PROTECTING
AMERICA FROM TERRORIST ATTACK
Law Enforcement Partnerships Across America
09/10/04
It's a big country.
How to protect it when credible intelligence suggests that terrorists
want to launch a major attack on U.S. soil between now and Inauguration
Day?
One important
answer: law enforcement partnerships.
Partnerships
that are already in place, thanks to the regular face-to-face
meetings and briefings that now take place at every level of law
enforcement, a legion of new intelligence and information-sharing
initiatives, and the nearly three-fold increase in the number of
the multi-agency Joint Terrorism Task Forces that coordinate investigations
and intelligence activities at the grass-roots level.
And partnerships
that have just taken another step forward, thanks to a recent nationwide
information campaign aimed at your neighborhood police department.
It was a
partnership, in fact, that put this campaign together, with
representatives of the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security,
the Terrorist Screening Center, and federal, state, local, and campus
public safety agencies leading the way.
The
thrust? To provide local and state police officers across
America who patrol the streets and neighborhoods of their communities
every day with detailed guidance on:
1)
What to look for when it comes to unusual or suspicious factors that may
indicate a possible terrorist threat, including signs of pre-operational
planning and surveillance, suicide bombers, and vehicle-borne improvised
explosive devices;
2) What to do when encountering these signs or other suspicious behavior,
including how to work with the Terrorist Screening Center to report and handle
the situation.
What materials
were provided? A complete package that included:
-
A
short, two-part video/DVD entitled "Vigilance: Patrolling in
the New Era of Terrorism" that can be presented between police
shifts or during scheduled training;
-
A
companion brochure that spells out what to be aware of and provides
the locations and phone numbers of every Joint Terrorism Task Force
nationwide;
-
A
instruction guide for law enforcement supervisors presenting the
information to their patrol officers; and
-
A
Terrorism Quick Reference Card, which lists suspicious signs of possible
terrorist activity on a small card that fits into the overhead visor
of police vehicles.
Who got copies
of the package? State, local, and college law enforcement
departments and organizations nationwide ... more than 22,000 in all.
The
reaction? Highly positive. Woodcliff Lake,
New Jersey, Police Chief Anthony Jannicelli, for
example, wrote to say: "Your information has
done a great job of reinforcing the message that
the 'front line soldier in the domestic war' on
terrorism is the patrol officer."
Special thanks
to: Louisiana State University for its filming and technical
services.
Link: Office
of Law Enforcement Coordination
