Cops need to be more aggressive, expert says
Retired policeman says authorities need to ‘push the envelope’ in order to nab terrorists and gangsters.
By JAMES AMOS
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
Pipe bomber Lucas Helder was stopped by police three times during his five-state bombing spree in 2002 - including once in Fowler.
But none of the officers searched his car, according to gang and terrorist expert Sgt. Lou Savelli, who spoke in Pueblo to an estimated 450 law enforcement officials about terrorism Monday. Six people were injured by the Helder bombs, which were strategically planted around the country to make a "smiley face" pattern on a map.
"Had one cop searched his car, they would have found the pipe bombs he was using," the now-retired Savelli said.
He was the first of several speakers scheduled to address a three-day Colorado STING conference being held in Pueblo. The convention is a yearly meeting that brings law enforcement officials together to trade gang information and information-gathering techniques.
Street cops and others haven't always seen the connection between law enforcement and combating terrorists, Savelli said. But it's foolish not to, he added.
"I don't personally care if it's not in your job description," Savelli said. "I never asked for permission. I just did it."
Savelli was a member of a New York police unit that was formed following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. The unit quickly established more than 40 Middle Eastern informants and made scores of arrests.
Talking about the attacks on the trade center's twin towers, Savelli said the United States had several indications that the attacks were coming. But the country sat unprepared, he said, because federal officers couldn't get permission to search further and because local law enforcement didn't see anti-terrorism as its job.
Savelli, who now heads a security firm, said it is everyday cops, probation officers, prison guards and sheriff deputies that make up the real front in the war against terrorism.
Several of the hijackers responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks had been stopped by police for traffic infractions, but later let go, Savelli said.
One of them, Mohammed Atta, was stopped a month before the attacks. He was released with a traffic ticket because no one searched a national computer database that would have shown he was wanted for an unpaid traffic ticket several months earlier.
Savelli said he never stopped cars just to write traffic tickets when he worked as a patrol officer.
"I stopped cars for the purpose of getting into the car, or finding a bad guy," he said. "You have to push the envelope."
Pushing the envelope was one of two major messages in Savelli's talk.
Gang members and terrorists are constantly changing and improving their techniques, he said, so law enforcement must push the limits, too, even if that means pushing up against a suspect's civil rights.
Savelli said one of the Sept. 11 hijackers was contacted by federal agents before the attacks, but the agents couldn't get permission to search his laptop computer.
What would a street cop have done? he asked. Seize it anyway to make sure it wasn't a bomb.
"Would we have been violating his civil rights? Who gives a (expletive)?" he said.
Had the laptop been searched, it probably would have had plans or photos connected to the attacks, he said.
"I don't remember one day on the streets I didn't break a rule, break a law," Savelli said. "Rules are made to be bent."
Aside from using more gusto, Savelli said local law enforcement needs to look around more at its community.
Criminal and terrorist gangs are joining forces and have changed how they operate, he said.
Hezbolla and Hamas raise billions of dollars in America each year by working low-risk, low-penalty crime rackets in unlicensed cigarettes, unlicensed alcohol, stolen baby formula, stolen credit cards and a score of others, he claimed.
They know that guns and drugs attract cops and lead to long prison sentences, Savelli said.
In one instance, Middle Eastern shopkeepers hired Crips gang members to shoplift baby formula. The shopkeepers bought the formula from the gang members cheaply and then resold it at their corner stores for full retail price, he said. Part of the profits went to Middle East extremist groups.
In New York and many other parts of the country, the vast majority of small grocery and convenience stores are owned by Middle Eastern people, Savelli said. To get at the bad ones, cops need to find and prosecute even the low-level crimes and turn those criminals into informants.
Because when America law enforcement focuses on the right thing, and shares information between agencies and jurisdictions, he said, "there's no stopping us."
http://www.chieftain.com/metro/1153877807/4
Makes you wonder:barf:
good = he is no longer an LEO
bad = he is speaking and teaching other LEO's, and it seems they are listening.
Retired policeman says authorities need to ‘push the envelope’ in order to nab terrorists and gangsters.
By JAMES AMOS
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
Pipe bomber Lucas Helder was stopped by police three times during his five-state bombing spree in 2002 - including once in Fowler.
But none of the officers searched his car, according to gang and terrorist expert Sgt. Lou Savelli, who spoke in Pueblo to an estimated 450 law enforcement officials about terrorism Monday. Six people were injured by the Helder bombs, which were strategically planted around the country to make a "smiley face" pattern on a map.
"Had one cop searched his car, they would have found the pipe bombs he was using," the now-retired Savelli said.
He was the first of several speakers scheduled to address a three-day Colorado STING conference being held in Pueblo. The convention is a yearly meeting that brings law enforcement officials together to trade gang information and information-gathering techniques.
Street cops and others haven't always seen the connection between law enforcement and combating terrorists, Savelli said. But it's foolish not to, he added.
"I don't personally care if it's not in your job description," Savelli said. "I never asked for permission. I just did it."
Savelli was a member of a New York police unit that was formed following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. The unit quickly established more than 40 Middle Eastern informants and made scores of arrests.
Talking about the attacks on the trade center's twin towers, Savelli said the United States had several indications that the attacks were coming. But the country sat unprepared, he said, because federal officers couldn't get permission to search further and because local law enforcement didn't see anti-terrorism as its job.
Savelli, who now heads a security firm, said it is everyday cops, probation officers, prison guards and sheriff deputies that make up the real front in the war against terrorism.
Several of the hijackers responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks had been stopped by police for traffic infractions, but later let go, Savelli said.
One of them, Mohammed Atta, was stopped a month before the attacks. He was released with a traffic ticket because no one searched a national computer database that would have shown he was wanted for an unpaid traffic ticket several months earlier.
Savelli said he never stopped cars just to write traffic tickets when he worked as a patrol officer.
"I stopped cars for the purpose of getting into the car, or finding a bad guy," he said. "You have to push the envelope."
Pushing the envelope was one of two major messages in Savelli's talk.
Gang members and terrorists are constantly changing and improving their techniques, he said, so law enforcement must push the limits, too, even if that means pushing up against a suspect's civil rights.
Savelli said one of the Sept. 11 hijackers was contacted by federal agents before the attacks, but the agents couldn't get permission to search his laptop computer.
What would a street cop have done? he asked. Seize it anyway to make sure it wasn't a bomb.
"Would we have been violating his civil rights? Who gives a (expletive)?" he said.
Had the laptop been searched, it probably would have had plans or photos connected to the attacks, he said.
"I don't remember one day on the streets I didn't break a rule, break a law," Savelli said. "Rules are made to be bent."
Aside from using more gusto, Savelli said local law enforcement needs to look around more at its community.
Criminal and terrorist gangs are joining forces and have changed how they operate, he said.
Hezbolla and Hamas raise billions of dollars in America each year by working low-risk, low-penalty crime rackets in unlicensed cigarettes, unlicensed alcohol, stolen baby formula, stolen credit cards and a score of others, he claimed.
They know that guns and drugs attract cops and lead to long prison sentences, Savelli said.
In one instance, Middle Eastern shopkeepers hired Crips gang members to shoplift baby formula. The shopkeepers bought the formula from the gang members cheaply and then resold it at their corner stores for full retail price, he said. Part of the profits went to Middle East extremist groups.
In New York and many other parts of the country, the vast majority of small grocery and convenience stores are owned by Middle Eastern people, Savelli said. To get at the bad ones, cops need to find and prosecute even the low-level crimes and turn those criminals into informants.
Because when America law enforcement focuses on the right thing, and shares information between agencies and jurisdictions, he said, "there's no stopping us."
http://www.chieftain.com/metro/1153877807/4
Makes you wonder:barf:
good = he is no longer an LEO
bad = he is speaking and teaching other LEO's, and it seems they are listening.
Mentioning the LEO violated the speed on the road to catch them:barf: 
