Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09COPENHAGEN522
2009-11-19 15:38:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Copenhagen
Cable title:  

DHS SECRETARY MOVES AIR MARSHAL ISSUE FORWARD

Tags:  PREL PINS EAIR ASEC KHLS KTIP PTER KCRM DA 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO2854
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHCP #0522/01 3231538
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191538Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5327
INFO RUEAHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHDC
RHEFHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIAO/HQ ICE IAO WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/TSA HQ WASHINGTON DC
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0535
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 5986
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 COPENHAGEN 000522 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

PARIS FOR DHS/TSA PELLERIN
THE HAGUE FOR ICE ATTACHE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS EAIR ASEC KHLS KTIP PTER KCRM DA
SUBJECT: DHS SECRETARY MOVES AIR MARSHAL ISSUE FORWARD

COPENHAGEN 00000522 001.2 OF 004


(U) SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. NOT FOR
INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 COPENHAGEN 000522

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

PARIS FOR DHS/TSA PELLERIN
THE HAGUE FOR ICE ATTACHE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS EAIR ASEC KHLS KTIP PTER KCRM DA
SUBJECT: DHS SECRETARY MOVES AIR MARSHAL ISSUE FORWARD

COPENHAGEN 00000522 001.2 OF 004


(U) SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. NOT FOR
INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary
Janet Napolitano visited Denmark November 2-3 for meetings with the
Danish Ministers of Justice and Transportation and for a public
event on trafficking in persons (TIP). Ambassador Fulton
accompanied her throughout the visit. The Secretary met with Danish
Justice Minister Brian Mikkelsen to discuss the Preventing and
Combating Serious Crime (PCSC) and Federal Air Marshal (FAM)
agreements, as well as TIP and the current gang crisis in Denmark.
Mikkelsen pledged support on the issue of FAMs and stated that he
expected the PCSC agreement to be ready for signature in early
spring 2010. Secretary Napolitano offered DHS/Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) assistance to combating TIP and gangs,
both of which the Minister accepted. Secretary Napolitano next gave
public remarks to Danish law enforcement, NGOs, students, and
professionals involved in anti-TIP and human rights activities, as
well as local press, on the U.S. experience in combating TIP, and
answered questions from the audience. Secretary Napolitano met with
Danish Minister of Transport Lars Barfoed and key members of his
Ministry on the FAMs issue. The Minister expressed a number of
concerns over armed air marshals traveling to Denmark, questions
which the Secretary was able to address. Minister Barfoed suggested
that a one to two year pilot project on FAMs would likely be
necessary before a permanent agreement could be put into place. END
SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) Secretary of Homeland Security Napolitano, accompanied by
Ambassador Fulton, met with Danish Minister of Justice Brian
Mikkelsen and Minister of Transport Lars Barfoed during a visit to
Copenhagen on November 3, 2009. DHS Chief of Staff Noah Kroloff,
Under Secretary Rand Beers, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs
Sean Smith, DAS for International Affair Mark Koumans, the regional

TSA representative, and Embassy ICE attach also accompanied the
Secretary throughout her visit. The Secretary's visit was preceded
by meetings between the Ambassador and embassy staff with the
Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Transportation on the FAM
and PCSC issues. DHS Assistant Secretary for Policy David Heyman
traveled to Copenhagen in September and met with senior staff in the
Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Transport Ministries on these issues.

Ministry of Justice Support
--------------

3. (SBU) Justice Minister Mikkelsen welcomed Secretary Napolitano
and said he regards the U.S. as Denmark's most important strategic
partner. He thanked the Secretary for close cooperation in law
enforcement and security matters, as evidenced by the U.S. arrests
the week before of U.S. persons plotting a bombing in Denmark.
Secretary Napolitano gave an overview of DHS, including how DHS was
able to pinpoint the travel of one plotter. The highlights of their
discussion follow:

-- PCSC: The U.S. and Danish Governments are close to final
agreement. The only remaining issue is Danish parliamentary
approval -- a process which should begin in January 2010. Minister
Mikkelsen expects no problems in ratification or with the minor
changes to Danish law that are necessary. Minister Mikkelsen
believes the process can be completed by early March 2010, followed
by a signing in early spring 2010.

-- FAMs: Secretary Napolitano stressed the importance of the
deployment of U.S. Federal Air Marshals (FAMs) as part of the U.S.
layered security system. The Secretary noted that FAMs are highly
trained, full-time U.S. law enforcement officers who would be
deployed only aboard U.S.-flagged carriers, and then not on every
flight. Upon arrival in Denmark, the FAMs' weapons and other
mission equipment would be turned over to the control of Danish
Police; at no time would U.S. FAMs be armed outside of the aircraft,
except in instances where the Danish police choose to escort the
FAMs to the airport police station to lock up their weapons, if
Danish officials chose to handle logistics in that way, rather than
locking up the weapons onboard the aircraft. Minister Mikkelsen
replied that FAMs "make sense" and that he supports the U.S. request
for their deployment on U.S. flag carriers to Denmark. He has
expressed his support of FAMs to the Danish Minister of Transport,
who is the final arbiter of this issue for Denmark. Minister
Mikkelsen noted that Minister of Transport Barfoed said he had
checked with some of his neighboring country counterparts and none
had confirmed that they have FAM agreements with the U.S., as the
U.S. previously contended. Mikkelsen expected that there would be a
hurdle facing the Secretary on this issue. Secretary Napolitano

COPENHAGEN 00000522 002.2 OF 004


responded that Denmark was nearly alone in not allowing FAMs but
DHS/TSA prefers not to comment on the nature, formal or informal, or
the details of existing FAM agreements with foreign partners.

-- Gang Violence: Secretary Napolitano noted that Denmark is
currently experiencing significant violence between Outlaw
Motorcycle Gangs (OMGs) and "immigrant" gangs. The Secretary
offered DHS/ICE assistance in combating this problem. She noted
that the United States unfortunately has a great deal of experience
in this area and welcomed the Danes to learn from U.S. successes and
failures. Mikkelsen thanked the Secretary and indicated interest in
accepting the offer. He stated that recent gang-related violence in
Denmark -- 110 shootings, 59 wounded, and seven killed in the past
year -- is very significant for the country. The police are
establishing a new task force to proactively combat gangs, with
their highest priority being to stop recruitment, he continued.
Secretary Napolitano responded that there are three keys to
combating gang violence: (1) an aggressive intervention process
targeting at-risk youth, (2) specialized law enforcement units
focused only on gangs, including developing informants and cases,
and (3) an anti-gang incarceration strategy in order to minimize
inter-gang violence in facilities and stifle gang recruitment and
training opportunities in a custodial setting. She indicated that
DHS/ICE can assist in all of these areas. Mikkelsen seemed eager
to take advantage of U.S. experience.

-- TIP: According to Mikkelsen, the problem of trafficking in human
beings has been an area of increased focus in Denmark for the last 5
to 10 years and it is a high priority for his Ministry. Mikkelsen
said that TIP is an ongoing problem despite Denmark's National
Strategy to Combat TIP. Most persons trafficked into Denmark for
prostitution are young women and girls from Eastern Europe and West
Africa; they come to Denmark mainly because of poverty at home.
Mikkelsen views international cooperation and information sharing,
including identifying facilitators, to be critical components in
combating trafficking. The issue of deportation remains a dilemma;
there is growing public sentiment that trafficking victims should be
granted permanent residence. Denmark instead currently provides
victims with education and money for their repatriation, as well as
arranging medical treatment, if needed, upon the victim's return.
Secretary Napolitano stated that the U.S. has a special (T) visa
status allowing victims with a verifiable claim as a victim of
trafficking to remain in the U.S. She said that DHS would like to
continue working with Denmark to combat TIP.


3. (SBU) Secretary Napolitano thanked Mikkelsen for his support of
both the FAMS and PCSC agreements. They agreed that, for the
present, those topics should not be publicized. The meeting was
followed by a short press interview by Danish press of the Secretary
and the Minister, where the Secretary again pledged DHS/ICE
assistance in dealing with gangs, should Denmark wish it. Mikkelsen
stated he would follow up through the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen on
each of these topics.

Addressing Trafficking in Persons
--------------


4. (SBU) Secretary Napolitano addressed approximately 85 people on
combating TIP at an event co-sponsored by the NGO Humanity in Action
(Denmark),the Danish Institute for International Studies, and the
Danish Institute for Human Rights. The audience included Danish
government officials, non-governmental organizations, students,
police officers, and others involved in combating trafficking and
human rights violations, as well as members of the Danish press.
The Secretary discussed the plight of trafficking victims and the
need for a coordinated international law enforcement response
targeting global criminal trafficking organizations. In order to be
successful, law enforcement must look at this crime from the
victims' point of view, she said. ICE, as the principal U.S. law
enforcement agency combating TIP, is targeting traffickers' assets
and profits and working closely with NGOs to rescue and assist
victims. While there is no indication of trafficking between the
U.S. and Denmark, ICE is working with the Danes in a mutual sharing
of enforcement techniques and programs for helping victims. DHS has
created a new position, reporting directly to the Secretary, to
coordinate DHS efforts to combat TIP. Secretary Napolitano fielded
a broad range of questions from members of the press, NGOs and
students, which included comments about combating the demand for
prostitution, delineating between smuggling and trafficking, media
treatment of persons arrested, and alternatives to deportation for
victims of trafficking. The presentation was very well received and
feedback from the organizers and participants has been resoundingly

COPENHAGEN 00000522 003.2 OF 004


positive.

Transport Ministry Receptive
--------------


5. (SBU) Secretary Napolitano and Ambassador Fulton next met with
Minister of Transport Lars Barfoed at the Ministry of Transport.
The sole topic of the meeting was a potential U.S.-Danish agreement
to allow FAMs to deploy on U.S. carrier flights to and from Denmark.
The Danish Government has placed responsibility for this issue with
the Ministry of Transport, though the Ministries of Foreign Affairs
and Justice will have input in the decision. Barfoed indicated that
-- should there be an agreement -- Transport will be required to
present it to Parliament for approval. Concerning the deployment of
FAMs, Barfoed stated that the Danish position is that aircraft must
be secure before the aircraft departs the gate. The Danes are
averse to having firearms aboard aircraft because of the threat of
the weapons being taken by terrorists and because of their view that
passenger aircraft are not built to withstand gunfire.


6. (SBU) Barfoed asked how the U.S. concluded that having armed
officers on aircraft enhanced security. Secretary Napolitano
responded that the U.S. decision to expand deployment of specially
trained and armed federal law enforcement officers aboard aircraft
was a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. U.S. studies concluded
that static defenses cannot guarantee that weapons or explosives can
be kept off aircraft and having trained armed officers on board
enhances security. The Secretary said the U.S. believes that any
risk presented by having armed officers aboard passenger aircraft is
mitigated because: 1) FAMs are very highly trained federal law
enforcement officers in an undercover capacity; 2) FAMs are assigned
randomly and are not on all flights; 3) FAMs sit in random locations
aboard aircraft; 4) FAMs will only break their cover in an
emergency, and then not necessarily all of the air marshals aboard
will respond.


7. (SBU) Minister Barfoed requested that DHS share risk assessments
and whether any other data could be made available to the Danish
Government for use in determining whether or not to allow a FAMs
agreement. The Secretary agreed that relevant assessments and data
could be made available, and added that the U.S. views FAMs as
having both preventative and deterrent missions. Barfoed also asked
about weapon security while the aircraft is in Denmark. The
Secretary replied that weapons and mission equipment would either be
taken by the Danish Police aboard the aircraft or the Danish Police
would escort the FAMs to the airport police station at which point
the weapons would be secured and stored. Currently deployed FAMs go
through host countries' regular immigration and customs processing
after weapons are secured by the local police. For outbound
flights, they do not retrieve the weapons from the police until
after they have gone through the regular check-in process. When
asked about incidents that have occurred in-flight, Secretary
Napolitano stated that FAMs fly nearly a thousand missions daily,
including flights to and from Europe, but there have been very few
incidents in which FAMs have had to break cover -- and those have
been almost entirely incidents involving unruly and/or drunk
passengers, some of whom threatened serious harm to the flight crew.
The regional TSA representative elaborated that there have been no
incidents requiring FAMs to fire their weapons aboard an operating
international flight.


8. (SBU) Secretary Napolitano reiterated that Denmark and Russia
are the only two European countries with direct flights by U.S.
carriers that have no FAM agreement, either formal or informal.
Barfoed responded that any FAM agreement with Denmark would require
parliamentary knowledge. He does not foresee any legislative
changes being required, but because this would involve a change in
Denmark's previous position, parliamentary support is a must, and
that is not a quick process. He suggested that the Embassy
facilitate further discussions at a non-political level, to which
Ambassador Fulton agreed.


9. (SBU) Danish Civil Aviation Administration Director Kurt Larsen
commented that, until now, his agency has resisted any further
discussion on this topic and/or a visit to the FAMs training
facility in New Jersey because the Danish Parliament had been very
clear in its decision to deny a FAM agreement, not just with the
U.S., but with other countries, including Germany, Switzerland,
Syria and Israel. Larsen stated that he now has a clearer
understanding of the program and clarified that it involves arming
only sworn law enforcement officers, not airline crew. Barfoed
suggested that while he cannot promise a favorable outcome with

COPENHAGEN 00000522 004.2 OF 004


Parliament, having more data and facts available, and perhaps a
successful pilot program for a year or two, would certainly help the
U.S. case.


10. (SBU) Secretary Napolitano reiterated that the U.S. would be
happy to provide any relevant assessments and data the Danes request
and asked that any requests be passed through the Embassy. She
agreed that a pilot project would be useful and renewed an
invitation for members of the Ministry of Transport to visit the
Federal Air Marshal Service Headquarters and training facilities,
which Barfoed noted as a positive suggestion. The Secretary asked
if an informal memo of cooperation would help to move the process
forward. Barfoed replied that any agreement may be confidential,
but that Parliament must be aware of it. Minister Barfoed concluded
by saying that he is looking forward to a continued working-level
discussion on this subject and that he will ensure that any pilot
project will not be undermined by Parliament. He said that
publicizing discussions on FAMs would weaken an opportunity to
garner parliamentary support.


11. (SBU) Comment: Ambassador Fulton notes that this meeting with
the Transport Ministry indicated a dramatic turn from previous
meetings and discussion on the FAM issue. The Ambassador urges
rapid delivery to the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen of the risk
assessment and information for Minster Barfoed to keep the momentum.
End Comment.


13. (U) The DHS delegation has cleared this message.

FULTON