Kristian Williams - Our Enemies in Blue - Police and Power in America

tapped, then admitted that it was but refused to tmn over the records on "nationalsecurity" grounds, and finally produced the records-except for those from theperiod relevant to the murder case, which they claimed were lost{,/)Pratt was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.The conviction rested on the testimony of Julius Butler, a former party memberwho claimed that Pratt had admitted to the murder. The prosecutor failed tomention that his key witness was on the police payroll, and Butler vehementlydenied it under oath, saying he'd "never been in all the world a snitch."!>! Yearslater, documents surfaced identifying Butler as a paid informant for the FBI,LAPD , and District Attorney's office.At about this same time, the Justice Department's Interdivisional InformationUnit (lDIU) provided the means for intelligence agencies at all levels, and fromaround the country, to share information. According the Church report, thisestablished a system through whichthe Attorney General received the benefits of information gathered bynumerous agencies, without setting limits to intelligence reporting orproviding clear policy guidance. Each component of the structure-FBI,Army, !DIU, local police, and many others-set its own generalized standardsand priorities, resulting in excessive collection of information aboutlaw abiding citizensYNor was this the extent of federal involvement Throughout the late 1960s NewYork City's red squad gave daily briefings to Army intelligence.6R In Chicago,the U.S. Army Region I, 113th Military Intelligence Group not only trained andtraded information with the local police, but participated in interrogations.69Never willing to be left out of the action, the CIA offered a six-week trainingcourse for local law enforcement personnel, teaching cops the basics of surreptitiousentry, photographic surveillance, electronic eavesdropping, and the manufactureand use of explosives. Members of at least forty-four state, county, and municipalpolice departments received this training, and in return the locals helped theAgency gather information, protect informants, and harass its critics.7uSince the practices of local cops inevitably came to resemble those of the organizations that trained, funded, supplied, and directed them, it is worth consideringthe conduct of these federal agencies. The Chmch Committee summed it up:160