St. Louis gets computer system to track terrorism information

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis is one of the first urban areas nationwide to get a secure computerized system to instantly track possible terror threats and ease information flow among hundreds of agencies, officials said.

The Joint Regional Information Exchange System (JRIES) will allow authorized users in Washington, all 50 states and five territories to track possible terrorist threats.

"It allows multiple jurisdictions the ability to receive and share information at the tactical level," said Frank Libutti, an undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. "In short, the network will be both user friendly and used by more of our friends."

Emergency responders, law enforcement and top government officials will be able to share updates in real time, with photos, maps, streaming videos and even data directly from a crime scene through wireless laptop computers.

JRIES is part of the Homeland Security Information Network, developed since the September 2001 terrorist attacks and meant, among other things, to give local police chiefs, mayors and governors greater access to federal intelligence, preventing new terror along the way.

Libutti said the system also will be useful in determining when a criminal or terrorist threat does not exist, citing the speedy work done during the East Coast blackout last year which quickly made clear the outage was not terrorist-related.

Gov. Bob Holden, law enforcers and others praised the new system.

"There's nothing more important in what we do than to keep people safe and give them peace of mind," said St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay. "With a terrorist threat, information can be the most important weapon we have available to us."

About 1,000 first responders already have access to the system, which will be expanded to 5,000 officials in all states and every big city by this fall. The second phase involves sharing sensitive information up to the level classified as "secret."

The system has been used to protect national monuments, and assist in security for special events such as the Super Bowl and large New Year's Eve celebrations.

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On the Net

Department of Homeland Security: www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/index.jsp