L.A. opens academy in counterterrorism

Rachel Uranga
Daily News
March 11, 2008

Trying to make Los Angeles a focal point for counterterrorism efforts, LAPD Chief William Bratton on Monday opened what’s being billed as the first National Counter-Terrorism Academy.

Partnering with the Manhattan Institute, Bratton intends to take the initial $1 million step to teach local law enforcement about the roots of terrorism and how to combat it nationally over the coming year.

The federal government can’t protect the country on its own, he said, noting, “The potential threat of terrorism is much more real now than it was in the 20th century. What is necessary is to actually police terrorism. That’s where local police come. There are 700,000 of us in local cities.”

The five-month course takes midlevel managers from 30 local agencies including the Los Angeles Fire and Long Beach Police departments and the FBI through the historical roots of terrorism to culturally sensitive interviewing techniques.

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