HOMELAND POLICE USING FIRE DEPARTMENTS TO SPY ILLEGALLY ON CITIZENS

NATIONAL TERROR ALERT - Firefighters in major cities around the country are being trained for a new role in the fight against terrorism. . . As lookouts. Unlike police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel don't need warrants to enter a building. And now, they are being asked to keep an eye out for suspicious items like building blueprints or bomb-making materials that could be a sign of terrorist activity or planning.

The Department of Homeland Security began testing a program in December with the New York City fire department. It's sharing intelligence information so firefighters are better prepared when they respond to emergency calls and it's training them to identify materials and behavior that may indicate terrorist activities.

AP - The American Civil Liberties Union says using firefighters to gather intelligence is another step in that direction. Mike German, a former FBI agent who is now national security policy counsel to the ACLU, said the concept is dangerously close to the Bush administration's 2002 proposal to have workers with access to private homes such as postal carriers and telephone repairmen report suspicious behavior to the FBI. "Americans universally abhorred that idea," German said. . .

As part of the program, which started last December, Homeland Security gave secret clearances to nine New York fire chiefs, according to reports obtained by The Associated Press. . .

When going to private residences, for example, they are told to be alert for a person who is hostile, uncooperative or expressing hate or discontent with the United States; unusual chemicals or other materials that seem out of place; ammunition, firearms or weapons boxes; surveillance equipment; still and video cameras; night-vision goggles; maps, photos, blueprints; police manuals, training manuals, flight manuals; and little or no furniture other than a bed or mattress.