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Today I was honored to participate in a special event hosted by the White House and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which brought together a diverse group of federal government officials, community and faith-based leaders, and advocacy groups to talk about an issue that impacts far too many people in our nation: religious discrimination. 

From March to June of 2016, DHS, DOJ and other federal agencies hosted a series of roundtables across the country with community stakeholders to discuss issues such as religious bias and obstacles to religious practice. Today, DOJ released a report on these roundtables and, along with other federal agencies, announced new steps they are taking to address religious discrimination. 

Building safe and resilient communities that protect religious freedom is a fundamental part of the Department’s mission.  On behalf of DHS, the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) works closely with communities to promote tolerance and ensure safety at houses of worship. 

• CRCL holds quarterly roundtables with demographically and religiously diverse communities in 17 cities across the country.  These roundtables provide an open forum for communities to discuss religious intolerance that can result in hate crimes or bias-motivated threats at the local level.  CRCL also provides resources for these communities to develop emergency plans and enhance security measures at their houses of worship
• In addition to our roundtables, CRCL also works with international partners through the UN Human Rights Council, to train countries on how to promote religious tolerance through implementation of Resolution 16/18.  Since 2013, CRCL has delivered training to officials in Bosnia, Indonesia, Greece, and Spain.
• Also, FEMA and the DHS Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships provide resources, training, and guidance on how to protect their houses of worship.

We will continue to work with DOJ, other interagency partners, and community stakeholders to overcome the challenges to religious freedom and safeguard the fundamental rights of all that we encounter in our homeland security mission. More information about CRCL can be found here.

 Today, the Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign and the Department of Transportation (DOT) hosted a transportation industry stakeholder event. The event brought together leadership from both departments, as well as representatives from airline, rail, bus, and trucking companies to talk about how the transportation industry can support the fight to end human trafficking.

Human trafficking takes many forms—forced labor, domestic servitude, and sex trafficking—but all of it is an insidious crime that can victimize anyone, anywhere. Traffickers use our country’s transportation systems to move their victims from place to place as part of their horrific criminal activities. That’s why DOT and the transportation industry are such valuable partners in the Blue Campaign’s work to end human trafficking. 

To combat this heinous crime in our nation’s transportation systems, we rely on the eyes and ears on the front lines—in our airplanes, at our rest stops, and on our highways. The Blue Lightning Initiative, a joint effort between DHS and DOT, is one example of our collaboration with the transportation sector. Through the Blue Lightning Initiative, DHS and DOT train airline partners to identify potential traffickers and their victims, and report their suspicions to federal law enforcement.  The Blue Campaign also continues to work with Amtrak: Since 2012, the Blue Campaign has partnered and trained thousands of its police officers to recognize the signs of human trafficking. Amtrak continues to share the Blue Campaign’s awareness materials at train stations around the country.

By continuing to raise public awareness of human trafficking and by encouraging more of the transportation industry to join the fight, today’s event was an important step forward in our continued efforts to combat this crime.

You can help combat human trafficking, too. When you’re traveling this summer, be on the lookout for indicators of human trafficking and learn how to report suspected cases. For more information, visit the Blue Campaign’s website at https://www.dhs.gov/bluecampaign. 

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: DHS is working hard to ensure security at the Republican National Convention. Secretary Johnson and senior DHS leadership traveled to Cleveland today to inspect security operations and contingency planning.

Official DHS photo by Jetta Disco | Download High-Resolution Image (6016 x 4016px)

In the 21^st century, technology is ingrained into the fabric and function of our society. But the larger the role technology plays in our lives, the more opportunities unscrupulous individuals, criminal organizations and those acting in bad faith have to commit cyber-related crimes.

Given this threat, our law enforcement professionals are faced with the challenge of investigating crimes in a space where technology is constantly changing. Consequently, the knowledge of how to best combat cybercrime can become quickly perishable.

Director Connie Patrick addresses the audience during the Inaugural Cybercrime Conference. Official FLETC photo

The Department of Homeland Security is committed to making the fight against cybercrime a priority. The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center hosted its Inaugural Cybercrime Conference last week. The conference brought together more than 150 cybercrime subject matter experts from academia, private industry, and the federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement communities to exchange ideas and best practices at FLETC’s headquarters in Glynco, Georgia.

Through more than 50 training sessions covering a wide variety of topics, from electronic surveillance to geolocating, FLETC personnel sharpened their knowledge of cutting edge technologies with the help of these experts. Now, we’ll take this information to bolster our curriculum and training methods, ensuring that we can provide law enforcement with the right tools and information to fight crime on the sophisticated, rapidly evolving front lines of cyber security.

FLETC hosts the Inaugural Cybercrime Conference. Official FLETC photo

The FLETC is committed to providing our students with the best and most current training possible. Our team of professionals accomplishes this mission by engaging in research, collaboration and networking with leaders who have expertise in a wide spectrum of investigative and technological fields.

The Cybercrime Conference is the latest example of how the FLETC strives to set the gold standard in law enforcement training to best equip the thousands of men and women who do the difficult work of protecting our homeland from threats in their communities and in cyberspace each and every day.