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Firefighters in New York and other major cities are being trained to be lookouts for terrorism, but the new role has raised concerns over privacy, critics said.
The Department of Homeland Security is testing a program with the FDNY to share intelligence so firefighters are better prepared when they respond to emergency calls, officials said.
Homeland Security currently trains the NYPD in how to identify material or behavior that may indicate terrorist activities. But some say using firefighters to gather intelligence is a step in the wrong direction.
Mike German, a former FBI agent who now works for the ACLU, said the concept is dangerously close to the Bush administration's 2002 proposal to have workers with access to private homes - such as postal carriers and telephone repairmen - report suspicious behavior to the FBI.
"Americans universally abhorred that idea," German said.
As part of the program, which started last December, Homeland Security gave secret clearances to nine New York fire chiefs.
"They're really doing technical inspections," said Jack Tomarchio, a senior official in Homeland Security's intelligence division. "If perchance they find something like, you know, a bunch of RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] rounds in somebody's basement, I think it's a no-brainer."
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