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Monday, March 18, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

DOJ Not Prepared for WMD, Report Says

WASHINGTON (CN) - The Justice Department isn't prepared for an attack by weapons of mass destruction, the agency's inspector general said in a report issued Tuesday. The 73-page report, however, praised the FBI for a program that establishes plans for response to WMD attacks.

Although the justice department is responsible for coordinating federal law enforcement activities and ensuring security if state and local law enforcement is too stretched, it "is not prepared to fulfill its role," the report said, concluding that the department "has not adequately prepared to coordinate federal law enforcement activities if it is called upon to ensure public and security."

Although the FBI got praise, only its Washington field office has a written plan in place to respond to an incident involving weapons of mass destruction, according to the report.

Other agencies, like the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Drug Enforcement Administration, also have no such plans in place, according to the report.

Those agencies "have conducted little or no planning specifically for responding to a WMD incident and do not have defined roles in the FBI's response plans."

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