NCBRT Offers Training Packages for National Special Security Events

 

March 31, 2016

 

The National Center for Biomedical Research and Training has been working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide packages of training in preparation for National Special Security Events (NSSE). Training is vital for agencies preparing for an NSSE, since the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has designated these nationally and internationally significant events as potential targets for terrorism and other criminal activity.

 

Several of NCBRT's courses cover critical skills needed during an NSSE. NCBRT trained thousands of participants in preparation for Super Bowl XLIX and the Pope's visit to the U.S. last year, both designated as an NSSE. The Site Protection and Document Screening Techniques course was delivered to 1,036 NYPD officers for the New York City leg of the Pope's U.S. visit. This course can be incorporated into planning for chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) component and device interdiction; conducting behavioral assessments; implementing screening operations; conducting non-intrusive inspections; scene control; evacuation; and media relations.

 

Detective Joseph Rovnan, a 26-year veteran with the Philadelphia Police Department, trained 1,000 law enforcement officers in NCBRT's Site Protection through Observational Techniques and Law Enforcement Prevention and Deterrence of Terrorist Acts courses combined through NCBRT's indirect course delivery program ahead of the Pope's appearance at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia.

 

"In taking these courses and now instructing them gives me the ability to prepare that someone who just might be the person who thwarts the next attack," says Rovnan.

 

NCBRT also provided the Readiness: Training Identification Preparedness Planning (RTIPP) course in Philadelphia to determine what training was needed to prepare for the Democratic National Convention in July, another NSSE.  The RTIPP course teaches participants how to create effective training plans for their agencies and jurisdictions by evaluating their abilities to meet their emergency operations plan using traditional and national preparedness tools.

 

For the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, NCBRT delivered the Public Safety WMD Response – Sampling Techniques and Guidelines course, Law Enforcement Active Shooter Emergency Response course, and the Transit Terrorist Tools and Tactics course. Together, these courses will help participants prevent, prepare for, and respond to a WMD incident or an active shooter incident.

 

NCBRT encourages agencies to be proactive and prepare far in advance for an NSSE. For example, NCBRT has a one-year training plan in place for the 2017 Super Bowl LI in Houston. Participants from multiple agencies in Harris County will progress through NCBRT awareness, performance and management and planning level courses.

 

A three-year training plan for the 2018 Super Bowl LII began last year in Minneapolis. Planning so far in advance has paid off. "We are ahead of the game," says NCBRT Regional Training Manager Garrett Zollinger. NCBRT has been able to spread training out, offering two or three courses per year. Even though NCBRT is able to work around differing schedules to accommodate host agencies' needs, it can still be hard to fit in all the necessary training if agencies don't plan ahead.  Not only do agencies need to take multiple courses, but also multiple deliveries of each course are necessary to ensure everyone receives the training.

 

In addition to offering NCBRT course packages to agencies training for an NSSE, NCBRT collaborates with the entire National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC)​ to identify pertinent training offered by its consortium partners as well.  The NDPC as a whole covers a broad range of expertise, offering a comprehensive NSSE training package all at no direct cost to host agencies.

 

"Agencies facing the monumental task of preparing for an NSSE can turn to the NDPC for help because we have the framework in place to handle these situations," says NCBRT Associate Director Jason Krause.