State police pull out of anti-terror office in NJ (turf battle with Counter-Terrorism Office)

The New Jersey State Police pulled its troopers out of the state's Counter-Terrorism Office on Monday, decimating the agency's investigative ability and bringing its terror probes to a virtual standstill, officials said.

Acting Governor Codey, furious at the surprise move amid a turf battle between the two agencies, threatened to punish the state Attorney General's Office for approving it.

"He views this as the last straw - this ongoing turf battle that goes on every day, and he's not going to stand it anymore," said Kelley Heck, the governor's spokeswoman.

"He is determined to put an end to the situation and is seriously considering making the Office of Counter-Terrorism part of the Governor's Office and reporting directly to the governor," Heck said.

The 14 troopers accounted for more than 60 percent of the Counter-Terrorism Office's investigators and their sudden removal leaves the agency in tatters and unable to pursue many ongoing probes, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the unit.

Although turf battles are nothing new in the law enforcement and intelligence communities - the FBI and CIA fight constantly - the scope of the state police action left some veterans dumbstruck.

"I've never heard of anything this bad," said a senior federal intelligence official who has close contact with the Counter-Terrorism Office. "It's totally, definitely and completely irresponsible. It's not a game that's being played - this is the health and well-being of New Jersey we're talking about."

State police officials said they had reassigned the troopers to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in Newark. The troopers were notified of their new assignment on Monday morning, two sources said.

"This is the state police expanding our counterterrorism efforts by combining resources with the FBI, county and local law enforcement," said Capt. Al Della Fave, a state police spokesman. He declined to comment further.

The Counter-Terrorism Office said Monday it would try its best to cope with the unexpected development.

"We're going to continue the mission that was given to us by the governor," said Angela LaBelle, the agency's chief of staff. "We will ask the governor for whatever resources we need if we find any deficiencies."

A spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office, Paul Loriquet, said, "This department views this matter as a law enforcement management decision that will effectively deploy homeland security investigative personnel to protect New Jersey from the threat of terrorism.

"We have had a longstanding investigative relationship with the FBI and this deployment will further integrate our work with numerous federal, county and local law enforcement agencies," he said.

The troopers will now join seven others already assigned to the FBI's Newark task force, officials said. The FBI's Philadelphia terrorism task force, which covers the most populous counties in South Jersey, will not have New Jersey troopers assigned to it, officials said.

The development marks the latest escalation in the acrimonious turf war, which has pitted the state police and state Attorney General's Office against the Counter-Terrorism Office for more than a year. "A difference in philosophies, a difference in the way things are done," said a law enforcement official in characterizing the state's police's position.

The Counter-Terrorism Office was created by former Gov. James McGreevey after the Sept. 11 attacks. It is run by Sidney Caspersen, a former FBI agent who brought along experience in probing foreign terror strikes. The agency employs more than 90 people, many of them analysts who sift through intelligence reports and other information to find terrorists.

Some state and federal law enforcement officials privately have criticized Casperson for what they see as his freewheeling style and desire to expand the portfolio of the agency.

The FBI is the lead agency to investigate terrorism under law, while the U.S. Homeland Security Department is charged with the mission of protection. Caspersen's detractors say he has stepped on federal toes while aggressively building his office, which has a $9.6 million annual budget.

Caspersen's defenders say the state Attorney General's Office and state police are jealous of his important anti-terror mission and want control of it. They cite his independence and unwillingness to play political ball as factors that have led to the feud.

What has followed has been efforts on both sides to gain tighter control of the anti-terror operation. The state police recently created its own intelligence center to analyze crime and terror tips.

Turning up the heat has been the position taken by both leading gubernatorial candidates, Republican Doug Forrrester and Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine, that the Counter-Terrorism Office should be removed from the Attorney General's Office and made part of the governor's office.

The war flared up last week when the state police raised concerns that the agency might be targeting Muslims with racial profiling techniques.

State police officials said they were worried that the Counter-Terrorism Office had entered large numbers of reports about individual Muslims and groups into its intelligence database, several sources said. They then temporarily barred counterterrorism agents from making entries while the issue is being reviewed by the governor's office and federal officials.

Several intelligence experts and officials disputed that, saying the Counter-Terrorism Office was just reporting raw intelligence about suspicious individuals or activity it receives routinely from police and other law-enforcement agencies, private industry and citizens. The entries focused on suspicious conduct, not ethnicity or beliefs, officials said.

State police promise to comply with Codey

Wednesday, October 5, 2005

Acting Governor Codey delivered a swift, punishing blow to the state police and attorney general Tuesday in an attempt to end a feud over control of New Jersey's anti-terror apparatus.

The rare public rebuke came a day after the state police abruptly pulled 20 troopers from the Office of Counter-Terrorism on Monday to work with the FBI, where they claimed they could be more effective. The move was sanctioned by state Attorney General Peter C. Harvey.

"I am disappointed with the decision ... to reassign state police from the Office of Counter-Terrorism without my input or consent," Codey said in an executive order. "I will not allow a turf war to compromise the safety of this state."

Codey's sweeping directive gives the office far greater independence. It also gives the Governor's Office a much greater say in hiring and spending decisions that had been subject to veto by the attorney general.

In addition, the order directs the state police to assign 10 troopers to work directly with the Office of Counter-Terrorism. The governor also gave Sidney Caspersen, the former FBI agent who runs the office, permission to hire up to 15 additional investigators or other personnel.

In a prepared statement, Col. Joseph "Rick" Fuentes, the state police superintendent, vowed to "work within the parameters of the governor's executive order."

"The safety of New Jersey's citizens has always been our agency's number one priority," Fuentes said.

Harvey also pledged to comply.

"I want to reassure the public that the major contours of New Jersey's homeland security efforts, which are among the most rigorous in the nation, remain unchanged," Harvey said. "Protecting the public against a potential terrorist attack remains our number one priority."

Angela La Belle, the Counter-Terrorism chief of staff, declined to comment on the development.

It is far from clear if the governor's order will stop New Jersey's top law enforcement agencies from elbowing each other for control of resources.

The struggle, according to several knowledgeable sources, has been going on for more than a year as the state police and Attorney General's Office vie against the newly created and relatively tiny Office of Counter-Terrorism.

Codey's order followed a day of high-level meetings between participants in the feud. Harvey, Fuentes and Caspersen met behind closed doors in the State House with the governor's chief of staff, Peter Cammarano.

The governor, who was attending a conference in Newark, joined the meeting via telephone.

He did not disguise his anger with the state police decision to remove troopers, sources familiar with the meeting said.

Sparking Codey's pique was a decision Monday by state police commanders to abruptly reassign 14 troopers who were supposed to report to the Office of Counter-Terrorism.

The troopers accounted for more than 60 percent of the office's investigators in its Mercer County headquarters. That left only nine counterterrorism investigators behind and insufficient personnel to handle terror tips and assess their value, officials familiar with the situation said.

Officials said many of the agency's ongoing investigations ground to a halt.

Turf battles are viewed as fairly common in intelligence and law enforcement circles. But the extent and scope of the state police's action shocked even some hardened veterans.

"Do you know how this makes New Jersey look to the law enforcement community in the rest of the world? Like idiots," said one senior federal intelligence official.

The Counter-Terrorism Office was created by former Gov. James E. McGreevey after the Sept. 11 attacks. The agency employs more than 90 people, many of them analysts who sift through intelligence reports and other information in an attempt to find terrorists.

Caspersen's detractors say he has stepped on the FBI's position as principal anti-terror fighter while aggressively building his office, which has a $9.6 million annual budget. His defenders say the state Attorney General's Office and state police are jealous of his anti-terror mission.

The war flared up last week when the state police raised concerns that Caspersen's agency might be targeting Muslims with racial profiling techniques.

State police officials were worried that the office had entered large numbers of reports about individual Muslims and groups into its intelligence database, several sources said.

They have temporarily barred counterterrorism agents from making entries while the issue is being reviewed by the Governor's Office and federal officials. Last week, however, the Governor's Office said it did not appear Caspersen's office was engaged in improper profiling.

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