The New York Times reports on the latest stage of the ongoing conflict between security and civil liberties in the age of terror:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is giving significant new powers to its roughly 14,000 agents, allowing them more leeway to search databases, go through household trash or use surveillance teams to scrutinize the lives of people who have attracted their attention.
Valerie E. Caproni, the F.B.I. general counsel, said the bureau had carefully considered each change to its operations manual. The F.B.I. soon plans to issue a new edition of its manual, called the Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide, according to an official who has worked on the draft document and several others who have been briefed on its contents. The new rules add to several measures taken over the past decade to give agents more latitude as they search for signs of criminal or terrorist activity.
The story states that agents may take "proactive" steps against individuals and organization who they deem likely to act against the US.
The directives are contained in the FBI's new operations manual.
