FBI, San Bernardino Police Chief Among Law Enforcement Trained by ADL

  • June 9, 2015

Two law enforcement officials from ADL’s Pacific Southwest Region attended ADL’s Advanced Training School (ATS) course on Extremist and Terrorist Threats.  This course, held May 31 to June 2 in Washington, DC, is recognized as one of the premier counterterrorism trainings in the country.

Chief Jarrod Burguan of the San Bernardino Police Department and Assistant Special Agent in Charge Dan Kennedy of FBI-Los Angeles participated from the Pacific Southwest Region.  Upon their return from the training, both expressed gratitude to ADL for offering this type of program for senior level law enforcement.  They also noted the impressive level of expertise of the speakers and trainers.

Assistant Special Agent in Charge Kennedy said, “I found the training very beneficial and would highly recommend it to law enforcement officials at every level.  The instructors were clearly subject matter experts who provided detailed information about a number of [international and domestic terrorist] threat groups.  More important however, was their analysis and assessments provided on current and future trends of these groups.  This insight was informative for executives in positions to determine resource allocation.”

San Bernardino Police Chief Burguan remarked that ATS “is an opportunity that every law enforcement executive should take advantage of. The interaction and networking with professionals from around the country is invaluable and the training itself is contemporary and on target. We understand that fighting terrorism in this country is simply the new norm; it’s easy to get caught up in the day to day business of policing that often does not involve the current issues of extremism and hate. This training is a great reminder to bring it back into perspective and to remember that it remains a threat to our democracy and our way of life.”

The course included a combination of both ADL’s own subject matter experts on white supremacy, anti-government extremism, homegrown radicalization, and international terrorist groups, as well as briefings on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) from expert research fellows from various world-renowned think tanks, the Boston Marathon bombings from a Lieutenant Colonel from the Massachusetts State Police, and Israel’s best practices and lessons learned in fighting terrorism from the Chief Superintendent of the Israel Police.

The class was composed of 42 law enforcement executives and commanders representing major federal agencies (including the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives; Naval Criminal Investigative Service; US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; US Customs and Border Protection; US Marshals Service; US Coast Guard; and the Drug Enforcement Administration), as well as commanders from some of the largest local agencies in the country (including the New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, San Diego, Austin, Miami Beach, Oklahoma City, and Richmond Police Departments), and commanders from several major state agencies (such as the Arizona Department of Public Safety, Massachusetts State Police, Maryland State Police, and Colorado Bureau of Investigation).

ATS has now trained over 1,000, representing nearly 250 different agencies from across the country, since the course was first launched in 2003.

ATS’s three day sessions, held twice a year in Washington, D.C., are designed to provide chiefs and executives from federal, state, local, and military law enforcement agencies from across the country with practical information, resources, and contacts to help them combat domestic and international extremist and terrorist threats.  There is no other program like it.