WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.909 --> 00:00:06.080 Hi, I'm Ryan Streeter Program Manager for the "If You See Something, Say Something®" Campaign 2 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:10.450 at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Joining me today are Kevin Peters 3 00:00:10.450 --> 00:00:14.980 and Amanda Greenberg. The Chief and Deputy Chief of the National Threat Evaluation and 4 00:00:14.980 --> 00:00:20.560 Reporting Program or NTER for short. Kevin and Amanda thank you for participating in this series. 5 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:25.520 For those who are unfamiliar with NTER a vital asset for the DHS Office of Intelligence and 6 00:00:25.529 --> 00:00:28.849 Analysis would you mind providing an overview of the program? 7 00:00:28.849 --> 00:00:32.310 Of course, thank you for providing us the opportunity to talk about what we do and how 8 00:00:32.310 --> 00:00:37.360 we work closely with our partners and state and local communities and Homeland Security Enterprise. 9 00:00:37.360 --> 00:00:42.570 The National Threat and Evaluation Reporting Program is an expansion of the nationwide 10 00:00:42.570 --> 00:00:47.560 Suspicious Activity Reporting initiative. And our focus remains the same of our legacy 11 00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:52.280 NSI mission of supporting state and local law enforcement, review tips and leads, 12 00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:57.060 prevent homeland security threats. NSI was predominantly focused on counter terrorism 13 00:00:57.060 --> 00:01:04.840 and under the NTER program we were focused on helping state and locals review tips and leads to prevent 14 00:01:04.840 --> 00:01:09.580 instances of targeted violence and prevent school shootings and mass casualty attacks. 15 00:01:09.580 --> 00:01:12.990 Amanda can you talk a little bit more about the work we do in the NSI? 16 00:01:12.990 --> 00:01:19.540 Absolutely, so the NSI stemmed from some of the results of the 9-11 commission report 17 00:01:19.540 --> 00:01:25.140 and we are a partnership between Federal, State, Local, Tribal territorial agencies 18 00:01:25.140 --> 00:01:31.230 where we within the NSI program provide training, technical assistance, and guidance to these 19 00:01:31.230 --> 00:01:37.461 partners so that way they can review, vet, and analyze suspicious activity reports 20 00:01:37.461 --> 00:01:42.850 when they are reported from the public through campaigns such as See Something, Say Something. 21 00:01:42.850 --> 00:01:48.520 What is an unknown fact or misconception about suspicious activity reporting that you would like to address? 22 00:01:48.580 --> 00:01:54.820 Yes, thank you so much. I really think that an unknown fact that really the public may 23 00:01:54.820 --> 00:02:01.960 not be aware of is the background review process that happens when suspicious activity reporting 24 00:02:01.960 --> 00:02:08.120 is reported to law enforcement or to state and local officials or federal officials. 25 00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:16.920 Previously before I joined the program I worked in the fusion center environment and stood up these 26 00:02:16.920 --> 00:02:22.020 suspicious activity reporting vetting programs within state and local environments, law enforcement 27 00:02:22.030 --> 00:02:26.700 agencies, and fusion centers. And I think that what would be something helpful for the public 28 00:02:26.700 --> 00:02:34.560 to know is all of the guidance that and the processes that are in place that are put in 29 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:40.280 place to ensure that privacy, civil right, and civil liberties protections are adhered 30 00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:48.930 to during the review and vetting of this information. I know that everyone within this SAR process 31 00:02:48.930 --> 00:02:55.010 you know we are stewards of public trust and we take that very seriously and everything 32 00:02:55.010 --> 00:02:59.590 that we do when it comes to suspicious activity reporting and the sharing of this information 33 00:02:59.590 --> 00:03:04.760 is to ensure that an attack doesn't happen to the best of our ability but also ensure 34 00:03:04.760 --> 00:03:11.319 that the privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties of our Americans of our community 35 00:03:11.320 --> 00:03:16.540 are well taken care of as we do both of these things. 36 00:03:17.700 --> 00:03:22.960 So Kevin following up on the See Something Say Something program. Why is "If You See 37 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:26.860 Something, Say Something®" so important in the suspicious activity world? 38 00:03:27.870 --> 00:03:32.920 Right well I think it really gets back to the community involvement and we can have 39 00:03:32.930 --> 00:03:38.790 all the tools and training on the federal side or on the law enforcement side or even 40 00:03:38.790 --> 00:03:44.319 in the work we do supporting private sector partners. But, without those intake of suspicious 41 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:49.710 activity and the engagement from the community partners and our fellow citizens across the 42 00:03:49.710 --> 00:03:54.540 country that's really the most important step to begin the process if we can take potential 43 00:03:54.540 --> 00:03:59.959 action to prevent an attack or stop another type of crime so for us I think it really 44 00:03:59.959 --> 00:04:05.350 is about that community involvement and building trust across the country with all aspects 45 00:04:05.350 --> 00:04:11.100 of the community to ensure that we're reaching you know major metropolitan areas all the 46 00:04:11.100 --> 00:04:15.650 way to rural communities and that every part of the country is really engaged on what their 47 00:04:15.650 --> 00:04:21.840 role can be to work in partnership with federal government, with DHS, with our local state and local 48 00:04:21.840 --> 00:04:27.990 officials and it's a team effort to try to ensure that we collaborate on preventing acts of 49 00:04:27.990 --> 00:04:32.000 targeted violence and terrorist attacks across the country. So we think it's a very important 50 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:36.150 aspect of ensuring that the community knows that they're probably the most important part 51 00:04:36.150 --> 00:04:37.960 of this entire process. 52 00:04:39.030 --> 00:04:43.140 Kevin and Amanda thank you for participating in this series. 53 00:04:43.150 --> 00:04:44.150 Thank you. 54 00:04:44.150 --> 00:04:45.280 Thank you so much.