I spent the entire day at a symposium by the FBI, DHS, NJSP, and the NJ & NY ROIC's. All in all a good day of discussing the current terrorist trends, teasers on the library of information gained from the UBL raid and protecting critical infrastructure. For those tin foil hat wearing types...it would have been a scary day.

 

Cyber - Okay gun owners are not the only ones with a beef with the NJSP. There was an amusing exchange between an IT Security person and the NJSP cyber crime rep. NJ is the ONLY state where companies are required to report a hack or breach of information to the NJSP BEFORE notifying the effected parties. NJSP however, will not / does not share / notify companies that a hack / virus is going around unlike the other 49 states. Say there is a group trying to hack a utility / the chemical industry / financial institution etc. we are the only state that expects us to report to them, but won't put you on alert for a problem. Surprise - surprise.

 

Firearms - During the Active Shooter module, a NJSP representative talked about various options during a situation...Flee, Hide, Intervene. He emphasized that off duty police / LE should ALWAYS carry a firearm because you never know when or where something might happen. I felt compelled to make the statement that when seconds matter, help is only minutes away and made the point that we have Fire Systems but do little to protect innocent people from disgruntled employees or students. The trooper admitted that by the time SWAT shows up most of the time the only thing left is the crying. Another attendee asks if NJ has any statistics on private CCW stopping crime or an active shooter? And wouldn't having more law abiding citizens carrying concealed weapons prevent more active shooters? I had to look to see if he was wearing a NJGF / NJ2A / NRA / SAF / GOA shirt.

 

The trooper flat out said that NJ is very tough, and almost impossible to get a CCW in NJ. He said that it all depends on the individual and their level of training if that CCW holder would make a difference ( I agree). He poked a fun at how rigid our laws are compared to other states. FWIW - he didn't come off as a hater or anti-CCW...I'll give he a nod for being honest. I would up introducing myself the individual and found a new person to go shooting with who lives a couple towns away and have common business interests.

Bin Laden - No surprise here. But the government is digesting loads of information from the UBL raid and are in the process of vetting the intel and making game plan changes. Those in LE and Security should see some intel reports in the next couple of weeks. Let's say Pakistan isn't going to come out of this too well.

Radical Terrorists - Thanks to the internet and Jihad websites written in English, the time from being your average Joe to being a walking IED has been dramatically decreased. AQ is finding most of their recruits from Mosques (shocking), prisons and the US Military. That's right. Just look at Ft Hood and the Marine they just arrested. If you are in uniform and you turn AQ, firing squad pronto.

 

One of the big take-aways I got was that our Federal government is making a decent effort with a lot of programs to help businesses become harder targets and are more willing to share intel with you. They will actually come out to your site and offer suggestions. NJ is trying but is a little behind, its NJ,... what do you expect. If you are interested to see if DHS / FBI / InfraGard has free programs for your business sector, drop me a line and I will try to hook you up with the right people.

 

That is all, carry on.

Thanks for the update. All of that UBL intel makes me wish I was still in uniform, at my old job.

Thanks for the update. All of that UBL intel makes me wish I was still in uniform, at my old job.

 

LOTS of CIA / SpecOps greeting cards will be going out in short order. Suffice it to say, without Pakistani notification or permission.