Posted on 09/30/2004 5:12:44 PM PDT by Robert_Paulson2
No threat seen to district; children are safe, police say By Kelly Thornton UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
A man arrested by U.S. authorities in Iraq had a computer disk in his possession containing a public report downloaded from a U.S. Department of Education Web site on crisis planning in school districts, including San Diego Unified.
The man was described as an Iraqi national with connections to terrorism and the insurgency that is fighting U.S. forces in Iraq. Officials in San Diego said the man's intentions were unknown.
San Diego law enforcement officials said there was no indication of any terrorist plot against schools in San Diego or elsewhere in the country. They did not publicly release the information because there appeared to be no threat. The information was relayed to the San Diego FBI office last week and then to the school district Friday.
"The children are absolutely safe," said San Diego Police Chief Bill Lansdowne. "If there was a threat, we, the San Diego Police Department, would be first to notify (parents). This is not a threat."
The disk contained a document entitled "Practical Information on Crisis Planning, A Guide for Schools and Communities." The 50-plus page document, published in May 2003 by the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, is available to the public on the U.S. Department of Education's Web site, said San Diego District spokeswoman Peri Lynn Turnbull.
FBI officials visited the office of district Superintendent Alan Bersin Friday to inform him, Turnbull said. Because there was no indication that terrorists were targeting any schools, in San Diego or elsewhere, the district informed the school police department, but decided not to notify schools and parents.
"We certainly did not want to create any unnecessary panic in our community," Turnbull said. The FBI said because there was no specific threat, that was the appropriate response.
"The superintendent was alerted by the FBI that there were no direct threats to the district or any San Diego school and that by our maintaining our same level of care and concern that our schools would be safe," Turnbull said.
Dan Dzwilewski, head of the FBI office in San Diego, said there is no reason for alarm.
"We don't know the intention of the person that had this material," Dzwilewski said. "But the disk contained absolutely no threat information. It's only out of an abundance of caution – because it was discovered in Iraq
– that we shared this with another public agency."
Some counterterrorism officials said they were concerned that the information would be misinterpreted and would alarm people unnecessarily. They said the information was withheld from the public because there was no specific threat, and the public may become inured to repeated general warnings of vague possibilities of attacks.
"There is no threat here," said a San Diego police lieutenant who spoke on condition of confidentiality because of the sensitive nature of such investigations. "When you've put out information month after month after month, the public thinks we're crying wolf.
"The context here is, a public source document put out by the U.S. Department of Education was found on a computer. Period. My concern would be if a particular school district, or a particular school, or a particular institution was targeted, which it has not been."
Lansdowne said the situation shows that the federal government is sharing information with local agencies in an efficient manner.
"I think it's a good indication of how quickly we're notified and the thoroughness of the information we receive," the chief said. "They give us all the information now and allow local jurisdictions to do with it what they think they should."
Lansdowne said the report on the disk lauds the district as an example of good planning.
The document mentions other school districts and gives information about evacuations, lockdowns and other emergency procedures in the event of a disaster, such as an earthquake or terrorist attack.
"If somebody read the article, they would say we're not going to pick San Diego because they have a very good plan in place," Lansdowne said. "It's probably more good news than bad news."
Kelly Thornton: (619) 542-4571;
kelly.thornton@uniontrib.com
"Thank goodness there is NO connecton between terrorism and Iraq"
Exactly!
Bush should ask Kerry tonight if he has any relatives or SUPPORTERS in S.D. and see how fast Kerry turns from orange to green!
regarding that mosque question I asked earlier:
Murray Ridge Road/ Phyllis Place exit off of 805 has an Islamic Mosque that overlooks lots of Fashion Valley. It's on a particularly high hilltop in San Diego. I told mrs. p YEARS ago, when it was being built, that it was an awfully elevated place to put a church facility.
I think it is south of brown field, and used to watch miramar top gun fighter pilots go supersonic with the afterburners there... several decades back. Right there. At THAT exit. Occasionally the commercial airliners used that for their glide path at San Diego international airport.
Many years ago, before the mosque abomination was built there, I used to drive my hotrods up there to watch the planes go over.
The idea that we have let these people have such direct access to so much without reservation, bothered me then. But the more I see stuff like this today, the more I fear, my reservations did not go HALF as far as they should have.
The danger of an assymetric event is too likely for law enforcement to just brush off like this... if indeed they are. I have ALWAYS suspected San Diego, my favorite place on this whole planet... as a primary target for the slammies.
God, please wake up so. cal. before it's too late.
ping for later
Our kids are sitting ducks. The terrorists knows that - the day will come - they will decide the day - God protect us.
Indeed...it is just a matter of time.
I'm sure the terrorists learned something from Beslan - the question is, did we ?
San Diego ping.
They won't strike in San Diego. San Diego is their big "safehouse" and support center on the west coast. They'll launch from here, to attack other targets, but they won't bring the heat directly onto all of their support centers here.
Exactly right.
SD is one of their hubs.
Here...
I have said it here on FR before, and I'll say it again...
Last year I attended a course put on by the Office of Domestic preparedness titled "Incident Response to Terrorist Bombings"
On the final day exam at the end of the week, TWO of the three scenarios revolved around SCHOOLS.
They know what's coming..and they're trying to prepare us for that one time the terrorists get it right.
Let's all pray that they're wrong
"The children are absolutely safe," said San Diego Police Chief Bill Lansdowne. "If there was a threat, we, the San Diego Police Department, would be first to notify (parents)."
Of what? The deaths of their children? The truth is that the only plan they have to deal with anything is to lock the doors and wait for the police because it is ILLEGAL FOR ANYONE TO HAVE A GUN TO PROTECT THEIR CHILDREN ON A SCHOOL CAMPUS!
For YOUR sake Travis.
I pray you are right.
San Diego is PERFECT for a quick in and out, and not the burger either.
be safe.
Ever get a chance... drive by that Mosque...
Remember there is no connection to terrorism and Iraq.
yeah.
I know.
IT seems that the cop in question clearly lied at least twice:
1. the children are absolutely SAFE...
2. the SDPD would be the first to notify parents...
first, the children are not absolutely safe, unless they are under armed lockdown by professionals.
two, the SDPD has not historically announced anything that they thought MIGHT cause a panic. when the cops show up at your home to notify... it's of a death. usually.
it's bunk.
there's a threat.
they know it.
they don't like it that we do, because they are worried that they will be held accountable if anything goes wrong.
they will be held accountable anyway.
the San Diego Union was good to print the story.
When all the teachers are required to be armed and trained in defending children in their keep against armed insurgents... the children will be safer. Not absolutely safe, but safer.
You betcha. I emailed that sucker all around tonight, stressing to everyone that it was not JUST San Diego...and asked everyone to pass it on, too.
Our schools are like sitting ducks, I've known it in my heart of hearts for a long time. May God help us...
EExcellent question. Sent a chill down my back. I am so thankful that I am homeschooling...so many can't.
I think we'd be the ones surprised. Apparently the powers that be think we can't handle the truth. I cannot believe in this day and age, anybody would think it's best to keep this information secret. Heads should be rolling.
Thanks for pointing me here. This is disgusting.
I was talking about if something happened but you are right . There is probably a lot of stuff that has been stopped. What did GB say tonight? Something like we have to be right 100% of the time. The terrorist only once. I to wish our government would be more up front with us . I could handle it. Maybe others couldn't though:'(
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