Terrorism Liaison Officer:
- Establish close relationship and credibility with the Terrorism Early Warning Group (TEWG)
- Maintain close contact with the TEWG at all times during an incident
- Provide the TEWG with regular informational reports on activities within the TLO’s discipline and jurisdiction
- Facilitate the flow of information to and from all agencies within their discipline as directed by the OIC/Coordinator
- TLO’s will require training prior to becoming operational. This training will ensure that all TLO’s function consistently as a group, with the TEWG and their respective agencies/organizations. Additionally, such training will emphasize the need to protect sensitive information and to disseminate releasable information in a manner that is consistent with the law, as well as the policies and procedures of the TEWG. Such training can currently be found through the California
Specialized Training Institute (CSTI) and is sponsored by various state and local agencies.
Terrorism Liaison Officer Position
Detailed Description
The TLO Concept:
Protecting our country against acts of terrorism requires an
effective, integrated network of partners and relationships –
these serve as the foundation for sharing, analyzing and
disseminating information. This network must have participation
and input from law enforcement, fire, public health services,
other first responder organizations and critical infrastructure
entities. Equally important, working relationships must
transcend and overcome existing barriers to lateral
communication. Information sharing, which is vital to our first
line of defense, must focus on pre-, trans- and post-incident
communication if we are to be successful in preparing for,
responding to, mitigating and recovering from potential acts of
terrorism.
The East Bay Terrorism Early Warning Group (TEWG) was created to
form a regional group capable of a highly coordinated and
focused response to acts of terrorism, based on information
assessment and detailed planning. The TEWG currently consists of
members representing law enforcement and fire agencies from
Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. The TEWG is the focal point
for analyzing the strategic and operational information needed
to combat terrorism, protect critical infrastructure and
respond to a terrorist incident within the these two counties (our Operational Area).
Intelligence that originates at the local level should ideally
follow an upward path, flowing from the local level to the TEWG,
then to the Northern California Regional Terrorism Threat
Assessment Center (NCRTTAC) and then to additional State and
Federal agencies, with focus on the FBI’s Joint Terrorist Task
Force(s), when necessary. Historically, this process has been
fragmented, with some disconnection, especially where no system
exists to analyze and de-conflict the information. Our goal is
to rectify this situation by implementing a program that would
open and enhance both the development and lines of communication
through Terrorism Liaison Officers and allow for the timely
dissemination of information to the NCRTTAC, appropriate State
and Federal agencies and to local agencies themselves. This
objective can only be accomplished if information obtained by
field personnel reaches the TEWG in a timely manner.
In order to facilitate this process, a structured system of
contact personnel – Terrorism Liaison Officers, must be
established within each agency in the Operational Area,
including specialty divisions and agencies such as, but not
limited to, Harbor, Airport, Railroad, University/Campus and
Animal Control. The program would eventually be expanded to
include Health Care personnel and representatives from private,
critical infrastructure entities, with communication systems
specifically tailored to their needs.
The TEWG is designed to be a central intake point for
information on terrorism. Information is disseminated and also
analyzed for validity, connections to other available
information, trends and events. The full-time members of the
TEWG interact with a variety of subject matter experts from
multiple disciplines on the local, state and federal levels.
Occasionally, after thorough review, analysis and validation of
information, the TEWG will have a need to disseminate
information advisories to the Operational Area. Effective and
timely analysis of credible intelligence information depends
heavily on the capabilities of the communication system in place
to accommodate the dissemination of that information.
The Terrorism Liaison Officer (TLO) program would provide for
one or more points of contact within each agency to act as
conduits for information to and from the TEWG and would in
effect function as adhoc members of the TEWG. The effective and
timely analysis of credible intelligence information depends
heavily on the capabilities of each TLO and support from their
agencies/entities. Each TLO would, with the assistance of the
full-time TEWG members, be responsible for staying informed on
current terrorism issues and trend analysis, as well as
receiving/forwarding information collected by field personnel.
Each TLO will be required to attend a POST approved terrorism
liaison officer course. All
terrorism training will be coordinated and facilitated by the
full-time TEWG members. Additionally, the full-time and adhoc
TEWG members will coordinate subsequent training opportunities
in order to gain and maintain a minimum level of expertise.
Quarterly attendance at TLO meetings will be encouraged for
specialized training and information exchange.
A TLO properly equipped and trained through the TEWG will
provide each agency with a more highly trained, well informed
individual, available to field personnel on an on-call basis to
provide guidance when needed. A TLO would be in a position,
through adhoc membership in the TEWG, to keep each
agency/division up to date with potential terrorist related
activity in the Operational Area. The TLO and represented agency
will have access, through the full time members of the TEWG, to
trend analysis, intelligence updates and a nexus to other local,
state and federal resources. The TLO would also coordinate field
training to all personnel as to the type of information/activity
to be reported to the TEWG for analysis or investigation.
Duties and responsibilities:
Each agency will ultimately determine the duties and
responsibilities of their TLO(s) based on agency staffing and
similar duties already assigned to other individuals or units.
The suggested duties include:
- Collecting, reporting, retrieving and
sharing of materials related to terrorism. Such materials
might include:
- Training Bulletins
- Information on schools and cases
- Books, journals, periodicals and video tapes
- Lists of official contacts
- Source person for internal or external inquiry
- Collecting, reporting, retrieving and sharing of terrorism intelligence
- Identifying and communicating with community stakeholders
- Contact person for community and private sector relationships
- Conducts, coordinates and/or facilitates departmental training with regard to terrorism and terrorist related subjects
- Designated agency media representative and/or spokesperson with respect to terrorism related information
- Designated agency representative to the Terrorism Early Warning Group
Who should be a TLO:
The selection of an officer or officers for the TLO Program
should take a number of things into consideration. TLO’s must
possess good communications skills, as they will be expected to
interact with a multitude of organizations, both public and
private. In addition, the person selected to represent an agency
should be willing to contribute and give of themselves to the
overriding public interest. TLO’s must be aggressive and
intelligent and be pro-active members of their agency. They
should be capable of formulating a plan to carry out the duties
and responsibilities of the position. They need to be able to
collect and understand information and data and be willing and
able to act appropriately on that information without
hesitation. The TLO must be willing to seek and attend
additional education and training that will enhance their
ability to perform in this challenging role and agencies must
be willing to support this effort. Because of the time and
expense invested in the initial training and the following
learning curve of TLO’s, the individual must be willing to
remain in the position for at least two-years.
Conclusion:
The TLO program as proposed would fill a necessary and vital
part of an overall national strategy to counter the threat of
terrorism in the United States. Locally, the program will
provide immeasurable benefits to each agency and the Operational
Area. Having a trained and accessible resource available to
front line officers, such as a TLO, would greatly enhance the
Operational Area information sharing ability.
