International Journal on Criminology Volume 4, Number 2, Winter 2016 | Page 19

Answering the Terrorism Challenge
fast, in useable fashion, and to whoever needed it without waiting for a
partner to ask for it.
-----Fifth, the Intelligence Division leaders responsible for managing
Operation Sentry were committed to a “no surprises” policy; any activity
the Intelligence Division undertook in a member’s territory was always done
with the knowledge and, when needed, help of the partner in place. The
policy was unambiguous and strongly supported by every Operation Sentry
MOS and partner.
And the results were remarkable. Examples include, but are not limited to,
the following:
-----The Pimentel case as well as a case involving a financial associate
of the Blind Sheik, an individual linked to Hamas’ senior U.S. fund raiser
and the suspected sanctioner of Rashid Baz who killed Ari Halberstam,
all emerged from CI leads obtained in conjunction with upstate New York
Police Departments.
-----Multiple terrorism-related investigations, arrests, and convictions
resulted from joint efforts with Suffolk and Nassau County PDs, authorized
investigative surveillance was done in consort with New Jersey PDs, and
dozens of cyber leads produced by the Intelligence Division Cyber Unit
were shared with local Police Departments around the country as well as the
Federal Government.
Private Sector Partnerships
Almost from the beginning of the re-engineered Intelligence Division a
program was begun to reach out to the private sector to engage it in “watching
out” for any anomalous purchase that should raise concern about possible terrorist
activity. The following steps were taken to this end:
-----First, material that could be used in a terrorist plot were identified
based on events overseas and a careful scrub of information available to
anyone on the Internet.
-----Second, businesses that bought, sold, inventoried, or transported
such material were identified throughout the tristate area—New York, New
Jersey, and Connecticut.
-----Teams of detectives were deployed to visit each of these locations
and meet with managers and/or staff who were:
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