FBI, ATF squabble over explosives investigations

The New York Police bomb squad investigate an explosion outside the U.S. Armed Forces Career Center in New York's Times Square March 6, 2008.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite growing cooperation between U.S. law enforcement agencies since the September 11 attacks, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are still fighting over crimes involving explosives, said a new report released on Friday.

The Justice Department's inspector general found that the ATF and the Federal Bureau of Investigation repeatedly fight over which agency will lead an investigation, have failed to meld information databases or coordinate training efforts.

A 2004 memorandum by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft was meant to clarify who was in charge for such cases, giving the ATF primary authority except in cases involving terrorism and those within the FBI's traditional jurisdiction.

But that has caused confusion, giving each agency the ability to assert jurisdiction in almost every case, the report said, adding that a follow-up memorandum in 2008 also failed to sufficiently clarify the FBI and ATF roles.

"Disputes between ATF and FBI personnel have affected working relationships and in some locations have resulted in their racing to crime scenes to determine which agency leads an investigation," the report said.

It cited incidents as recent as last year when the FBI and ATF fought over who would investigate a suspect believed to have bombed the military recruiting station in Times Square in New York one early morning in March 2008.

And in late 2007 the ATF said it was not notified about a pipe bomb found in a truck at a nuclear facility until hours after the FBI had already begun investigating, according to the report by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine.

"It is critical that the department promptly address these issues, both to avoid confusion and duplication of effort, and also to ensure the best use of the department's investigative resources," Fine said in a statement.

The report also found that the Justice Department failed to follow the 2004 memorandum's instructions to convene a board to consider consolidating explosives training and that the ATF and FBI continue to operate separate programs and facilities.

Additionally, the two agencies maintain separate databases on explosives incidents, forensic reports and other technical data and intelligence, which as a result "cause duplication of effort and the inability to accurately determine trends in explosives incidents," the report said.

To fix the problems, Fine urged the Justice Department to clearly define which agency is in charge in specific cases and set up a formal procedure to resolve such disputes. He also urged a review to identify the best use of training resources.

And Fine also encouraged the agency to issue guidelines to improve information sharing and incident reporting.

The ATF and FBI issued a joint statement saying they agreed with the recommendations and would work with the Justice Department to address them.

(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky, editing by David Alexander)