For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary Contact: 202-282-8010 Washington, D.C. - Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today delivered remarks to law enforcement personnel from across the nation at the International Association of Chiefs of Police's (IACP) Division of State and Provincial Police Mid-Year Conference - highlighting the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) continued partnerships with state, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement to combat evolving threats of terrorism and protect our nation's communities.
“Today we must combat threats that originate both abroad and here at home,” said Secretary Napolitano. “Our state, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement officers are on the frontlines of protecting our nation from terrorism and other threats, and DHS is committed to providing these men and women with the information and resources they need.” In her remarks, Secretary Napolitano applauded the commitment of the IACP's Division of State and Provincial Police to training approximately 58,000 troopers under the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative—an administration effort to train state and local law enforcement to recognize behaviors and indicators related to terrorism, crime and other threats; standardize how those observations are documented and analyzed; and expand and enhance the sharing of those reports with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and DHS.
She highlighted the Department's ongoing collaboration with law enforcement, federal partners like the FBI and National Counterterrorism Center, fusion centers and community-based organizations to counter violent extremism, as well as her commitment to getting critical resources and information out of Washington, D.C., and into the hands of state and local law enforcement officers on the frontlines.
Secretary Napolitano also underscored the national expansion of DHS' “If You See Something, Say Something™” campaign—originally implemented by New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and now licensed to DHS for a nationwide campaign—as a simple and effective program to engage the public to identify and report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats to the proper transportation and law enforcement authorities.
For more information, visit www.dhs.gov.
