CBS Channel 2/Chicago, 10 Dec 09: It’s back to the drawing boards tonight for investigators trying to protect us from home-grown terrorists. Robert Grant, Chicago’s FBI special agent-in-charge, gives CBS 2 Chief correspondent Jay Levine a frank and sobering assessment.

. . . . Grant offered an unusually candid read on what counter-terrorism forces here are up against. “We’ve seen the radicalization process speed up,” Grant said. “It’s not a long process anymore, it can be very short. It can go from sympathizing to suddenly an active, radical threat to the community within a matter of weeks.”

That’s due in large part to the Internet, where radical websites attempt to convert the curious to committed. “It’s a propaganda war,” Grant said. “I wouldn’t say they’re winning. I would say that they understand the tools that are at their disposal.” . . . .

. . . . .More recently, local police officers have become the FBI’s eyes and ears. “If they’re not also looking for the unusual behavior, the behaviors that might be indicators — as we call them, tripwires — of somebody who may be radicalized or somebody who may be plotting, it’s very possible that we will not see it,” Grant said.

Recent seminars with local police have led to cases like the arrest of Michael Finton, who was allegedly about to detonate a car bomb in downstate Springfield. Grant said a Chicago police officer got that case rolling by spotting something unusual in a routine traffic accident. . . . .

CI Centre Course 362: Informant Development for Law Enforcement Officers to Fight Terrorism