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--> --> Kroeker: Portland is helping with probe PORTLAND (AP) - Portland Police Chief Mark Kroeker denied on a national talk show Sunday that he is not cooperating with federal attempts to interview foreigners who may know of terrorist activities. Kroeker said the city is doing all it can within the law as it has been interpreted by the city attorney. Kroeker appeared on "This Week" in a telephone interview with ABC's Sam Donaldson. Donaldson opened by saying he understood the Police Bureau was not going to help in the interviews. "Well, we are helping. We are helping in a wide range of ways, and we're shoulder to shoulder with the federal government here," Kroeker replied. "And I just really want to point out that this is not a matter of cooperation with the federal authorities. We have no disagreement with the procedure. It is a legitimate one. They're looking for leads, clues, every one of us police officers are interested in that. "And we're working with the Joint Terrorism Task Force and have been for some time now, and a full commitment on that task force with police officers and FBI officers working same spaces, same investigations, coordinated activities. The interviews will be done by other people," Kroeker said. Donaldson said the point was that Portland officers will not participate. "Our issue here is an Oregon law that we must meticulously follow. It is this law that we gave our assurances to our city council on when we signed up and renewed our participation in the Joint Terrorism Task Force that we would follow," Kroeker answered. "This law, according to our city attorney who advises us and is litigating cases specifically on this point, he says that this law ... says that to collect information on people on the basis of their associations and so forth in a criminal investigation, this is proper. But in addition to that, there has to be a criminal nexus between the crime and the person that is being interviewed. "So that takes us into a position where, look, to be on a perfectly safe side, a meticulous side, let's do all these other investigations, but let's have federal agencies do these--in Portland, it amounts...to 23 interviews." "In a word, then, you're saying that state law says that there has to be some probable cause to connect someone with the crime before you investigate them..." Donaldson asked. "That's right," Kroeker answered. "Our heart is there, but it's the law. And, you know, it's the rule of law, and we follow the law here. Portland was the first city to use a legal argument against conducting the interviews of foreign visitors from countries believed to sponsor or harbor terrorists. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing