From the Emergency Management and Response Information Sharing and Analysis Center

Reporting Suspicious Activity

Acknowledging there are legally acceptable ways for first responders who are not sworn officers to report unusual, suspicious, and criminal activity, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) infrastructure protection and intelligence officials restated the importance for Emergency Services Sector personnel to report suspicious actions to the National Infrastructure Coordinating Center (NICC) as well as their local authorities.  Although there are no specifically known terrorist threats, DHS specialists offered the following reasons to increase reporting during 2009:

 

·         Analysts cannot know what's happening without suspicious activity reports.

·         Suspicious activity reports are necessary to track potential terrorist threats.

·         Security experts cannot "connect the dots" when there are no dots to connect.

·         Reporting suspicious activity to the NICC saves valuable time.

 

In a recent meeting, the FBI counterterrorism division chief asserted that prompt and detailed reporting of suspicious activity may prevent a terrorist attack.  FBI counterterrorism specialists, therefore, recommend individuals provide the following information when reporting unusual, suspicious, and criminal actions:

 

·         Brief description of the activity.

·         Date, time, and location of the activity.

·         Physical description of the person(s) and vehicle(s) involved.

·         Direction of travel and possible destination of those involved.

·         Complete contact information of the individual making the report.

 

Suspicious activity should be reported to the local law enforcement agency, but also to the NICC: voice: 202-282-9201; Fax: 703-487-3570; E-mail: nicc@dhs.gov.  

 

The Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) regards the above reasons for and methods of reporting suspicious activity particularly timely considering the 20 January Presidential Inauguration events.  The FBI counterterrorism division chief advised last month that public and private sector managers "double-check their security plans and prepare for the possibility of a sophisticated terrorist attack.  He added, however, that "no credible threats to the inauguration currently exist."