Feds Target Terrorist Recruiting in Prisons
The federal government is taking steps to prevent extremist Muslim clerics from recruiting members of the U.S. prison population to become terrorists.
Prisons in dozens of states are working with the U.S. government on the effort, which includes steps to improve monitoring, training, and awareness, the FBI said.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have asked prison officials to conduct thorough background checks on prison workers and volunteers who visit with prisoners. The FBI and DHS are also asking state prison systems to increase the number of informants and intelligence units they use.
“It’s a concern because we know that violent extremist groups will target people in prisons,” said Donald Van Duyn, counterterrorism director for the FBI.
Information sharing among prisons and local agents must also be improved, the FBI said, declining to say whether it has undercover agents working in the prison system. Federal officials also would like to see more prison employees trained to identify the tell-tell signs that prisoners are being recruited for terrorism.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) from USA Today (11/07/06); P. 1A; Hall, Mimi.
