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Date: 22 Sep 90 04:02:57 GMT
From: Anonymous
Subject: Why the FBI should be concerned about the Secret Service

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***  CuD #2.04: File 3 of 7: The FBI and the Secret Service      ***
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Rumors have it that the FBI is not very happy with the way the secret
service is conducting investigations. According to the rumors, the FBI
thinks it's hampering their own investigations and making it more difficult
to go prosecute big time criminals.  Here's the gist of the arguments.

PROFESSIONALISM:  When the FBI was investigating the nuPrometheus
League's alleged involvement in theft and distribution of Apple Software,
the people they visited had very different experiences than those the
secret service visited.  The FBI was, so it's said, was polite, courteous,
and generally professional. They didn't try to act like they knew more than
they did, and they didn't try to intimidate those they questioned.  In a
case related to Sun Devil, an FBI agent stopped by to just chat and
discussed some of the tactics used by the secret service and didn't seem at
all happy about either their methods or their competence. If one agency
isn't professional, it makes people less willing to cooperate with members
of other agencies when they come around.

JURISDICTION:  The FBI and secret service have jurisdiction over computer
crimes under the 1986 federal law outline computer crimes. The FBI
generally investigates crimes involving break-ins at government offices or
military installations, or in which the government is the target. The
secret service is involved with investigating crimes involving access
devices, which generally means crimes employing a modem to get into other
computers or rip-off telecom companies. There may be a jurisdictional fight
going on, and the secret service may be trying to expand the scope of its
activities.  If successful, it means more visibility, more appropriations,
more staff, and more glory. This might explain why there was so much
initial publicity over the hacker busts this year and why they are go after
relatively easy targets.

RIGHTS: The FBI probably has far more experience in the subtleties of
questioning than the secret service, and they are more likely to know the
limits of what they can and can't do. The secret service, by contrast, has
relatively young agents doing the investigation, and some of those
responsible for the Sun Devil investigation who were in the field doing the
searches are said to have as little as two or three years total experience
and little field experience. Lacking an experienced agent-in-charge, it's
more likely that rights will be violated by young agents who simply don't
know any better. Most people don't distinguish between FBI and secret
service, so if rights are violated all government agencies are tainted. The
FBI has been criticized in the past for violation the rights of political
groups in the 1960s and the 1970s, and has been caught violating the rights
of groups sympathetic to Latin American countries the Reagan administration
opposed in the 1980s. They don't need the aggravation of another agency
renewing the issues of constitutional rights and further limiting the scope
of their power to investigate.

BACKLASH:  If a backlash occurs against the secret service, the FBI will
also feel it.  If restrictions are placed on what agencies are allowed to
do as a response to abuses, the FBI would itself become a victim of the
secret service because of new laws and policies that restrict their powers.
A backlash could also result in negative publicity that would reduce the
dangers of serious computer crime by creating a "cry wolf" scenario in
which so many non-threats were publicized that real threats would go
unheeded.  A final consequence of backlash could be reduction in
appropriations for combating technological crimes. How can any agency
expect to present a convincing argument that there are dangerous computer
crooks out there when the experience with the secret service has an image
of focusing on juvenile delinquents who abuse credit cards or is involved
in publicized trials where the defendant has the charges dropped during a
prosecutor's arguments?

It's one thing for the secret service to wind up with egg on its face, but
when they splatter other enforcement agencies and tarnish them as well it
doesn't help those agencies. There are many sincere government agents who
respect the law and individuals' rights.  Let's keep in mind that, although
prohibited from speaking out publicly, those agents and their agencies,
whether investigators or other federal prosecutors, should be seen as
upholders of law and not violators of it.

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