Boulder police to join FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force

Feb. 3—Boulder Police Department will join the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Joint Terrorism Task Force, following a lengthy City Council discussion and pushback offered during the public hearing.

The City Council on Tuesday approved the proposed agreement with some modifications in a 6-3 vote. Councilmembers Nicole Speer, Junie Joseph and Lauren Folkerts cast the dissenting votes.

Generally, the agreement authorizes the city to enter into the task force, , which allows information sharing between the FBI and the Boulder Police Department with a stated goal of protecting the country against terrorism threats to national security.

Modifications to the agreement, which officials acknowledged was a boilerplate one provided by the FBI, included the addition of a stipulation that the officer assigned to the task force will continue to follow the city's procedures and a requirement that the police department releases an annual report with general information about the investigations conducted through its participation in the task force.

Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said she views participation as a necessary resource that will allow her department to respond more efficiently and to keep an eye on threats of "homegrown terrorism," including by white supremacists.

While the FBI would continue to assist local departments during major events such as last year's mass shooting at King Soopers regardless, participation in the task force gives one Boulder Police officer additional security clearance and training. This allows the department to respond sooner, Herold argued.

"Resources are scarce right now," she said. "Time matters. Minutes, not hours."

Councilmember Tara Winer agreed, arguing that if the police chief says she needs additional resources, the Council should listen.

However, some City Council members and all of the roughly 20 people who spoke during the public hearing expressed concerns about the agreement, including what they perceive as a lack of accountability and transparency associated with it. Some worried that the agreement assigns an officer to assist with the general threat of terrorism, rather than a specific mission or threat to Boulder.

Boulder resident Claire O'Brien and many others referenced the darker history of the FBI, including its surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr. and its killing of Fred Hampton, a leader of the Black Panther Party.

Given the incident earlier on Tuesday, in which Boulder police arrested a man accused of making mass shooting threats against a university in California, several people in the public hearing emphasized the city's ability to work in tandem with the FBI without participating in the task force.

"It is important to note that not joining the (task force) would not prevent the FBI from investigating legitimate terrorism threats in Boulder as the FBI and BPD already have a positive working relationship," O'Brien said.

Herold recognized this but noted that her department would have been "completely overwhelmed" without federal support in the wake of the King Soopers shooting and said participation in the task force would offer additional assistance.

According to Herold, the department covers the cost of paying an employee working 16 hours a week. There will be an overtime agreement with the FBI should the officer work extra hours.

Additionally, the police department can withdraw from the agreement within 60 days notice. If ever there was an issue, Herold said the FBI confirmed it would "give her grace" and allow her to pull the task force member immediately.

"And I would," she said.

In addition to accountability and transparency concerns, the City Council members who opposed the idea were worried about the lack of engagement surrounding it. They asked: Why not send the proposal to the Police Oversight Panel? What about allowing marginalized communities to weigh in and vet the idea?

"We've got some of the most vulnerable communities within Boulder who are telling us this doesn't make them feel safe. If anything, it makes them feel less safe," Councilmember Nicole Speer said. "I think we need to listen to that."

Others, however, noted that agreements such as this one aren't always brought before Council.

And it's important to have perspective, Councilmember Mark Wallach noted.

"This is the use of one police officer, cooperating with the FBI under an agreement that we can essentially terminate at will," he said. "If we don't like what we see, if we don't like how it's going, we're gone."

Additionally, he expressed concerns about "an almost unprecedented micromanagement" of the city's police department by a group of elected officials who have not served in law enforcement.

"I'm a little concerned with how we've treated the subject," Wallach said. "I'm a little concerned with the lack of perspective that many of the speakers have had with respect to what this agreement actually does."

To suggest that the City Council shouldn't weigh in on police department matters because of a lack of experience in law enforcement felt like a slippery slope for Councilmember Matt Benjamin, considering the Council votes on topics such as flood mitigation and climate change without being climatologists or hydrologists.

Because participation in the task force can be discontinued at any time, Winer and Mayor Pro Tem Rachel Friend, who serve jointly on the Police Master Plan Process Subcommittee, said they would work together to try and gather feedback from the community as part of Boulder's ongoing effort to "reimagine" policing.