For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
Washington, D.C.—Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today delivered remarks highlighting the Department's continued commitment to enhancing information sharing with state and local law enforcement partners to better protect the public at the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives Annual Training Conference and Exhibition.
"The Department is committed to continuing to expand our unprecedented partnerships with state and local law enforcement organizations nationwide to help law enforcement officers on the front lines combat threats to public safety," said Secretary Napolitano.
In her remarks, Secretary Napolitano reiterated DHS' critical role as a central repository for information for state and local law enforcement—including information regarding terrorism, drug trafficking, or other threats to public safety—and underscored her continued commitment to improving the collection, analysis and sharing of information through fusion centers.
She highlighted the Department's collaboration with law enforcement nationwide to expand the Suspicious Activity Reporting initiative—which will provide training to frontline officers on ways to quickly report activities that are possibly linked to terrorism in order to quickly share that information with other law enforcement entities—and to raise public awareness of indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats through the national "See Something, Say Something" public awareness campaign.
Secretary Napolitano also discussed the critical importance of information-driven, evidence-based efforts—supported by the Department and implemented with the leadership of local law enforcement officials and in close collaboration with the communities themselves—to combat violent extremism in America's communities.
###