Combating Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction

when grand jury secrecy no longer applies. There has been improvement in prosecutorialunderstanding of ways to minimize the threat to intelligence sources and methods.However, it may be more effective to begin such efforts earlier in the investigative process,and additional efforts should be made to encourage interaction with respect to all lawenforcement agencies that have jurisdiction of offenses involving the acquisition or use ofweapons of mass destruction.Coordinating Law enforcement Community EffortsThe Attorney General must also ensure that all law enforcement elements that have a rolein combating proliferation have the legal authorities they need to fulfill their mission, andthat they are coordinating their efforts within the law enforcement community. Therecurrently exists a number of laws prohibiting proliferation activities. Some prohibitinternational trafficking in the weapons themselves; others prohibit the acquisition oftechnologies directly related to production capability or destined for proliferation endusers.Still other laws criminalize the use of these weapons within the United States oragainst U.S. interests abroad. There are agency overlaps in enforcement authorities and,in some cases, there is concurrent jurisdiction by two or more agencies. Someenforcement authorities are unique, e.g., the border search authority granted only to theU.S. Customs Service. Some agencies bring specific expertise to enforcement, such asthe Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement. On the other hand, theFederal Bureau of Investigation brings its store of resources, including larger reservoirs ofpersonnel and technical abilities. While the law enforcement agencies usually worktogether, overlaps in jurisdiction can result in investigations proceeding down separatetracks, risking a collision of interests along the way. Proper coordination and direction fromDoJ could minimize such collisions and ensure that our best combined efforts are beingput forth to combat proliferation of WMD.83