Since then, she has not been in contact with her family and they are concerned for her safety. Pullar is described as a white female with blonde hair and blue eyes. She stands 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs about 120 pounds. She drives a silver, 2003 Volkswagen Jetta station wagon with a license plate of 5PMT401. She is known to frequent 24 Hour Fitness Center gyms and Whole Foods Markets in the greater Los Angeles area. Her father says she may be en route to the Palo Alto area in Northern California. Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Puller is urged to contact LAPD Missing Persons Unit Detective Marla Ciuffetelli at (213) 996-1800. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477). Tipsters may also contact Crimestoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone. All text messages should begin with the letters "LAPD." Tipsters may also go to LAPDOnline.org, click on "webtips" and follow the prompts. http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_14648674

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From the Wall Street Journal

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'Jihad Jane' Had Troubled Past

American Suspected of Recruiting Jihadis on Internet Exhibited Signs of Instability

PENNSBURG, Pa.—An American woman accused of plotting to kill a Swedish cartoonist whose work enraged Muslims has led a checkered and sometimes troubled life, including at least two run-ins with the law before she was indicted on terror-related charges last week.

An indictment unsealed this week revealed that 46-year-old Colleen LaRose—who authorities said used the screen name "JihadJane" in Internet posts attempting to recruit jihadis—was charged March 4 with providing material support to terrorists. She has been held in a Philadelphia detention center since October, when she was arrested and charged with identity theft.

A person familiar with the matter said Ms. LaRose has been cooperating with authorities since her arrest. She helped prosecutors in their case against seven Muslims in Ireland accused of plotting to kill cartoonist Lars Vilks, this person said. Mr. Vilks's depictions of the Prophet Muhammad incited protests by Muslims. Law-enforcement officials said Ms. LaRose left the U.S. for Europe in August 2009, intending to train with jihadists and try to kill Mr. Vilks.

Ms. LaRose was born in Michigan and moved to Texas as a child, said a person who knows her. At age 14 she married a man at least twice her age, this person said. She later married another man who has numerous criminal convictions in Texas, court records show.

Ms. LaRose held temporary jobs, the person who knows her said. In Texas, she was arrested for driving under the influence but wasn't convicted, this person said. In 1997 she was charged in Tom Green County with writing a bad check, a criminal misdemeanor. An arrest warrant for that charge is outstanding.

A law-enforcement official said Ms. LaRose appears to have converted to Islam several years ago.

According to a May 2005 incident report, Ms. LaRose's sister told Pennsburg police Ms. LaRose was threatening suicide. "Colleen was highly intoxicated and having difficulty maintaining her balance," an officer reported.

In 2007, Ms. LaRose, calling herself "Fatima LaRose," registered a social-networking profile on dailymotion.com. Among videos she posted are what appear to be depictions of attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq.

Ms. LaRose lived in a second-story unit of a red-brick multifamily residence here in Pennsburg from at least 2003, when police records show she called in a report about two kittens in her yard, until August 2009. Debbie Turner, who works in a real-estate office across from the home, said she saw Ms. LaRose at a local store about a year ago. Ms. LaRose wasn't covering her face or hair, Ms. Turner said, adding, "Her hair was frizzy and she looked very rough."

"She was definitely out there," said Matthew Nelson of Pennsburg, who said Ms. LaRose lived with her former boyfriend Kurt Gorman for about five years. Mr. Gorman is president of a company in Quakertown, Pa., that supplies components to the broadcast industry and where Mr. Nelson is a plant manager. Mr. Nelson said Ms. LaRose disappeared in August, and Mr. Gorman's passport went missing. The indictment says Ms. LaRose took the U.S. passport of someone identified as "K.G."

Mr. Gorman didn't return messages seeking comment.

Although investigators don't believe Ms. LaRose posed an imminent threat and wasn't plotting an attack in the U.S., she is another in a series of recent cases involving Westerners using the Internet to incite jihad. In June 2008, according to the indictment, she posted a comment on YouTube using the name "JihadJane" and said she was "desperate to do something somehow to help" Muslims.

In later messages she described her wish to become a "martyr in the name of Allah," according to the indictment.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704655004575114071680745664.html?mod=WSJ_World_LEFTSecondNews#printMode

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Italy, U.S. Make 26 Mafia Arrests

ROME—Police in Italy and the U.S. arrested 26 people Wednesday in a sweeping series of raids that dismantled an international Mafia drug network, according to Italian police.

Twenty people were arrested in Palermo for alleged drug-trafficking, extortion and usury, according to a statement by Italian police on Wednesday. Three members of the Gambino crime family were arrested in New York and North Carolina and charged with extortion, obstruction of justice and concealment of assets in bankruptcy, according to a separate statement by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Three more people were arrested in Miami on charges of money laundering and obstruction of justice, said Special Agent Judy Orihuela, an FBI spokeswoman in Miami.

Prosecutors say the link between U.S. and Italian groups was Italian national Roberto Settineri, who they allege acted as an intermediary between a Palermo-based clan and the New York-based Gambino and Colombo families. Mr. Settineri was arrested hours before he was scheduled to fly from Miami to Italy and charged with money laundering and obstruction of justice, the U.S. district attorney's statement said.

Italian prosecutors haven't yet charged those arrested in Italy. They say they haven't requested the extradition of Mr. Settineri. Efforts to reach a lawyer representing Mr. Settineri were unsuccessful.

The arrests mark the latest chapter in a joint campaign by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Italian authorities to crack down on one of Italy's most powerful organized crime syndicates. Since the 2005 launch of the joint investigation, known as Project Pantheon, Italian and U.S. investigators have made deep inroads into the Sicilian Mafia, disrupting the mob's command structure with arrests of top bosses.

Although the Mafia remains a powerful force in Italy, the Sicilian mob has lately been overshadowed by syndicates with less-centralized command structures, such as the Camorra, a Naples-based syndicate, and the 'Ndrangheta, which is based in the toe of the Italian peninsula.

Wednesday's arrests in Palermo targeted members of the Santa Maria di Gesu, a Palermo-based crime family that has allegedly filled the Mafia's power vacuum, according to police. Anti-mafia prosecutors in Palermo allege that members of Santa Maria di Gesu operate citywide extortion network, requiring shopkeepers to pay protection money or face violent reprisals.

Shopkeepers who have refused to pay have seen their stores burned down or sealed shut with super glue, Italian police said. One shopkeeper who refused to protection money was shot five times in August 2009 and survived the attack, Italian police said in their Wednesday statement.

Mr. Settineri regularly traveled between the U.S. and Palermo to meet with top members of the Santa Maria di Gesu family, Italian police alleged. As part of the investigation, police also seized "significant quantities" of cocaine and hashish in the Southern Italian region Calabria, according to the statement.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703701004575113752524432446.html?mod=WSJ_World_LEFTSecondNews#printMode

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From the FBI

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60th Anniversary of the FBI's “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” Program

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III today announces the FBI's commemoration of its famous “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” program, created 60 years ago.

In 1949, a reporter for the International News Service (the predecessor to United Press International) approached the FBI and asked about writing a story about the "toughest guys” being sought by the FBI at the time. The Bureau provided the names and descriptions of 10 fugitives to the reporter. The resulting feature became a major story and gained national attention. As a consequence of overwhelming public interest, on March 14, 1950, then-Director J. Edgar Hoover inaugurated the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives program.

Since then, the FBI, through the “Top Ten” list, has been asking for help from the public to locate America's most dangerous fugitives. The response has been impressive. Since 1950, 494 fugitives have appeared on the list; 463 have been apprehended or located, with 152 of those fugitives located as a direct result of citizen cooperation.

As the nature of crime and FBI priorities have evolved over the years, the makeup of the Top Ten list has also changed. While the list began with bank robbers and murder suspects fleeing state jurisdiction, it has evolved into a search for major organized crime figures, serial killers, domestic and international terrorists, cyber criminals, and white-collar criminals. During this last decade, the list has mirrored the international scope of crime, as well as the importance of strong global partnerships in the search for violent criminals who know no boundaries and pose a significant danger to all.

Just as the composition of the list of Top Ten fugitives has changed over the years, the ways in which the FBI communicates with the public have also been revolutionized by technological advancements. While the publication of fugitive information via newspapers and magazines initially brought broader participation to the program, the FBI now uses the Internet, television, social media, and digital billboards as it continues to seek the public's assistance in locating wanted fugitives. “We recognize the unique ability of the media to cast a wider net within communities here and abroad. The FBI can send agents to visit a thousand homes to find a witness, but the media can visit a million homes in an instant,” stated Director Mueller. The globalization of crime has brought foreign media and foreign broadcasting services into the pursuit of international criminals.

The FBI places a high priority on the fugitive investigations represented on the list. At a minimum, a reward of up to $100,000 is offered by the FBI for information leading directly to the arrest of a Top Ten fugitive. In some instances, the reward amount offered exceeds $100,000.

That reporter's idea, so many years ago, to form a partnership among law enforcement, the media, and the citizens of the world, continues to prove beneficial today. As the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives program celebrates 60 years of success, the expectation is that it will continue to empower citizens across the country and around the world to safely and effectively assist law enforcement for years to come.

More information about the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives program is available on the FBI's Internet home page at www.fbi.gov .

http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel10/toptenanniversary_031010.htm

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Statement Before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Good morning Chairman Lieberman, Ranking Member Collins, and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) and its role in the interagency watchlisting process.

The attempted terrorist attack on Northwest Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, highlights the ever-present terrorist threat to our homeland. Over the past seven years, the TSC has played a vital role in the fight against terrorism by integrating terrorist information from the law enforcement and intelligence communities into a single database known as the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB), which populates the various terrorist screening systems used by the government. Following the Christmas Day attempted attack, intense scrutiny has been placed on the requirements to nominate individuals to the watchlist and particularly to the no-fly and selectee lists, which are subsets of the TSDB. These requirements, or standards, have evolved over time based on the experience of the watchlisting community and the issuance of additional Presidential Directives. Throughout this process, the TSC has remained committed to protecting the American public from terrorist threats while simultaneously protecting privacy and safeguarding civil liberties. As our efforts continue to evolve in response to new threats and intelligence, your support provides us with the tools necessary to continue our mission. Let me begin by telling you about the terrorist watchlisting process and how this process related to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Terrorist Nomination Process

The TSDB, commonly referred to as the terrorist watchlist, contains both international
and domestic terrorist information. The procedure for submitting information on individuals for inclusion on the terrorist watchlist is referred to as the nomination process. The nomination process is the most fundamental and singularly important step in the watchlisting process. It is through this process that individuals are added to the terrorist watchlist. Nominations originate from credible information developed by our intelligence and law enforcement partners. These intelligence and law enforcement agencies are referred to as originators in the watchlisting community because it is through their work that nominations are developed. Federal departments and agencies submit nominations of known or suspected international terrorists to the NCTC (National Counterterrorism Center) for inclusion in NCTC's Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE) database, which is the source of all international terrorist identifier information in the TSDB. NCTC reviews TIDE entries and nominates entries to TSC that include sufficient biographical or biometric identifiers and supporting derogatory information that meet the watchlisting standard described below. Similarly, the FBI collects, stores, and forwards to the TSC information relating to domestic terrorists that may not have connections to international terrorism.

When submitting a nomination to NCTC, an originator may, but is under no obligation to submit recommendations regarding specific screening systems the nomination should be exported to (e.g., inclusion on either the no-fly or selectee list). If an originator submits a nomination without a recommendation, NCTC may make an appropriate recommendation based on the totality of associated information. Recommendations made by NCTC will be passed to the TSC for final disposition.

TSC accepts nominations when they satisfy two requirements. First, the biographic information associated with a nomination must contain sufficient identifying data so that a person being screened can be matched to or disassociated from a watchlisted terrorist. Second, the facts and circumstances pertaining to the nomination must meet the reasonable suspicion standard of review established by terrorist screening Presidential Directives. Reasonable suspicion requires articulable facts which, taken together with rational inferences, reasonably warrant the determination that an individual “is known or suspected to be or has been engaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in aid of or related to terrorism and terrorist activities.” The reasonable suspicion standard is based on the totality of the circumstances in order to account for the sometimes fragmentary nature of terrorist information. Due weight must be given to the reasonable inferences that a person can draw from the available facts. Mere guesses or inarticulate “hunches” are not enough to constitute reasonable suspicion. A TSC interagency group composed of members from the intelligence and law enforcement communities issued clarifying guidance to the watchlisting community in February 2009.

TSC makes the final decision on whether a person meets the minimum requirements for inclusion into TSDB as a known or suspected terrorist and which screening systems will receive the information about that known or suspected terrorist. It is not uncommon for a nomination to have multiple recommendations throughout the watchlisting process. In the end, however, TSC works with NCTC and the originators to ensure a nomination is exported to as many screening systems as the nomination information supports.

The watchlisting and nomination process can best be described as a watchlisting enterprise because it requires constant collaboration between the originators, NCTC, and TSC. NCTC relies upon the information provided by the intelligence and law enforcement community, TSC relies upon NCTC to analyze and provide accurate and credible information, and the screening community relies upon TSC to manage that information and to efficiently export it to their screening systems.

Export to Supported Systems

Once a known or suspected terrorist is identified and included in the TSDB, TSC ensures the timely dissemination of the terrorist identity data to our screening partners. The utility of the watchlisting process is greatest when the information is efficiently disseminated to those who need it the most. The TSC's subject matter experts, who are composed of experienced analysts and designated agency representatives, review nominations to determine whether they meet the criteria for inclusion in the screening systems supported by the TSDB. The four major U.S. government systems supported by the TSDB are: Department of State's Consular Lookout and Support System (CLASS) for passport and visa screening; Department of Homeland Security's TECS system for border and port of entry screening; the no-fly and selectee lists used by the Transportation Security Administration for air passenger screening; and the FBI's National Crime and Information Center's Known or Suspected Terrorist File (formerly known as the Violent Gang/Terrorist Organization File (VGTOF)) for domestic law enforcement screening. The criteria for inclusion in each of these systems are tailored to the mission, legal authorities, and information technology requirements of the department or agency that maintains the system. Accordingly, each of these systems contains a different subset of data from TSDB.

The TSDB exports most pertinent to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab—CLASS, TECS, and the no-fly and selectee lists—are discussed below.

CLASS

CLASS is a database administered by the Department of State's Bureau of Consular
Affairs and is used by consular officers abroad to screen visa applicants for travel to the United States. CLASS accepts nearly all records from the TSDB because minimal biographic information is necessary for visa screening. In other words, given where (overseas) and when (well in advance of travel to the U.S.), the government has time to work through what can sometimes be less than complete biographical information—time that might not otherwise be feasible in other screening situations like a routine traffic stop or a busy overseas airport where the presence of U.S. officials is often minimal. The Department of State also uses a screening system known as CLASS-PASSPORT to screen applications for U.S. passports.

The TSC aids the Department of State in identifying known or suspected terrorists through two different processes. The first is the Security Advisory Opinion (SAO) process, whereby individuals that are watchlisted could be identified at the time of their visa application to visit the United States. When consular officers process visa applications, checks are run in CLASS to determine whether any derogatory information exists to warrant a visa denial. If it is determined that the visa applicant is a possible match to an individual on the terrorist watchlist, the consular officer requests an SAO. The SAO request is forwarded to the TSC, where the Department of State's subject matter experts at the TSC review the associated TSDB and TIDE records to determine whether the visa applicant is in fact the same watchlisted individual. The TSC's only role in this process is to determine if the individual applying for the visa is the same individual on the terrorist watchlist. In the case of a positive match, the TSC forwards the information to the Department of State's Visa Office, in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, to prepare an SAO in response to the request. The SAO is then forwarded to the consular officer adjudicating the visa, who has the authority to issue or deny visa applications. Individuals that are watchlisted at the time of their visa application could be identified through this process.

The second State Department process supported by the TSC is the Visa Revocation Program. The Visa Revocation Program was initiated after 9/11 and is designed to identify individuals who may have received visas prior to that person being identified as a known or suspected terrorist. Every day, the Department of State automatically generates a report that identifies all individuals with a valid visa that could potentially match a person in the TSDB. State officers compare information in CLASS (exported from TSDB), to existing records of visa holders in the Department of State's Consular Consolidated Database (CCD). This report is then evaluated by the State Department experts at the TSC who determine whether there is a positive match to a watchlisted individual. If there is a positive match, then the TIDE record and related derogatory information is made available to the Department of State for review. The secretary of state holds broad discretionary authority to revoke a visa. Therefore, TSC forwards the information to the Department of State's Visa Office to determine whether to revoke the visa. Individuals that are watchlisted in TSDB after receiving their visas can be identified through this process.

TECS

TECS serves as the Department of Homeland Security's primary lookout system and receives daily exports of TSDB records from the TSC. Additionally, TECS receives non-terrorist related subject records from more than 20 federal agencies, including a wide spectrum of data, and provides alerts for a variety of law enforcement needs. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the principal owner and primary user of TECS and uses the system to screen individuals at air ports, land, and sea ports of entry. Through TECS, CBP screens against the terrorist watchlist at all 327 ports of entry and by all of the 15 pre-clearance offices located in Canada, the Caribbean, and Ireland. They also use the terrorist watchlist to conduct screening operations at international mail and cargo facilities. Similar to CLASS, TECS accepts nearly all records from the TSDB. For subjects in TSDB, CBP is alerted to their travel when a commercial airline forwards the passenger manifest to CBP using the Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS). APIS enhances border security by providing officers with pre-arrival and departure manifest data on all passengers and crew members

No-Fly and Selectee List

The no-fly and selectee lists are unique among TSDB subsets in that they are the only subsets within the terrorist watchlist that have their own substantive minimum derogatory criteria requirements, which are considerably more stringent than the reasonable suspicion standard required for inclusion in TSDB itself. Following the creation of the TSC in 2003, the Homeland Security Council Deputies Committee established the initial terrorist screening nomination criteria for the no-fly and selectee lists in October 2004. At that time, the no-fly list consisted of substantive derogatory criteria that focused attention on individuals intending to commit acts of terrorism against civil aviation or the domestic homeland. Over time, that initial criteria proved to be too restrictive. Consequently, in February 2008, the Homeland Security Council Deputies Committee approved additional criteria that served to broaden the scope of terrorists eligible for the no-fly list. In other words, the criteria to place individuals on the no-fly list has broadened to make the no-fly list more inclusive to respond to additional terrorism threats. The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General recognized the significance of the additional criteria when, in a May 2009 report, it stated, “Major security gaps have been addressed by adding no-fly criteria.” 1

For international terrorists, the process to be included on the no-fly list begins, as it does with every nomination, with a federal agency nominating an individual to NCTC for inclusion in TIDE. NCTC analysts review the nomination to ensure it meets nomination criteria and then forward the nomination to the TSC. Analysts at the TSC perform a comprehensive review of the nomination, which includes a review of the derogatory information contained in TIDE and the FBI's Automated Case System. During this process, if there is a reasonable suspicion that the individual is engaging in terrorism or terrorist activity, the terrorist would be added to the TSDB. Placement on the no-fly list requires two components, sufficient biographical information and sufficient derogatory information. If additional information existed to satisfy any of the substantive derogatory criteria and the minimum biographic criteria for the no-fly list, the terrorist's name would be exported to the no-fly list as well. If the analyst reviewing the no-fly nomination determines that there is insufficient information to warrant inclusion on the no-fly list, the nomination is forwarded to the TSA (Office of Intelligence and/or the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS)) subject matter experts at the TSC for further analysis and a final recommendation. The TSA subject matter expert will review the nomination and all accessible derogatory information associated with the individual and apply the no-fly and selectee list criteria to that information. Based upon that review and analysis, the TSA/FAMS subject matter expert will then decide based upon that criteria whether the individual will be included on either the no-fly or selectee list.

Inclusion on the no-fly list prohibits a potential terrorist from boarding a commercial aircraft that departs or arrives in the United States. It also prohibits an airplane carrying an individual on the no-fly list from transiting United States airspace. The selectee list is used to provide the individual with a secondary screening. Currently, TSA provides the no-fly and selectee list to commercial air carriers, who are then responsible for passenger prescreening against the no-fly and selectee lists. With the implementation of the Department of Homeland Security's Secure Flight Program, the U.S. government will assume the responsibility of passenger prescreening against the no-fly and selectee lists, which will improve the overall effectiveness of this process.

Actions Since December 25, 2009

Before December 25, 2009, TSC did not receive a nomination to watchlist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and, as a result, he was not watchlisted in TSDB. Following the attempted terrorist attack, the president of the United States initiated a review of the facts that permitted Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to board Northwest Airlines Flight 253. In his January 7, 2010 memorandum, the president concluded that immediate actions must be taken to enhance the security of the American people. These corrective actions were also required to ensure that the standards, practices, and business processes that have been in place since the aftermath of 9/11 are appropriately robust to address the evolving terrorist threat facing our nation in the coming years. As a result, the TSC was given two instructions. The first was to conduct a thorough review of the TSDB and ascertain the current visa status of all known and suspected terrorists, beginning with the no-fly list. That process has now been completed. The second was to develop recommendations on whether adjustments are needed to the watchlisting nominations guidance, including biographic and derogatory criteria for inclusion in TIDE and TSDB, as well as the no-fly and selectee lists. To do so, TSC convened its Policy Board Working Group with representation from NCTC, DHS, CIA, NSA, DOD, DOJ, DOS, and NSC to achieve interagency consensus. That process is underway and TSC is working with its interagency partners to develop appropriate recommendations for consideration by the president.

As of yet, however, there have been no formal changes to watchlisting criteria, including the criteria for inclusion on the no-fly list, since February 2008 when those criteria were last expanded. At the direction of the White House and in conjunction with NCTC, the TSC has made some temporary and limited additions to the watchlist to counter the specific terrorist threat observed on December 25, 2009. As a result, a threat-related target group was identified and individuals from specific high-threat countries already residing in TIDE or TSDB were added to the no-fly and selectee lists, or upgraded to TSDB if necessary, to prevent future attacks.

Conclusion

As the investigation into the events that allowed Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to board Flight 253 continues, the TSC remains focused on fulfilling its presidential and interagency mandates to share terrorist screening information with our domestic and foreign partners. We have a standing commitment to improve our operational processes, to enhance our human capital and technological capabilities, and to continue to protect Americans from terrorist threats while protecting privacy and safeguarding their civil liberties. Terrorist watchlisting has been a vital tool in the counterterrorism efforts of the United States government and will continue to be so in the future. Chairman Lieberman, Ranking Member Collins, and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to address this committee. I look forward to answering your questions.

1 U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, Role of the No Fly and Selectee Lists in Securing Commercial Aviation , OIG-09-64, May 2009.

http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress10/healy031010.htm

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