WEBVTT 1 00:00:03.439 --> 00:00:06.319 Hi, I'm Ryan Streeter Program Manager for 2 00:00:06.319 --> 00:00:08.480 the "If You See Something, Say Something®" Campaign 3 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:13.040 at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Joining me today is Peter Mina 4 00:00:13.040 --> 00:00:15.760 Deputy Officer for Programs and Compliance at 5 00:00:15.760 --> 00:00:21.080 The Department of Homeland Security's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties or CRCL for short. 6 00:00:21.080 --> 00:00:23.980 Peter thank you for joining me in the series. 7 00:00:25.400 --> 00:00:28.100 Ryan, it's my pleasure. It's really nice to be with you. 8 00:00:28.660 --> 00:00:30.320 For those who are unfamiliar with your 9 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:34.320 organization would you mind providing an overview of CRCL? 10 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:38.239 Sure, my pleasure. So the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, or CRCL, 11 00:00:38.239 --> 00:00:42.399 is an office in DHS headquarters and it's led by a presidential appointee 12 00:00:42.400 --> 00:00:45.380 who reports directly to the Secretary of Homeland Security. 13 00:00:45.380 --> 00:00:48.320 CRCL supports the Department's mission to secure the nation 14 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:52.559 while preserving individual liberty, fairness, and equality under the law. 15 00:00:52.559 --> 00:00:55.760 CRCL integrates civil rights and civil liberties into all the Department's 16 00:00:55.760 --> 00:00:58.160 activities, including the "If You See Something, Say Something®" 17 00:00:58.160 --> 00:01:01.440 program and the Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) initiative 18 00:01:01.440 --> 00:01:05.360 in a number of different ways. First, by promoting respect for civil rights and 19 00:01:05.360 --> 00:01:09.119 civil liberties, and policy development and implementation by advising 20 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:13.040 Department leadership and personnel as well as state and local partners. 21 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:16.080 Second, we communicate with individuals and communities whose civil rights and 22 00:01:16.080 --> 00:01:19.360 civil liberties may be affected by Department's activity by the 23 00:01:19.360 --> 00:01:22.479 Department's activities. We inform them about policies and 24 00:01:22.479 --> 00:01:25.680 avenues of remedy, and we promote appropriate attention within the 25 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:28.220 Department to their experiences and concerns. 26 00:01:28.220 --> 00:01:31.840 In many ways we're the eyes and ears of the Department as it relates to 27 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:35.200 community engagement on still parts of civil liberties issues. Third, we 28 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:37.840 investigate civil rights and civil liberties complaints followed by the 29 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:39.840 public regarding Department programs or 30 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:44.320 activities and we take or actions taken by Department personnel. 31 00:01:44.320 --> 00:01:47.759 And lastly, we lead the Department's equal opportunity programs and promote 32 00:01:47.759 --> 00:01:51.759 workforce diversity and merit systems principles. 33 00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:56.079 So Peter, how have civil rights and civil liberty protections evolved over the 34 00:01:56.079 --> 00:01:59.920 years with suspicious activity reporting? 35 00:02:00.320 --> 00:02:03.759 So what I really want to make clear is what we want you to report 36 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:08.920 is an unattended backpack in a public place or someone trying to break into a restricted area. 37 00:02:08.940 --> 00:02:10.800 What this is not about, what this 38 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:14.800 initiative is not looking for is reports based on someone's beliefs, 39 00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:17.599 their thoughts, their ideas, their expressions. 40 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:21.120 And it's also not about their ethnicity, their race, their gender, 41 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:26.260 their national origin, their religion, their sexual orientation, or their gender identity. 42 00:02:26.260 --> 00:02:32.160 We're focused on actions not the characteristics that make you who you are. 43 00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:39.360 So Peter, you know, you talk about what protections we have in place and I 44 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:43.040 guess my next question would be, you know, what have we learned and what 45 00:02:43.040 --> 00:02:46.780 progress have we made to get to those protections? 46 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:50.560 Well Ryan, when the SAR Initiative was first stood up many years ago 47 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:55.040 CRCL repeatedly heard from organizations, community leaders, academics, and others 48 00:02:55.040 --> 00:02:58.400 expressing significant concerns that such initiatives would lead to 49 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:01.360 constitutionally protected behavior automatically being considered 50 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:05.040 suspicious and that individuals would be reported based solely on protected 51 00:03:05.040 --> 00:03:08.400 characteristics such as their ethnicity or their religion. 52 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:12.239 CRCL held engagement efforts across the country to listen to those 53 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:14.620 concerns and we took them seriously. 54 00:03:14.620 --> 00:03:17.920 We used information from these engagements to inform our oversight of the SAR 55 00:03:17.920 --> 00:03:22.000 Initiative and incorporate that information into our training of personnel. 56 00:03:22.520 --> 00:03:24.159 In the last several years, due to those 57 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:27.280 efforts, there's been a general acceptance of the SAR Initiative and 58 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:29.200 the See Something, Say Something Campaign®. 59 00:03:29.200 --> 00:03:32.239 We've had a number of organizations, community leaders across the country 60 00:03:32.239 --> 00:03:36.480 actively promoting those programs as I think we've moved the needle 61 00:03:36.480 --> 00:03:40.480 from getting people you know concerned about reporting constitutional protected 62 00:03:40.480 --> 00:03:43.040 activity and really focusing more on those 63 00:03:43.040 --> 00:03:47.440 actions that we were talking about earlier. The unattended backpack 64 00:03:47.440 --> 00:03:50.600 or the breaking into a facility. 65 00:03:51.320 --> 00:03:57.300 So, what is an unknown fact or misconception about suspicious activity reporting that you would like to address? 66 00:03:58.380 --> 00:03:59.920 Thanks, Ryan. One of the things I really want to 67 00:03:59.920 --> 00:04:02.319 highlight for folks is the existence and importance of 68 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:05.439 following the vetting process and that's really the top thing that we 69 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:08.640 emphasize with DHS personnel as well as our partners. 70 00:04:08.640 --> 00:04:13.620 It's a much more involved process than just typing up a report and logging it into a database. 71 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:15.920 That serves neither our counterterrorism 72 00:04:15.920 --> 00:04:19.880 mission or our duty to protect privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties. 73 00:04:20.440 --> 00:04:23.759 And there's really a two-step vetting process for every report. A 74 00:04:23.760 --> 00:04:27.280 trained analyst or investigator first assesses whether the information 75 00:04:27.280 --> 00:04:31.040 includes suspicious behavior based on the analyst's training and experience 76 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:34.900 and the list of 16 suspicious activity behavior criteria. 77 00:04:34.900 --> 00:04:38.080 And second, they assess whether based on the context facts and 78 00:04:38.080 --> 00:04:41.120 circumstances the information as a potential nexus is 79 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:44.880 terrorism. In addition, throughout the life cycle from receiving the initial 80 00:04:44.880 --> 00:04:47.120 report through vetting and of course compliance 81 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:51.520 reviews analysts, investigators, and oversight personnel ensure that 82 00:04:51.520 --> 00:04:56.400 SAR is consistent with privacy, civil rights, and civil liberty standards. 83 00:04:56.400 --> 00:05:00.000 It's been phenomenal having you here. I again cannot thank you enough for 84 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:02.240 joining and you know we look forward to 85 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:06.400 continuing the partnership and promoting the great work that CRCL does. 86 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:08.960 Absolutely, Ryan. It's one of the things 87 00:05:08.960 --> 00:05:22.000 that we're really proud of and can't wait to continue to do it.