FBI Proposes Building Network of U.S. Informants

FBI Proposes Building Network of U.S. Informants


July 25, 2007 1:01 PM

Justin Rood Reports:

The FBI is taking cues from the CIA to recruit thousands of covert informants in the United States as part of a sprawling effort to boost its intelligence capabilities.

According to a recent unclassified report to Congress, the FBI expects its informants to provide secrets about possible terrorists and foreign spies, although some may also be expected to aid with criminal investigations, in the tradition of law enforcement confidential informants. The FBI did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

The FBI said the push was driven by a 2004 directive from President Bush ordering the bureau to improve its counterterrorism efforts by boosting its human intelligence capabilities.

The aggressive push for more secret informants appears to be part of a new effort to grow its intelligence and counterterrorism efforts. Other recent proposals include expanding its collection and analysis of data on U.S. persons, retaining years' worth of Americans' phone records and even increasing so-called "black bag" secret entry operations.

To handle the increase in so-called human sources, the FBI also plans to overhaul its database system, so it can manage records and verify the accuracy of information from "more than 15,000" informants, according to the document. While many of the recruited informants will apparently be U.S. residents, some informants may be overseas, recruited by FBI agents in foreign offices, the report indicates.

The total cost of the effort tops $22 million, according to the document.

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http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/07/fbi-proposes-bu.html

Lovely.

Erich Mielke? Erich Honecker? Oh yeah, the STASI

I'd be so disappointed if my son ever drops a dime on me to the FBI.

Always a lack of money for a national healthcare system, feeding our poor, help for people with disbilities, etc..

Say, didn't Saddam have an extensive network of "secret informants"?

Or Savak, for those of you who know their Iranian history.

Or the Stasi.

But it most definitely should not be the U.S.A.

15,000 informants is another way of saying Total Information Awareness...neighbors spying on neighbors. Under Bush, these guys will be fingering liberals for all kinds of "subversive" behavior, like talking bad about Mr. Dictator and stuff. Followed by an intimidating visit by the F.B.I. just like what happened before the RNC meeting in NYC to certain notble acitivsts.

Allow this to fester and entrench itself long enough, and they will start rounding people up for detainment.