Terrorism

        Shortly after the tragic events of September 11th, realizing the need for increased coordination between federal, state, and local law enforcement entities, as well as the intelligence community, the Attorney General issued a number of directives to Department components to increase our ability to combat terrorism.

        These directives addressed: (1) increasing information sharing both within the Department and with other government agencies, including state and local law enforcement; (2) advancing the mission to disrupt, weaken and eliminate terrorist networks, prevent or thwart terrorist attacks, and bring to justice the perpetrators of terrorist acts; (3) making determinations on sharing such information, in accordance with the new information sharing authorities under the USA PATRIOT Act, with appropriate law enforcement and national security personnel; and, (3) in each federal judicial district, the U.S. attorney to designate a chief information officer (CIO) in order to centralize the process by which information relevant to the investigation and prosecution of terrorists can be shared with state and local officials.

        Accordingly, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas established an Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council (ATAC) to develop and maintain a network within the local, state and federal law enforcement community to support and assist the District in these endeavors.

        The ATAC works in partnership with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) who retains primary responsibility for terrorism investigations. The ATAC coordinator and the ATAC chief information officer further coordinate information sharing with federal, state, and local law enforcement and intelligence agencies regarding international and domestic terrorism investigations.

        The anti-terrorism assistant U.S. attorney for the district is the ATAC coordinator and the district intelligenct specialist is the ATAC chief information officer.

        The Western District of Arkansas ATAC membership is open to any local, state or federal law enforcement agency within the District. For more information regarding the ATAC, contact the ATAC chief information officer.

        Information regarding any suspected activity involving international terrorism or domestic terrorism should immediately be reported directly to the nearest FBI office.