Two Colorado law enforcement officials attended the Anti-Defamation League’s Advanced Training School (ATS) course on extremist and terrorist threats last month in Washington, D.C. Representing ADL’s Mountain States Region were Marcus Fountain, Commander of the Denver Police Department’s Investigative Support Division, and Rebecca Spies, Deputy Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Public Safety. ATS is recognized as one of the premier counterterrorism trainings in the country.  The session was extremely timely, taking place immediately after the attacks in Paris, Colorado Springs and San Bernardino.

 

The course included presentations led by ADL’s own subject matter experts on white supremacy, anti-government extremism, homegrown Islamic extremism and international terrorist groups, as well as a global threat briefing from Michael Steinbach, head of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, a presentation from Major Joseph Duggan of the Massachusetts State Police on the Boston Marathon bombings and much more.

 

“The training put into perspective the overall picture of what we in Denver should be most concerned with,” Fountain said. “Though ISIS, Al Qaeda and returning foreign fighters are certainly major issues that require our attention, our concerns as local law enforcement officials, particularly in the Denver area, should focus more on domestic terrorism, anti-government extremism and actions of self-radicalized individuals.”

 

The class was comprised of 40 law enforcement executives and commanders from agencies across the country, including:  Federal Bureau of Investigation; US Immigration and Customs Enforcement; US Secret Service; US Coast Guard; US Marshals Service; US Park Police; US Capitol Police; New York City, Houston, Miami-Dade, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Las Vegas Police Departments; Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department; Missouri State Highway Patrol; and Massachusetts State Police.

 

ATS’s three day sessions, held twice a year in Washington, DC, are designed to provide chiefs and executives from federal, state, local, and military law enforcement agencies from across the country with practical information, resources and contacts to help them combat domestic and international extremist and terrorist threats.