Federal Daily - July 20, 2010

Newspaper Claims Effectiveness of Post- 9/11 Intelligence Programs Is Unknown

It may be impossible to tell just how well the ever-growing number of post-9/11 intelligence efforts are working to keep the nation safe, according to a series of investigative stories in The Washington Post.

The newspaper said it spent two years researching the expansion of programs and agencies related to intelligence, homeland security and counter-terrorism. The first article in the series, in the July 19 edition of the Post, claimed that this “top secret world” has become “so large, so unwieldy and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, how many programs exist within it or exactly how many agencies do the same work.”

“After nine years of unprecedented spending and growth, the result is that the system put in place to keep the United States safe is so massive that its effectiveness is impossible to determine,” the newspaper concluded.

In response to the series, Acting Director of National Intelligence, David C. Gompert, said that “the reporting does not reflect the Intelligence Community we know.”

“We accept that we operate in an environment that limits the amount of information we can share,” Gompert said in a memo. “However, the fact is, the men and women of the Intelligence Community have improved our operations, thwarted attacks, and are achieving untold successes every day.”

The Office of the DNI also posted a question and answer document on post-9/11 intelligence on its Web site at: www.dni.gov/content/Question_and_Answer_IC.pdf, as well as a two-page document called “Key Facts About Contractors” at: www.dni.gov/content/Truth_About_Contractors.pdf. Also see: www.dni.gov/content/20100719_release.pdf.

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Corrections Officers’ Union Bashes Plan to Reduce Prison Industries

The American Federation of Government Employees Council of Prison Locals criticized a plan to eliminate Federal Prison Industries services—which provide inmates with paying jobs while they are incarcerated—at nine federal Bureau of Prisons facilities.

The BOP plan also calls for downsizing operations at three additional facilities, and personnel reductions at eight more locations, the union said. Overall, 140 prison staff positions will be eliminated, in addition to the 105 eliminated in 2009, CPL President Bryan Lowry said July 16.

Lowry said federal correctional officers and staff use the FPI prison inmate work program, also known as UNICOR, as a management tool to deal with the huge increase in the BOP prison inmate population. The program helps keep inmates occupied in labor-intensive activities, reducing the violence associated with inmate idleness while encouraging good behavior, Lowry said.

“The decision to drastically alter the UNICOR program puts correctional officers in a very dangerous situation,” said Lowry. "UNICOR serves as a way to keep inmates occupied inside of critically understaffed federal prisons. Now is not the time to make additional cuts to the BOP system."

In addition to maintaining the UNICOR program, CPL asked BOP to fully staff and fund its prisons. According to the labor union, the inmate-to-staff ratio is 150-to-1 on most correctional assignments, and can be as high as 300-to-1.

To see more, go to: www.afge.org.

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AFGE Alleges ‘Witch Hunt’ Over Leaked ICE Documents

The American Federation of Government Employees National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council 118 alleges that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are conducting a “witch hunt” following the release of internal agency documents to The Washington Post.

An unnamed ICE employee provided the newspaper with internal documents which showed that the agency was implementing new quotas requiring individual ICE agents and ICE offices to reach specific arrest numbers by targeting certain groups of illegal immigrants, to include non-criminal groups, AFGE said. The documents showed that the agency was implementing quotas despite the public assurances of ICE Director John Morton that ICE agents were not being evaluated by the number of illegals they detained, AFGE said.

After the newspaper story was published, ICE investigators launched an investigation against at least one ICE agent charging that he released the documents used in the story, AFGE Council 118 President Chris Crane said.

In a July 16 statement, Crane said the agent, who has maintained his innocence, was harshly interrogated and threatened with a polygraph examination without representation.

“The only thing connecting this agent to The Washington Post article is that he and the reporter both have of Asian-American names,” Crane said. “ICE leaders got caught doing something they shouldn't have been doing, and now they want revenge and are targeting their own employees.”

To see more, go to: www.afge.org/Index.cfm?Page=PressReleases&PressReleaseID=1191.

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