FBI Questions Local Dive Shops

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Visits Follow Terror Warning From Agency

by Tanya Caldwell and R. Norman Moody, Florida Today

FBI agents are canvassing dive shops in Brevard County and across Florida inquiring about customers of Middle Eastern descent.

At the same time, local law enforcement dive teams are maintaining an alert while continuing with anti-terror training.

The anti-terrorism dive training exercises started months ago in Brevard County, but the new warning from the FBI that terrorists might attack from under water prompted the inquiries at dive schools around the state.

"I think with homeland security, there are many angles," said Sgt. Jamie Rocque, who heads the Melbourne Police Department's dive team. "This is just one of many. We're all taking precautions."

The FBI released a warning May 23 that some terrorists were looking for "an offensive scuba diver capability."

Debbie Weierman, an FBI spokeswoman in Washington, said the warning wasn't prompted by a credible threat. "It's just a general bit of information," Weierman said. "It's very nebulous."

Lt. Steve Salvo of the Brevard County Sheriff's Office dive team said that while his department is not directly participating in the inquiry, they have been alert for possible attacks by sea.

"We're always trained for that," he said.

Salvo said the team has been working with the bomb squad and conducting periodic training.

"I know most of the dive shop owners within the county," he said.

Salvo said he plans to visit those shops after the FBI's recent warning about terrorist attacks.

Federal and local officials have visited dive shops in Brevard County as the FBI compiles a nationwide database on certified scuba divers.

There are thousands of certified divers in Brevard, with a single shop certifying about 400 each year.

Tom Via, owner of Professional Diving Industries in Melbourne, said authorities visited his shop last week.

"We cooperated with them," Via said. "They wanted to see our student profile records."

Via said he has not had any inquiries about his products from customers of Middle Eastern descent.

"Our dive store specializes in family kinds of activities," he said of his shop, which has been operating since 1979. "The people we serve are local Brevardians."

Jerry Hatt, who owns Hatt's Diving Headquarters Inc. in Melbourne, said authorities visited him about a month ago concerning possible terrorist suspicions.

"I've had (customers of Middle Eastern descent) for the last 15 years," Hatt said.

Some of his customers are students at Florida Tech in Melbourne, he said.

"There's a lot of foreign students at FIT, and if they couldn't take (scuba diving lessons) there, they took them here," Hatt said.

Investigators interviewing shop owners may get information quicker and easier by going to the certifying organization rather than the shops, said John Fravel, who owns Adventure Diving Florida in Merritt Island. The certification lists, however, would not include those who did not complete the dive course to become certified.

Though someone may be able to scuba dive with a few hours of fundamental instruction, they likely would be able to do so only in a very controlled environment.

Additionally, though the sport is not government-regulated, it is regulated by the industry through certifying organizations such as the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. Someone not certified would not easily obtain equipment such as air tanks.

"If you go into a shop and say I want to go diving, they are going to ask you for your certification card," Fravel said.

However, Fravel said equipment, including air tanks, also are sold by individuals. But it takes more than just a little instruction and a tank to be good at diving.

"It's a big leap from somebody being able to put diving equipment on and committing a terrorist act," he said.

Fravel offers scuba instruction at hotels and resorts in Central Florida, including to some foreign visitors. He said he had not been contacted by law enforcement officials.

"I do get a number of international people," Fravel said. "I haven't had anybody from the Middle East."

Terry W. Myers, the owner of Depthfinders Dive Center in Port Charlotte, said he would be suspicious of a customer who acted strangely or spent thousands of dollars on elaborate equipment. But, he added, "no one is going to give me a terrorist union card. . . . That's why we try to get as much personal information as we can."

Dive teams from Melbourne, Palm Bay and Brevard County Sheriff's Office along with others have trained in anti-terrorist tactics at Port Canaveral, Rocque said. The group trained in searching the hulls of ships and around docks.

An anti-terrorism task force that includes Brevard and several surrounding counties has looked at how to protect other possible targets such as bridges and other vital infrastructure.

Melbourne recently participated with Miami-Dade County to cooperate in an operation with U.S. Customs in South Florida. The operations will be moving to the area, he said.

"It will be coming this way," Rocque said. "On a local angle, we know these ports."