HOUSTON (Aug. 29, 2012) – Lone Star College System police officers received up-to-date anti-terrorism training as part of a recent State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training program (SLATT) workshop held at LSC-University Park.
SLATT is a one-day workshop that is sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
The SLATT training includes the latest information on recognizing terrorist indicators and warning signs, and awareness and prevention details involving domestic terrorism or violence. The sessions are presented by experienced law enforcement practitioners and subject matter experts, including former FBI officials, current members of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and others.
“These were excellent presentations that gave us more insight into identifying potential instruments of terrorism,” said Jerome Powell, LSCS deputy chief.
Powell said that in addition to Lone Star College police officers on hand for the training workshop, 170-plus law enforcement officials also attended, representing about 70 local and state agencies – Harris County and Montgomery County sheriff’s departments and constable’s offices, independent school districts, local and regional colleges, Houston Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, FBI, DEA and others.
The SLATT training is geared specifically to campus law enforcement personnel and offers “pre-incident awareness and prevention,” along with detailed background knowledge on how terrorist and criminal extremist groups operate and the techniques that they use.
The training also helped further solidify relationships between local, state and federal agencies and “how we can come together and share our resources,” said Powell.
“It’s important for our officers get the most up-to-date information available in order to maintain the safety of our campuses,” Powell said.
Kenneth Magidson, U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Texas, and Richard Gregory, LSCS chief of police, provided opening remarks and welcomed the attendees to kick off the event that was held Aug. 9 at LSC-University Park.
The event was hosted by the LSCS Police Department, the Regional Organized Crime Information Center, the Texas Governor’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Texas.
With 75,000 students in credit classes, and a total enrollment of more than 90,000, Lone Star College System is the fastest-growing community college system in the nation and the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area. Dr. Richard Carpenter is the chancellor of LSCS, which consists of six colleges including LSC-CyFair, LSC-Kingwood, LSC-Montgomery, LSC-North Harris, LSC-Tomball and LSC-University Park, five centers, LSC-University Center at Montgomery, LSC-University Center at University Park, Lone Star Corporate College, and LSC-Online. To learn more visit LoneStar.edu.
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