Counter-terror school is started
The LAPD and an East Coast think tank launched a counter-terrorism academy Monday that is expected to train as many as 150 police officers, firefighters and private security personnel from California and Nevada over the next year.
The Los Angeles Police Department is collaborating with the Manhattan Institute’s Center for Policing Terrorism in a pilot effort to teach participants about religious extremism and the ways homegrown and international terrorists use the Internet to sustain their movements.
The academy will also examine methods for halting terrorist financing and present case studies of significant terrorist plots.
LAPD Chief William J. Bratton said that local law enforcement officers and firefighters, often the first to respond to disasters, need to better understand terrorist activity to prevent attacks.
The academy’s initial classes are expected to include about 70 participants from Los Angeles, Burbank, Santa Monica, Long Beach, Costa Mesa, San Diego and Las Vegas. The Los Angeles city and county fire departments also are participating, as are Paramount, Disney and Sony studios, officials said.
The FBI and federal Department of Homeland Security also are taking part.
The academy is funded by the state and the private Ahmanson Foundation, although LAPD officials would not reveal the price tag. Bratton said he hoped to secure $5 million in federal funding to expand the academy to cities across the country.
-- Duke Helfand
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