WEBSTER URGES STREAMLINING FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT

Commission Wants To Consolidate FBI, DEA, ATF

The federal government has a disorganized patchwork of 148 separate law
enforcement entities, making the nation more vulnerable to terrorist
attacks and creating the urgent need for streamlining and consolidation of
power, former FBI and CIA director William H. Webster told Congress yesterday.

Webster, who chaired a congressionally chartered panel that studied ways to
enhance the nation's crime-fighting ability, said the attorney general
needs broad new authority over all aspects of federal law enforcement. He
also argued for empowering the FBI by giving it control over the Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the enforcement functions of the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), a part of the Treasury
Department.

"The risks and probabilities of our experiencing major terrorist threats
continue to grow," Webster told the Senate Judiciary Committee's
subcommittee on criminal justice oversight. "These suggestions have been
made before, but there is increased urgency that they be considered due to
terrorism and global crime. It is not an effort to aggrandize one agency
over another . . . but to create less confusion and more effective results."

If recent history is any guide, Webster's Commission on the Advancement of
Federal Law Enforcement is unlikely to achieve the transfer of authority
that the panel recommended. Although Webster characterized the overlapping
anti-drug efforts of the FBI and the DEA as "ripe for unnecessary trouble,"
the idea of putting the agencies together was raised during President
Clinton's first term and dropped after political turf fights.

Yesterday, the idea of giving the FBI more power met with skepticism from
legislators who raised the question of whether having separate law
enforcement agencies was better than the possibility of creating something
akin to a national police force. The recommendations also drew sharp
criticism from Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), who argued that the drop
in the crime rate over the past seven years shows that law enforcement at
the federal level does not need to be overhauled.

Schumer said the panel's 185-page report deserves "careful consideration"
but made it clear he is adamantly opposed to giving the FBI control over
the DEA and the ATF.

"These crime trends do not indicate a need for major restructuring,"
Schumer said.

The panel also suggested giving all new federal criminal laws a sunset
provision and warned against federalizing crimes that can be handled
locally because the federal government must focus more attention on
fighting terrorism and other threats.

Among the 148 separate law enforcement units cited in the report are four
police forces, separate law enforcement entities protecting the judicial
branch, quasi-official agencies such as Amtrak and the Smithsonian
Institution, and military and police functions in every branch of the armed
services. The list cites investigative services for the General Accounting
Office, the Government Printing Office and the Library of Congress, as well
as every separate inspector general's office within federal agencies.

The inability of the Capitol Police and the Park Police to communicate by
radio is "shocking," and evidence of the need for better coordination, said
Gilbert E. Gallegos, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police.
Gallegos said federal law enforcement needs to do a much better job sharing
information and intelligence with officials across the country because
local police, fire and emergency medical personnel will likely be the first
ones to respond to any terrorist attack.

"If there is a will to make federal law enforcement better," he said, "this
report is a start."