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Firefighters in the United States are being trained in counter-terrorist measures and are exchanging intelligence with police and other law enforcement agencies.
Associated Press reports that the department for Homeland Security is working with the New York fire department to share information with firefighters, so they are better prepared to respond to such emergencies. It also trains them how to spot material or behaviour that may indicate terrorist activities.
Critics of the scheme say it might erode the high public standing of American firefighters and might infringe people’s privacy. Unlike the police, firefighters to not need a warrant to enter to enter people’s homes and businesses.
“They’re really doing technical inspections, and if perchance they find something like, you know, a bunch of RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) rounds in somebody’s basement, I think it’s a no-brainer,” Jack Tomarchio, a senior official in Homeland Security’s intelligence division, was reported as saying. “The police ought to know about that; the fire service ought to know about that; and potentially maybe somebody in the intelligence community should know about that.”
The report goes on to confirm that such training has been going on for the past three years, and that it has resulted in “some hits”, according to New York City’s fire chief.
Fire services in Washington DC, Phoenix and Atlanta have also been receiving terrorism related training.
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