Terrorism Prevention

What we can do in our community:

Domestic terrorism is defined by the United States Department of Defense as "the unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence against individuals or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious or ideological objectives."

The Georgetown Police Department and law enforcement in general cannot fight domestic terrorism on its own. Police officers cannot be in all places at all times. Law enforcement must have the cooperation of the community in order to be effective. Law enforcement asks all citizens to assist in keeping everyone safe by being the eyes and ears of the community.

Awareness is the key. Regrettably terrorists do not wear placards that identify them for who they are. Unfortunately we can use only general rules of thumb to go by. What does this mean for you and me?

What to look for as possible red flags?

• Unusual interest in public utilities, large groups of people, i.e. sporting events, government buildings, military installations, transportation centers, financial institutions or religious centers.
• Unusual inquiries regarding security measures.
• Suspicious activity, i.e. note taking, picture taking or video taping higher risk targets as outlined above.
• Fraudulent identification.
• Unusual behavior, i.e. inappropriate clothing for the current weather conditions, unusually loose clothing, or unusually large or heavy bag or backpack.
• Repetitious unusual behavior, i.e. observation of same person or same vehicle making frequent trips to the same location - terrorists frequently will make every effort to conduct a "dry run" prior to committing an act of terrorism.
• Unusual rentals, purchases or inquiries regarding hazardous materials.

 

 

What to remember?

• Complete description of person (Age, Sex, Height, Weight, Hair, Scars, Marks, Tattoos)
• Vehicle description and last known direction of travel (Tag #, Year, Make, Model, Body Type, Number of passengers, Unusual descriptors- i.e. bumper stickers or damage)

What to do with this information?

• Call the Georgetown Police Department at 843-545-4300, or
• In case of an emergency dial 911. Assist law enforcement in allocating limited resources in the direction of possible suspicious activity and allow police to handle the situation from there. Alert community members who are aware of what to look for, what to remember and what to do with that information are one of the best tools that we can use in order to work together to help combat domestic terrorism.

For more information, visit these links:

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
www.dhs.gov

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
www.fbi.gov

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED)
www.sled.state.sc.us