Jonathan Jay Pollard, an intelligence analyst working in the U.S. Naval Investigative Service's Anti-Terrorist Alert Center, systematically stole highly sensitive security secrets from almost every major intelligence-gathering agency in the United States. Over the course of eighteen months in the mid 1980s, he took and subsequently sold to Israel more than one million pages of classified material, enough to fill a six-by-ten-foot room stacked six feet high. No other spy in the history of the United States has stolen so many secrets, so highly classified, in such a short period of time. Ronald J. Olive, the author of this book was the assistant special agent in charge of counterintelligence in the Washington office of the Naval Investigative Service who led the whirlwind investigation against Pollard. Olive interrogated Pollard and garnered the confession that led to his arrest in November 1985 and eventual life sentence. During the twenty plus years that Pollard has spent in prison, many questions have arisen about the case because it never went to trial and so much information surrounding it remains classified. Most of the books and articles that have been written about Pollard denounce his life sentence as unjust. This book tells the other side of the story. It is an account from deep inside the espionage investigation that gives details of Pollard's confession immediately following his arrest and describes Pollard's interaction with the author before and during the time suspicion about his activities was mounting. Revealed are countless other details that have never before been made public. Calling the Pollard story an extreme case of a counterintelligence failure, Olive writes that mistaken assumptions and leadership failures enabled Pollard to ransack America's defense intelligence long after he should have been fired. The author hopes the vital insights his book offers will serve as a lesson in history and prevent similar problems in the future and provide an antidote to the uncertainty that has fueled speculation, rumor, and lies.
I spent thirty years in law enforcement, the last twenty-two with the NCIS-The Naval Criminal Investigative Service. As the assistant special agent in charge of counterintelligence I personally led the Jonathan Pollard espionage investigation and garnered his confession to spying for the Israeli government against the United States.
In October 2006, when the first edition of Capturing Jonathan Pollard was released, I found myself in an environment never before experienced. I first presented the story of the Pollard case to a sold-out crowd at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., with C-Span Book TV in one dark corner and Israeli TV in another. Many favorable book reviews followed. I kept seeing quotes like "A chilling "true" spy thriller "- "A story of intrigue and espionage" but the superlative surprise came when the Israeli Jerusalem Post and Ha'aretz newspapers published substantial reviews. Although not overly enthusiastic, they proved fair and balanced. One reviewer even recommended that supporters of Pollard should read my book.
The true Pollard story is an extreme example of a counterintelligence failure where mistaken assumptions and leadership failures enabled Pollard to ransack America's defense intelligence long after he should have been fired.
When I present the Pollard case to organizations today, my focus is on how and why this espionage disaster occurred and how it could have been prevented. As the saying goes, "If we don't learn from our past we're doomed to repeat it." The Pollard case is indeed a textbook example of what can happen within our government and corporate America when management and security fail to follow their own policies. The prelude to potential loss of classified and proprietary information begins when rules, regulations, and procedures are misinterpreted, misunderstood, manipulated, circumvented, bent, or simply ignored. Failure of leadership at all levels to take corrective action against employees who are problematic or show signs of potential security risk increase the chance for loss of sensitive information. Finally, employees who become complacent and fail to report security violations or suspicious activity in the workplace can ultimately lead to a total breakdown of national, organizational, and corporate security, unlocking the vault for "Insider Betrayal."
But out of tragedy come lessons. In addition to presenting a behind-the-scenes account, my goal is to provide vital insight into how Pollard's espionage activities could have been prevented. I will consider my effort in writing this book worthwhile if it raises awareness about the need for vigilance on the part of those entrusted with protecting the national defense secrets of the United States.
I own and operate my own company, Consulting and Confidential Investigations Int'l LLC, near Phoenix, Arizona. I enjoy telling the Pollard story and engaging large audiences. People everywhere tell me "truth is stranger than fiction" and walk away in astonishment at how Pollard actually took, and subsequently sold to Israel - more than one million pages of classified material - would fill a six-by-ten-foot room with the stacks rising six feet high.
I also teach part time for the Department of Energy Counterintelligence Training Academy, and work as a retired law enforcement consultant with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, "Team Adam-Missing Child Rapid Response System." In my spare time I enjoy training my horse and my wife and I enjoy trail riding in the mountains.
