International Journal on Criminology Volume 4, Number 2, Winter 2016 | Page 13

Answering the Terrorism Challenge
enforcement was asking about his son.
-----In this case, as trial transcripts show, Zazi had already terminated
the plot the night before the alerting phone call was made; as he states at
trial, he realized he was under surveillance, especially when he faced an
FBI- directed Port Authority car stop at the George Washington Bridge
following a 100-hour drive from Denver to New York City. The case, with
all its complications, demonstrates the depth of the NYPD informant cadre
it could call on in time of need.
The Division developed and instituted an unparalleled vetting process for
confidential informants used in the antiterrorism program. Operational testing was
rigorous and continuous to assure that informants were not merely reporting what
they thought their investigator handlers wanted to hear or were trying to “dirty up”
someone the informant wanted to harm. Their reporting streams were constantly
reviewed for inconsistencies in what was already known about a target; a stringent
mechanism was established that evaluated the ability of the investigators to manage
their informants in the best way. Nothing was left to chance as the review process
itself consisted of the most experienced talent in the Division. These reviews were
hard-hitting and focused—it was not “checking off the box”.
Civilian Analysts are Critical
The Division hired its first civilian analyst by spring 2002. He was a Merchant
Marine Academy graduate as the Division was concerned about operatives entering
New York City via the port and needed knowledge in this arena. Meanwhile, the
Police Commissioner wanted and got a robust civilian analyst cadre embedded in
the Division. The proviso was that they come from the best schools with relevant
backgrounds. In relatively short order, the NYPD Intelligence Division civilian
analyst program became a powerful force multiplier and, in the view of many who
worked with them, unmatched, person for person, anywhere in law enforcement.
They quickly became essential to the counterterrorism intelligence investigative
program.
The blending of civilian analysts with investigators was neither automatic nor
natural. The civilian cadre typically came from Harvard, Columbia, and Georgetown
quality graduate schools. They preferred intelligence work in New York City over
Washington, DC for any number of reasons, but they were not yet intelligence
analysts. That came only with grinding experience and an appreciation that groundlevel
analysis—what someone was saying to someone else in an apartment in
Brooklyn, Queens, or Staten Island, for example—was what mattered most. They
made the adjustment and came to play a powerful role in pursuing investigations and
bringing them to prosecution.
Their intelligence, diligence, and creativity quickly won the respect of the
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