U.S. Attorney's Office hosts Secret Service Terrorism Trainings for Law Enforcement
This week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office partnered with the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) to deliver two anti-terrorism training conferences in the Middle District of Florida. Approximately 300 federal, state and local law enforcement officers from around the state attended the courses in Orlando and Tampa.
Instructors from the USSS’s National Threat Assessment Center, Technical Security Division-Hazardous Device Countermeasures Branch, and Critical Protective Analysis Group briefed attendees on multiple case studies, threat assessment models, threat management, and prevention strategies to identify, mitigate, and disrupt acts of targeted violence. In addition, specialists showed examples of improvised explosive devices (IEDs); chemical, biological or radiological threats; and analyses of terrorist trends and tactics, including cyber threats.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Josie Thomas, the District’s Anti-Terrorism Advisory Committee Coordinator (ATAC), kicked off both training sessions with an overview of the USAO’s role in terrorism investigations.
Assistant Special Agent in Charge Pedro Escandon from the Secret Service’s Orlando Field Office welcomed attendees to the training on Tuesday at Valencia College’s Public Safety Institute in Orlando.
On Thursday, Special Agent in Charge Billy Joe Powers from the Secret Service’s Tampa Field Office welcomed attendees to the Tampa training at Hillsborough Community College’s Dale Mabry campus.