Paul R.

Murphy
From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: Follow Up Flag: Flag Status: Categories: Paul R. Murphy <ah2wa@hughes.net> Friday, July 11, 2008 3:25 AM 'Jeff Parks'; 'Paul Murphy' 'Bill Elfo'; 'Carey James'; 'Don Boyd'; 'Kevin Mede'; 'Steven Cooley'; 'Spencer Kope' RE: Security Sensitive Information - Reminder Follow up Completed Red Category

Chief Parks, Firstly, what I discovered was a result of a proactive random patrol approach that should be commended, not discouraged by a letter of reprimand, for what amounts to a paperwork violation. On 07-05-08, I found 1 improvised trail into a heavily wooded area of no apparent consequence to any nearby facilities. It was not and could not be determined if the trail was legitimately there as a geologic, survey, or pipeline inspection access, a riding trail made by local juveniles for motorsports purposes, or dozens of other possible reasons that are not of a criminal or terror threat nature. This is why I summoned cover and checked it out that day, then later flagged down Shane on 07-09-08 to possibly learn from him what his thoughts of it were. It wasnt until that conversation on 07-0908 that potentially suspicious information came to light, which had already been developed and reported by Refinery Security, which Shane also advised had already been up-channeled and reported through USCG and DHS channels. Secondly, it was premature and disappointing of you to jump to conclusions and order Sgt. Mede to reprimand me about an alleged policy violation prior to inquiring of me about the specific information Id found and the specific conversation I had with Shane on 07-09-08. You took a one sided view of the situation, from a brief casual email, and never even asked me about it. Had I been asked, you would have learned that I simply told Shane that I, as in the singular me, frequently do random patrols through the area because of it being a known criminal hangout, Vince Jones questionable visitors and parties, and it being a suspected contraband exchange point. I did openly speculate that the trail could be an area for air drops, as in smuggling activities, simply thinking out loud. I never stated or implied that the WCSO was conducting any sort of official investigation, or that we, as in the collective WCSO, had undertaken any sort of operation. Lastly, clear text email is NOT a secure method of communications, regardless of where the message originates or is received. Only encrypted email, with unique 128 bit SSL encryption keys (or better) at both the send and receive ends guarantees any level of security, which we do not use. Clear text email can be intercepted anywhere from point of origin to destination and read by anyone with a computer. Whatcom County email is no exception to this. As such, the letter of reprimand is not just or warranted. I intend to follow up on the reprimand with a formal response after reviewing WCSO Guild CBA protocol language.
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P. Murphy Regards, P. R. Murphy 360-920-4020 email: ah2wa@hughes.net MSN live IM: Murph147@hotmail.com
From: Jeff Parks [mailto:JParks@co.whatcom.wa.us] Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 12:54 PM To: Paul Murphy Cc: Bill Elfo; Carey James; Don Boyd; Kevin Mede; Steven Cooley; Spencer Kope Subject: Security Sensitive Information - Reminder Importance: High

Deputy Murphy, The following information was relayed to WCSO Command Staff regarding potential "threat information" and WCSO counter-surveillance and patrol activity at or involving a critical infrastructure site. We could find no official documentation (case report) on this situation. I was able to locate some information you had forwarded directly to Spencer Kope via email. ****** The following information is provided as a follow up to the email sent on 06/10/2008; Narrative of a refinery security patrol officer: "At approx. 1912 hours on 07/08/08 I was flagged down by a WCSO Deputy. The deputy asked me what I knew about the trails running from west of the Henry Road pole gate toward the northwest. He told me that recently he and a team of law enforcement officers had walked the trails in an attempt to discover their purpose. Further, he told me they speculated the trails may lead to clearings which could be used as drop-sites for those considering perpetrating damage upon BPs marine facility. I shared with the deputy some of the information I was aware of in reference to the case of trespassing by a pair of ATVs three or four weeks ago (Lonseth @ Jackson Road to Gulf Road beach). The deputy told me that the WCSO would be monitoring the area for suspicious activity. I provided him with Lt. Smiths name and telephone number and suggested he or someone within the S.O. contact him with additional questions or concerns. The (above) information was provided by Whatcom County to a refinery security officer. The Following Directive was sent out on July 3, 2008 To all commissioned WCSO personnel:

As many of you are aware, Whatcom County has within its boundaries a number of facilities and locations that are either closely associated with or contain critical infrastructure such as refineries, pipelines, dams, power transmission lines, substations and transportation corridors. Locations that are secured and/or have limited access should be treated with a heightened awareness and concern for security and potential acts of sabotage or activities that could be surveillance and pre-planning for attacks. There are also locations that are very accessible and have little external hardening or physical security, such as pipelines, railways, bridges, pumping stations, power transformers, etc. Calls to these sites, as well as observed instances of suspicious or unauthorized activity should always be documented in a case report and those reports are to be forwarded to the proper authority such as the FBI. Local law enforcement is viewed as the first line of defense, not only by patrolling and responding to these locations, but through developing information and intelligence that may later provide invaluable in prevention and deterrence. We encourage the security entities and managers responsible for sites located in the County to call 911 and request a response from WCSO when suspicious activity, trespass, or situations exist that could indicate a threat or potential threat to security. Please remember to treat these with the concern that is warranted. If there is any question as to a location or site and how it may relate to Key Resource or Critical Infrastructure please do not hesitate to contact me or Don Boyd at DEM. (End of Directive) Deputy Murphy, Please review and comply with the request to document information as described and directed above. Your email, via a personal email address is not an appropriate or sanctioned method of communication for L.E. Sensitive information concerning Homeland Security matters. Please furnish such information via a written case report or FIR as per the standard operating procedures of the Sheriff's Office. I applaud, and appreciate your efforts and initiative and for checking on your observations and following up where others might not. Please keep up the good work. Please realize that these well intentioned actions carry a responsibility to follow our internal protocols. Thank you,

I was poking around the end of Gulf Rd. last week, checking on one of my projects: Vince Jones, BC Smuggling, Inc. and found a freshly cut trail, west into the tree line roughly halfway between Henry Rd and Gulf Rd. on Powder Plant Rd. Bonsen, Van Loo and I later trekked in to see where it went and found that it went all the way to a creek bed ravine about mile in (north westerly) through heavy brush. It terminates at a swampy looking ravine, in an area where the heavily treed canopy opens up a bit. It all appeared to be freshly cut and appeared to have taken considerable effort to do so, but we couldnt identify the purpose of it at the time. To me, it had the feel of being something haphazard and illicit, but Im hard pressed to say what the purpose would be. I was in the same area tonight doing an area check and found 2 more of these trails not far from the first one. While I was there, I met up with one of the refinery security patrols, Shane Walls, and asked him about the trails. Walls tells me that they also discovered the trails, about 6-8 total, and they dont know what to make of them either. Walls tells me that they have verified that the trails are not geological, survey or pipeline related and that neither of the large plants knows why they were made either. Walls also told me that they found 1 trail that terminates just short of the US Coast Guard station off Cherry Point and speculated that perhaps it may have been intended as a back access to that area for reasons unknown at this time. Shane told me that their security office has already notified the refinery and aluminum plants and that DHS has also been advised of the discovery by USCG personnel. As its already been reported and up-channeled to DHS, I didnt see any point in creating a duplicate report for our already plentiful archive of useless paper.

No further action is required of us at this time and this is primarily an FYI to keep an eye on things out there until the purpose of those trails can be identified. Murphy

Regards, P. R. Murphy 360-920-4020 email: ah2wa@hughes.net <mailto:ah2wa@hughes.net> MSN live IM: Murph147@hotmail.com <mailto:Murph147@hotmail.com> Chief Jeff Parks Whatcom County Sheriff's Office Bureau of Enforcement and Investigations 311 Grand Avenue / Public Safety Bldg Bellingham, WA 98225 (360) 676-6650 jparks@whatcomcounty.us

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