Washington — The federal government is extending its nationwide terrorism alert through March 11, but this time aiming the warning more to police than the general public, officials said Thursday.
The FBI extended the alert "based on the continuing high level of generalized threat information," said Gordon Johndroe, Homeland Security Office spokesman. Some 18,000 police agencies nationwide got the word Wednesday via the FBI's Law Enforcement Telecommunications System.
High alerts against counterterrorism have been virtually continuous since Sept. 11, but Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge decided extension of the latest alert, declared Dec. 3, should be communicated mainly to law enforcement authorities.
"Governor Ridge didn't feel there is a need to do another announcement" to the general public, "but he still urges people to be aware," Johndroe said.
No specific time or terrorism target is identified in connection with the latest alert, said an FBI official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
"We continue to receive generalized threats on a daily basis," the official said.
This is the fourth such alert issued since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, but the one done most quietly.
Local police and emergency officials said there's not much more they can do in response.
For Phoenix, Marcus Aurelius, city emergency management director, said, "it means business as usual."
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