Posted by FLETC Director Connie Patrick

Last month, at the 18th INTERPOL Training Symposium, held November 28-30, in Antalya, Turkey, I had the distinct honor of being named the Chair of the INTERPOL Group of Experts on Police Training (IGEPT), which is comprised of law enforcement training experts from Argentina, Australia, Botswana, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the U.S. INTERPOL is the world’s largest international police organization, with more than 190 member countries.

During the symposium, I spoke about the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center’s (FLETC) Women in Law Enforcement Leadership Training Program, which is helping promote women’s leadership in law enforcement (read my recent blog post on the training program here). I was also joined by FLETC Assistant Director Dominick Braccio, FLETC Assistant Director Michael Hanneld, and FLETC Deputy Assistant Director Valerie Atkins, who spoke about law enforcement, ethics, research, and emerging technology for police.

In today’s world, we need to train our local police officers to address not only criminal activity from our communities, but also transnational threats. We also need to equip our law enforcement with technology that enables sharing of critical police information and best practices with foreign counterparts.

Here at FLETC, we recognize the vital role that training plays in maintaining and developing effective law enforcement, both nationally and internationally. This is why I have been engaging our partners at the IGEPT since its inception in 2009, working to standardize and promote training for law enforcement.

For more than 40 years, FLETC has worked to provide those who protect our nation with effective training and state-of-the-art facilities and equipment. Together with INTERPOL and our law enforcement partners around the world, we are working to provide our men and women on the front lines with the tools they need to address the threats we all face.

Posted by Warren Stern, Director of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office

Last month, at a testing ground near Las Vegas, DHS’ Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) hosted three dozen state and local law enforcement officials from around the country for a two-week training program as part of the Gryphon test campaign, which evaluates the performance of commercially-available airborne radiation detection systems (ARDS).

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s helicopter with externally-mounted airborne radiation detection system.

Federal, state, local and tribal government agencies are using or considering purchasing these helicopter- and airplane-mounted detection systems, which could help to detect illegal and dangerous nuclear materials. The Gryphon test campaign is designed to help operators on the front lines make better use of their existing equipment and inform future procurement decisions.

Splitting their time between the classroom and the air, participants spent the first week learning the basics of the detection systems and data analysis, as well as how to perform four types of flight patterns when searching for radiation sources. In the second week, state and local authorities participated in a variety of exercise scenarios in flight, operating the detection systems to locate and identify nuclear source material. One scenario included flying over a commercial district in search of nuclear source material hidden in a single building and calling in a ground response team to locate and identify the material.

During the test campaign, DNDO also invited federal, state, local and international partners to participate in an observation day for the Gryphon test, which included a tour of our Radiological/Nuclear Countermeasures Test and Evaluation Complex (RNCTEC) at the Department of Energy’s Nevada National Security Site. Observers learned about the facility and DNDO’s testing program, and were embedded with the ground response teams during exercise scenarios.

Posted by DHS Public Affairs

Secretary Napolitano was in Abu Dhabi today, meeting Abu Dhabi Crown Prince General Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to promote air traffic security through United Arab Emirates (UAE) participation in the U.S. Immigration Advisory Program, as a first step toward the establishment of a passenger Pre-Clearance pilot program. The Secretary also met with UAE Minister of Interior Lt. Gen. Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss the facilitation of legitimate trade and travel.

While in Abu Dhabi, Secretary Napolitano also joined U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton and Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca at the Gulf States Global Police Symposium—where she highlighted the Department’s partnerships with the international law enforcement community. 

Yesterday, Secretary Napolitano met with Minister of State for Interior Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani in Qatar, and signed a bilateral aviation security agreement, building on previous discussions to strengthen our ability to combat transnational crime and other threats through enhanced information sharing while facilitating travel and international commerce.

Check back here on the blog tomorrow as we wrap the trip up, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest.

Posted by Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary Janet Napolitano

Keeping our nation safe from evolving terrorist threats requires strong partnerships at all levels. Nowhere are those partnerships more important than with our federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement officers who work on the frontlines every day to keep our cities and communities safe.

These courageous men and women, who put their lives on the line to protect others, must have the tools, training, and resources they need to do their jobs safely and effectively.

This week at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) General Assembly in Chicago, we each had an opportunity to reiterate our support for police officers and first responders across our country, many of whom are struggling to hire or retain personnel in the face of tough economic challenges.

As part of ongoing work to better understand and overcome current fiscal challenges, this week, the Justice Department's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) office released a new report on how the economic downturn has impacted police departments nationwide. According to the Department's research, we expect that, by the end of this year, nearly 12,000 police officers and sheriff's deputies will have been laid off. Already, law enforcement agencies nationwide currently have nearly 30,000 unfilled vacancies. And an estimated 28,000 more officers and deputies experienced week-long furloughs last year. In 25 years of collecting data, this is the first national decrease in law enforcement positions ever recorded.

There is great demand for existing federal fire fighter hiring funding.In FY10 alone there were $1.8 billion in applications for $420 million in SAFER funds.

Especially in these difficult economic times, the tough choices we are all facing should not come at the expense of public safety and national security. And, fortunately, they don't have to.

The American Jobs Act would provide $5 billion in assistance to states and local communities to create and save thousands of police and first responder jobs across the country. These funds would not only help to safeguard our national security and bolster public safety - they would strengthen our economy.

Passage of the American Jobs Act also would ensure that many of the critical partnerships we have established with local law enforcement can continue - and improve our ability to share information, to train frontline officers to recognize indicators of terrorism and crime, and to encouraging the public to be vigilant in reporting suspicious activity to appropriate authorities.

These steps provide a strong foundation for law enforcement at all levels to protect communities from terrorism and other threats. They also help us better understand the risks confronting the homeland while protecting the privacy rights and civil liberties of all Americans, and foster a strong relationship with the international community.

When it comes to advancing our public safety efforts, we simply can't afford to wait. We must take action now to combat the economic conditions that have affected - and, in some communities, devastated - law enforcement agencies nationwide. We urge Congress to pass the American Jobs Act so that we can protect the men and women on the frontlines who protect us and contribute to our nation's safety and security every day.