FBI BALANCES NEW, OLD ROLES

Catching terrorists may be the FBI's new number one priority but in
Connecticut it has been nailing corrupt politicians, breaking up violent
drug gangs and putting away corrupt financiers.

Each in their own way has been as much a threat to the state's safety and
well being as a terrorist trained in Afghanistan. Those who have any doubts
should take a look at the videotapes of drug gangs that took over the
streets at the beginning of the 1990s.

Combating public corruption is now ranked fourth on a new list of FBI
priorities unveiled last week by Robert S. Mueller III. The fight against
violent crime is now ranked the eighth highest priority.

The new top three FBI priorities involve terrorism, espionage and intelligence.

The FBI, CIA and other government agencies have to do a better job of
assessing and linking information.

It makes sense for the Justice Department to lift restrictions on the FBI's
spying capabilities. Field offices can now open terrorism investigations
instead of waiting months for approval from Washington. Agents should be
able to surf the Internet, just like the public, to search for evidence of
terrorism.

But a massive increase in intelligence staff and the end of restrictions
that have kept agents without reasonable suspicion from trolling in the
public domain raise the unpleasant prospect of the return of the "red squad."

The new policies allow agents, without probable cause, to conduct
surveillance of public events, enter churches and mosques and rifle through
the mass of health, financial and business data that is readily available.

All this is legal. But the last time the Justice Department allowed such
broad domestic spying, it degenerated into dirty tricks against civil
rights leaders, most notably the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and heavy
handed monitoring of the Vietnam anti-war movement.

Americans value their privacy and would resent a government presence that
could chill their rights to free speech and association.

The FBI will have to balance the national security imperative to stop
terrorism with fully respecting citizens' constitutional rights. At the
same time, the shift in priorities should not detract from the valuable
work it has done in states like Connecticut to keep streets safe and
politicians honest.