Department of National Security Grant: Enhancing Counterterrorism Coordination

India and the United States are strong partners in combating terrorism. The 26/11 2008 attack in Mumbai attracts intense debate over an Indian National Counterterrorism Center. We propose sending a team of five Indian journalists specializing in national security/foreign policy to the United States to witness firsthand counterterrorism coordination at the city, state, and national levels. The journalists will hail from media organizations with nationwide audiences and will represent a diversity of languages (Hindi, and Urdu in addition to English) and a diversity of media (print as well as television).

Counterterrorism at the City, State, and National Government Level: The team may meet with the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, which provides almost all operational support to LEGATT offices in Asia including Embassy New Delhi. If there is a serious incident in Asia that impacts U.S. citizens, the field office provides investigative and forensic response. The L.A. Field Office, LAPD, and L.A. Sheriff’s Office routinely provide overviews for officials from India and other Asian countries and have been supportive in past. These federal, state, and local agencies are very accustomed to working together in unified command post situations because of the numerous high-profile special events that take place in L.A. and deal with a broad range of counterterrorism issues facing a mega-city with a port and a neighboring land border. Areas for the team to report on and to visit:
• Jurisdictional overview (who has the authority to do what)
• Integrating federal, state, and local authorities, personnel, and equipment
• Federal/FBI field office operations
• L.A.P.D. and L.A. Sheriff operations
• Unified command post operations and command and control of incidents
• Special event management (such as the Olympic Games)
• Federal, state, and local tactical operations
• Federal, state, and local crime scene management and capabilities
• Federal task forces: embedded agents/officers
• Utilization of technology and databases to prevent and manage incidents
• L.A.P.D. and L.A. Sheriff air support
• L.A.P.D. and L.A. Sheriff tactical operations
• L.A. fusion center
• Media from a law enforcement perspective

Counterterrorism at the National Government Level: The team may meet with program facilitators of the Joint Counterterrorism Awareness Workshop Series (JCTAWS). See http://thesimonscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/IAJ-3-3-pg51-56.pdf. JCTAWS was designed in collaboration with the DHS and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a means for U.S. state, local, and city officials and private sector entities to develop their response capabilities to a complex, multi-incident, domestic terrorist attack within their jurisdictions. The program was specifically based on the 26/11Mumbai attack. Additionally, the team may meet with representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Joint Terrorism Task Force (NJTTF), the call center to the White House Situation Room, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. State Department’s Operations Center.

We hope to promote an understanding of how distinct and autonomous agencies at the city, state, and national levels collaborate cooperatively and effectively to spot, assess, and respond to threats of terrorism.