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Supporting Community Corrections' Role Background: When the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (the 9/11 Commission) issued its final report on the events of September 11th 2001, it emphasized the failure of the Federal government to involve state and local law enforcement and criminal justice agencies in counterterrorism. It noted that a culture of secrecy institutionalized in the national security system hindered the sharing of valuable information that might have prevented the tragedy from occurring. The Commission highlighted the need to incorporate criminal investigations and supervision in the homeland security process. Most recently, in a report on the implementation of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations, the Homeland Security Advisory Council called for sweeping changes to the ways in which information and intelligence are gathered and shared. Specifically, the Council recommended increasing federal resources for state and local programs to enhance existing intelligence gathering and information sharing among all levels of government and to ensure that information collected at all levels of government is readily available to officials who may need it. Discussion: In the year 2003 almost five million men and women in the United States were on probation or parole in this country. Among probationers, roughly half were convicted of a felony and half of a misdemeanor. Many experts have come to recognize that this criminal population under supervision in communities across the country represents a potential source of either terrorist activity or the illegal actions that can finance and support such activity. Much attention has recently been paid to so-called “pre-cursor” or “all crimes” indicators of terrorism--lower level crimes such as driving without a license or creating or possessing false identification, which are common among probationers and parolees. Community corrections agencies collect a vast amount of data, from pre-trial detention and pre-sentence investigations to documentations of case supervision and the technical and criminal violations of probationers and parolees. This information could be mined and analyzed for terrorist implications. It could also be shared with national homeland security agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, and state and local law enforcement anti-terrorist units, such as those being established in prosecuting attorneys’ offices. Probation and parole officers are also a trusted presence in communities large and small, urban and rural. Within the law enforcement profession, they are the most likely sources of contact with different neighborhood groups and community members, and individuals and families wishing to report suspicious terror-related operations. Finally, these officers are extremely knowledgeable about gang activity, which research is now showing has become more closely linked to the support of terrorism. Despite all of these potential resources, community corrections have never been formally involved in homeland security. Its officers have yet to be trained in the most basic techniques for identifying suspect terrorist situations and behaviors. Even where suspicions are aroused in the office or in the field, mechanisms for reporting such valuable information do not exist. Be it Resolved that the American Probation and Parole Association supports:
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