04:33 PM PDT on Friday, April 22, 2005

By kgw.com and AP Staff

Mayor Tom Potter proposed that two Portland Police Bureau officers pull out of the anti-terror task force after he and the Federal Bureau of Investigation failed to resolve their disagreements about how much access city leaders should have to top-secret information.

AP

Portland Mayor Tom Potter, left, and Robert Jordan, the FBI's special agent in charge for Oregon, appear at a news conference at City Hall in Portland.

Robert Jordan, the FBI's special agent in charge for Oregon, said as far as he knows Portland will be the first city in the nation to withdraw its officers from a Joint Terrorism Task Force -- FBI partnerships with local police forces that exist across the country.

Potter joined Foxworth, FBI Special Agent in Charge Bob Jordan and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kent Robinson at a City Hall news conference on Friday to announce the proposed resolution

But Portland doesn’t plan to cut its ties completely with the JTTF.

The two officers who have been with the JTTF will be re-assigned to the Portland police’s criminal intelligence unit and will assist the FBI on a case-by-case basis.

And the Portland police chief will remain on a committee that is briefed on the work of the task force, he said.

“I am not severing our ties with our federal partners – only changing them,” Potter said on Friday, adding that he had received “personal assurances” from Jordan that the FBI would continue to work with police.

Jordan conceded he and Potter had failed to overcome their differences over giving higher security clearance to the mayor.

"Unfortunately, despite all of our best efforts, we are unable to find a solution that is mutually acceptable," Jordan said in letter to Potter that was released by city officials on Friday.

Two council members -- Randy Leonard and Erik Sten -- said they will support Potter's resolution, giving the mayor a majority. The resolution is expected to come for a vote next week.

City commissioners delayed a vote on March 31 to pull officers from the JTTF in order to continue talks with the FBI. The resolution was also backed overwhelmingly by members of the public who gave testimony that night.

A former police chief, Potter had argued the only way to maintain adequate civilian oversight of the city officers assigned to the task force was to raise his clearance to the same level given the officers.

Otherwise, he said, there was the potential they could overstep their authority under state law while acting for a federal agency.

The two police officers who have been part of the anti-terror task force will retain top secret clearances, but those clearances will only be used in emergencies. If a threat arose, the FBI plans to brief the mayor and police chief.

AP

Portland Mayor Tom Potter, left, and Robert Jordan, FBI special agent in charge for Oregon, who have had past differences in sharing Portland police officers and information in the Joint Terrorism Task Force, appear at a news conference.

The city and the FBI said in the eight years police have been part of the JTTF, Portland officers never taken part in a top secret investigation. The resolution calls for the two officers to participate only in lower-tier, secret investigations that must comply with Oregon law. The law prohibits police from gathering information on people because of their political or religious beliefs.

The mayor and police chief will supervise the officers during secret-level probes.

Portland’s police chief will have secret clearance and be part of the executive group overseeing the JTTF. It will also be the chief’s responsibility to report to the mayor after executive group briefings. And the mayor will be allowed to apply for secret clearance.

In addition, Potter and the city won assurances from U.S. Attorney Karen Immergut and Jordan that the city will remain eligible for federal grants to fight terror, despite its new relationship with the JTTF.

Portland is not the only Oregon community on the FBI's local Joint Terrorism Task Force. Surrounding communities also have police officers on the team.

But in left-leaning Portland, many people have expressed mistrust of the FBI, especially after local attorney Brandon Mayfield was arrested last year on suspicion of involvement in the Madrid train bombings and the FBI later admitted it had made a mistake.

Jordan made a rare public apology on behalf of the FBI for the mistake, but Mayfield has sued the federal government.

The fact that Mayfield is a convert to Islam also raised criticism that the FBI and the Justice Department could use the task force to target individuals for their political or religious beliefs.

But Robinson, standing in for Immergut, said the task force is used only in criminal investigations.

"I want to say that clearly and emphatically," Robinson said.

He noted that the Patriot Act, despite "hotly disputed" interpretations of its reach, "has numerous provisions that explicitly state that those tools cannot be used for investigations purely for political or religious beliefs. That's just not happening."

Following his election last November, the mayor had a series of meetings with the FBI and the staff of U.S. Attorney Immergut to reach a compromise allowing the officers to remain with the task force. Some of the meetings included Dave Fidanque, Oregon director the American Civil Liberties Union, at Immergut's request.

"We've been very concerned about cities and counties essentially flying blind in terms of the responsibilities they have under state law and the state constitution," Fidanque said.

He pointed out that Immergut, who is the chief federal prosecutor in Oregon, cannot advise Portland police officers on how to apply Oregon law or the Oregon constitution.

Immergut and other U.S. attorneys representing the Justice Department in each state "can provide legal advice on federal law, but it's not the role of the federal government to make sure that local officials are complying with state and local laws," Fidanque said.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski said he was "pleased" that Portland and federal law enforcement agencies came to some understanding.

"We can better protect our residents when we all communicate and participate fully in the process to uncover and thwart those who would terrorize," Kulongoski said. "We still have that ability, and I am hopeful that the city, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney can continue discussions and work toward full participation and cooperation."