Gig Harbor police to share data

The News Tribune
Aug. 24, 2005

Gig Harbor police could be the latest to join a multi-agency effort to share information and squelch potential terrorist activity.

The City Council voted recently to join the Law Enforcement Information Exchange, known as “Linx.” Spurred by intelligence lapses leading up to the Sept. 11 attacks, the system keeps a database of investigative information from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in the Puget Sound area.

The system’s governing board is expected to formally accept the Maritime City in September.

Linx has a roster of more than 30 departments and is funded by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Tacoma Police and the Sheriff’s Office are the only other contributors from Pierce County.

For Gig Harbor, membership in Linx has more to do with location than with any readily identifiable terrorist threat. The Navy started its system with communities around the Puget Sound, particularly near military bases in Bremerton, Everett and Whidbey Island.

One day its organizers hope it will reach all corners of the state. It’s already connected to law enforcement agencies in Spokane.

Gig Harbor’s biggest benefit is immediate access to information from nearby police departments, said City Administrator Mark Hoppen. Without Linx, police might contact several agencies individually before getting information on a suspect.

“It only makes sense for us,” he said.

There are other national warehouses of police databases, said Lee Fritchman, special agent in charge of the Navy investigation service’s Silverdale office.

What’s significant about Linx is the way it incorporates branches of the federal Department of Justice, he said.

For the first time, local police can access information from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Prisons.

Mark Knutson is assistant director of the Law Enforcement Support Agency, Pierce County’s 911 dispatch center. It keeps records similar to the ones provided by Linx but only for Pierce County law enforcement.

“It’s a greater version of what LESA is,” he said of Linx. “It’s like another tool.”

A couple of years ago, it appeared that an early incarnation of the Linx system wouldn’t even get off the ground. The FBI started it in response to criticism that law enforcement had information on the Sept. 11 attackers but wasn’t sharing it.

The program eventually faded, sparking concern from Puget Sound law enforcement. The Northwest, with its military bases and proximity to the Canadian border, was repeatedly mentioned as a potential target for another attack.

The fear prompted about a dozen Puget Sound agencies to start their own database warehouse.

Linx started running locally by 2004, and the Department of Justice officially joined this month.

John McKay, U.S. Attorney General for Western Washington, said a suspected terrorist is more likely to run into local police than a FBI agent.

Linx informs those officers that the feds are investigating the suspect, something they might not have known otherwise.

The Department of Justice won’t disclose everything. Classified and top secret files will remain sealed. Files on international and domestic terrorism, foreign intelligence, public corruption and civil rights investigations won’t be shared, McKay said.

Gig Harbor City Councilman Jim Franich cast the lone vote against his police department’s membership, saying it is unfortunate that Sept. 11 has meant some residents have lost their Fourth Amendment rights to be safe from unlawful search and seizure.

Linx might not directly violate that right, but it’s part of a trend that’s “getting totally out of hand,” Franich said.

Those familiar with the system insist it shares only information that’s already been collected by law enforcement. Alone, it doesn’t give officers enough probable cause for an arrest.

“This is not a Big-Brother system,” Fritchman said. “It’s a good model for information-sharing.”