Oversight required on intelligence unit

The State Police have a legitimate need to ensure the security of information about terrorist investigations they obtain from the federal government. But law enforcement officials don't need the excessive secrecy they're seeking from the General Assembly.

A bill that's already been approved by an unquestioning House of Delegates would grant the State Police unlimited immunity with little accountability or oversight for the operation of a new intelligence unit.

The legislation seeks exemptions from the Freedom of Information Act for the agency's Fusion Center on Midlothian Turnpike in Chesterfield County.

What sounds like a smoothie kiosk is actually one of about 40 state and local intelligence units located across the country designed to centralize sensitive information from federal, state, local and private sources.

The legislation would have the practical effect of allowing the unit to disappear from the public radar.

The State Police already has broad exemptions from state sunshine requirements. Law enforcement agencies are notorious for providing incomplete information, even when they are obligated to respond to requests.

But the Freedom of Information Act recognizes the public's right to information when a criminal investigation is completed. The bill requested by State Police would protect the agency from ever having to answer questions about the Fusion Center's criminal investigations.

Junk mail and spam remind us every day that private companies know a lot about our personal lives. It's no surprise that governments have access to much of that information, too. The question is, how far do we want the government digging into our private affairs without any public accounting of their activities?

The State Police believe the public has no business asking for information about the Fusion Center.

The pending legislation doesn't just give the police a broad shield to snoop around because someone looks fishy. It also makes it harder to sue people who knowingly give false information about someone to the police.

Existing law already prohibits lawsuits against informers who innocently pass along incorrect information. Liars are fair game, but the proposed legislation would require the innocent victims to prove that the informants were intentionally trying to cause them harm. Good luck proving that. The legislation also makes employees of the Fusion Center immune from subpoena in lawsuits, creating a special class of citizens beyond the reach of the courts.

The federal government gives millions of dollars to Virginia's Fusion Center and staffs it with agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. How much say do they have over its operations?

And finally, if the Fusion Center wastes millions of state taxpayer dollars on overzealous and ultimately fruitless investigations, how will anyone know?

House Bill 1007 breezed through the House of Delegates with virtually no debate.

In the Senate, Ken Stolle of Virginia Beach is starting to ask hard questions about the scope of the legislation. His colleagues should pay attention and make sure this bill is pared back to meet its anti-terrorism mission without giving police cover to trample on personal freedoms.