Salt Lake City, UT
~ Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Thank you, John, for that kind introduction, and for your
dedicated service as U.S. Attorney here in Utah. John is co-chair of our
federal Domestic Terrorism Executive Committee. He provides critical leadership
in coordinating the federal government’s efforts to prevent domestic terrorism.
John is doing a superb job of protecting national security and advancing other
federal priorities.
It is an honor for me to be here with more than 600 law
enforcement officers from Utah and from around the country. The mission of
pursuing justice attracted me to law enforcement, but the people who carry out
the mission are what I treasure most about my job.
There is a parable I want to share with you. It is about a
young man who applies for a job as a farmhand. When the farmer asks about his
qualifications, the man says that he can sleep when the wind blows.
A few days later, the farmer is awakened in the night by a
violent storm. He finds the new farmhand in bed. “What are you doing!” the
farmer yells. “We need to prepare for the storm.” The man replies, “I told you
that I can sleep when the wind blows.”
The farmer runs outside to inspect the property. He finds
the shutters are securely fastened. Logs are stacked by the fireplace. The farm
tools are in the shed. The tractor is in the garage. The cows are safe in the
barn. The chickens are in their coops. The haystacks are covered with
tarpaulins. Everything is secured.
The farmer then understands the meaning of the young man's
words, "I can sleep when the wind blows."
Law enforcement agencies must always be prepared for the
storm --- be it the literal hurricane that caused such devastation in Texas
this week, or the figurative storm of a terrorist attack.
You represent the thin blue line that protects our families,
our communities, and our nation.
Law enforcement is indispensable to a civilized society.
Unfortunately, some people take for granted the many extraordinary men and
women who provide it.
That was not always the case. In 1962, President Kennedy
encouraged citizens to honor police officers "who by their faithful and
loyal devotion to their responsibilities … established for themselves an
enviable and enduring reputation for preserving the rights and security of all
citizens."
Today, American police agencies take great pride in their
professional standards. They respect new constitutional protections. They
follow extremely detailed policies and procedures. And they face unprecedented
scrutiny.
Many critics simply do not understand the challenges you
face. Police officers never know what dangers the next call will bring. The
work can be stressful, demanding and frightening for officers and their
families.
You work day shifts and night shifts, on weekends and
holidays, in blizzards and rainstorms, during parades and riots. Your offices
never close. And you always need to be at your best, especially when other
people are at their worst.
Some people fear the police, and we understand why. Police
officers do not stop motorists to congratulate them for obeying traffic laws,
and nobody calls 911 to report that everything is OK.
But when danger lurks or tragedy strikes, people hope to
find a police officer nearby. That is why public confidence in the police
remains high, notwithstanding unfair criticism. According to a recent Gallup
poll, police are one of the most respected institutions in America.
You are the guardians who run toward danger, so the rest of
us can get away safely. So let me take this opportunity to thank you, on behalf
of President Trump and the entire Department of Justice. We understand your
work. We appreciate your work. And most importantly, we support your work.
The President’s first executive orders included instructions
to protect law enforcement officers, promote national security, and prevent
violent crime.
We know that public safety depends on honorable law
enforcement officers. That is why Attorney General Sessions ordered the
Department of Justice to always consider your interests when developing our
strategies. We count on you. And we want you to know this: you can count on us.
More than 85 percent of law enforcement officers work at the
state or local level. You are on the front lines in the noble task of keeping
our communities safe.
This conference allows you to share your experiences,
strengthen your partnerships, and enhance your ability to protect national
security and prevent terrorist attacks.
The threats we face are always changing.
If we want to prevent attacks, we need to be vigilant. The
key is to collect all available information and generate actionable
intelligence to disrupt terrorists before they strike.
How many of you are old enough to remember the original
Space Invaders video game, from the late 1970s? Rows of alien ships move across
the television screen and drop bombs. They get closer to the ground each time
they hit the side of the screen. You are at the bottom with a gun, firing
upward. You can move left and right as you shoot. You need to dodge the alien
missiles.
The first few times you play, you race back and forth across
the screen, dodging missiles and shooting wildly.
After you play for a while, you may start to notice a
pattern. If you move smoothly across the screen, you can kill all the aliens
without getting hit. It requires you to step back and analyze the situation.
You need to use the available intelligence to develop a strategy. That is the
challenge we face.
Yesterday, I visited the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York
City. It is a powerful reminder that liberty requires eternal vigilance.
Freedom makes us vulnerable, but liberty makes us resilient.
Since 9/11, law enforcement has worked with our Intelligence
Community to disrupt dozens of terrorist threats.
We must never let down our guard, because our enemies do not
fight fair. Terrorists are cowards who target unsuspecting people going about
their lives — watching a soccer game, dancing at a nightclub, traveling to
work, walking down a street.
I receive regular briefings from the FBI, the National
Security Division, and other Intelligence Community partners. Those briefings
reveal the volume and complexity of the cases you handle.
In recent months, a few trends have become clear.
The number of Americans trying to travel to join the Islamic
State has dropped significantly. Two years ago, it was six to ten per month.
Now, it is often one or none. A great deal of the credit for that decrease
belongs to our military, which has fought ISIS and other Islamic extremists on
the battlefield. People are less inclined to join a losing cause.
And much of the credit also goes to law enforcement
officers, for proactive policing that keeps us safe. In recent years, the
Department of Justice has filed public charges for terrorism related offenses
against more than 145 foreign fighters, homegrown extremists and ISIS
supporters in more than 40 districts. The FBI currently has ongoing
investigations in all 50 states.
The decline in the number of Americans who seek to travel to
join ISIS is a positive development. But a word of caution is in order: some
people who would have left America now pose a danger here instead. Some foreign
fighters have left ISIS territory to find new battlefields and new targets.
Others have returned to their home countries. Returning foreign fighters can
present significant security risks because of their ideology, combat training,
and connections to terrorist networks.
The Department of Justice also remains vigilant about the
threat of domestic terrorism. Violent domestic extremists have plotted attacks
on government buildings, businesses, and houses of worship. They have planned
and carried out assassinations of police officers, judges, doctors and civil
rights leaders. They have acquired biological and chemical weapons, illegal
firearms, and explosives. They have carried out killing sprees that terrorize
local communities.
Violent domestic extremists pose a particular danger to law
enforcement officers — not just because you go into dangerous situations, but
because some extremist groups target the police.
In June 2014, two Las Vegas police officers were killed
during an ambush attack while eating lunch. The killers then murdered another
innocent victim. During the attacks, they declared the beginning of a so-called
revolution.
There are many other examples of attacks by criminals fueled
by a pernicious anti-police ideology – Dallas, New York, Baton Rouge,
Kissimmee, and other tragedies.
Domestic terrorism is often motivated by hatred and bigotry.
Last October, three suspects were indicted on federal charges for a plot to
target an apartment complex in Garden City, Kansas, where Somali immigrants
live and worship. The charges include civil rights violations. Those defendants
are now awaiting trial.
In Charlottesville this month, we saw and heard people
openly advocate racism and bigotry. Our Department of Justice responded
immediately. We are working closely with local authorities on potential
criminal civil rights prosecutions.
The First Amendment often protects hateful speech that is
abhorrent to American values. But there can be no safe harbor for violence.
Yesterday, you heard a presentation about Dylann Roof’s
diabolical attack at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in
Charleston, South Carolina. Roof murdered nine innocent and unarmed members of
a Bible study group. He espoused his desire to spark a race war. Roof was
convicted on hate crime charges, and sentenced to death.
We face serious challenges. But we have some very effective
tools to confront terrorists, whether they promote domestic or foreign
ideologies. Our most powerful tools include our Joint Terrorism Task Forces and
fusion centers, which are well represented at this conference. JTTFs operate in
of each of the FBI’s 56 field offices, including Salt Lake City. And there are
79 state and local fusion centers, including Utah’s Statewide Information and
Analysis Center under the leadership of Commissioner Keith Squires. Fusion
centers collaborate with JTTFs to identify, analyze, and share information
about terrorist threats.
The JTTFs include about 4,000 members nationwide from more
than 500 state and local agencies and 55 federal agencies. JTTFs improve
information sharing and help pool the knowledge and talents of our law
enforcement and intelligence agencies.
I saw the value of coordination firsthand when I served as
U.S. Attorney in Maryland. In my current job, I understand better than ever how
JTTFs and fusion centers help maintain a unified and responsive first line of
defense and keep policymakers informed about threats. So I want to thank all of
the JTTF and fusion center members here today. Your outstanding work makes a
difference.
One of our most significant and growing challenges is that
terrorist groups often use encrypted communication channels.
The use of encrypted services poses a novel threat to public
safety. We can disrupt attacks only if we are able to learn about them.
After a terrorist attack, obtaining stored electronic
information is an effective and necessary law enforcement technique. But, as we
saw after the San Bernardino attack, obtaining electronic data can be
time-consuming, expensive, and uncertain if technology providers refuse to
cooperate.
Unfortunately, some companies are unwilling to help enforce
court orders to obtain evidence of criminal activity stored in electronic
devices. I hope that technology companies will work with us to stop criminals
from defeating law enforcement. Otherwise, legislation may be necessary.
We need to preserve cyber security, without depriving law
enforcement of the ability to lawfully access data when lives are at stake and
our Constitution and laws allow it.
Another important challenge is to improve critical incident
response planning. A Highway Patrol Trooper or local police officer may be the
first to encounter a perpetrator or respond to the scene of a terrorist attack,
as we saw following the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, the San Bernardino
attack, and the Boston Marathon bombing. Meanwhile, the FBI may have
intelligence about the suspect and his associates. That intelligence could help
first responders. State and local law enforcement agencies may have
intelligence about suspects and their associates that could prove valuable in
disrupting further attacks. We need to get information to the right people when
they need it.
The hours and days immediately after an attack are chaotic
and consequential. When both state and federal jurisdiction exists, it can be
challenging to coordinate our efforts and avoid duplication. Putting a critical
incident response plan in place ahead of time maximizes our chances of
apprehending the perpetrators and preventing them from doing further harm.
When we remain vigilant and prepare in advance for the
storm, people can sleep when the wind blows. We all sleep better knowing that
law enforcement officers are always on duty.
In conclusion, I want to thank you for participating in this
conference. The threats we face will continue to evolve. Our mission to keep
our neighbors and our communities safe remains the same. And the bravery that
you bring to that mission endures.
Thank you for taking on this challenging work. It is an
honor for me to join with you. I pledge that I will do everything in my power
as Deputy Attorney General to make sure you have the support you need to keep
American safe.
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