Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 12 March 2024

These updates are shared to help raise the situational awareness of Faith-Based organizations to best defend against and mitigate the impacts from all-hazards threats including physical security, cybersecurity, and natural disasters.

Threat Assessments

• 2024 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community

This report reflects the collective insights of the Intelligence Community, which is committed every day to providing the nuanced, independent, and unvarnished intelligence that policymakers, warfighters, and domestic law enforcement personnel need to protect American lives and America’s interests anywhere in the world.

Download the report

• FBI director warns of ‘dangerous individuals’ coming across southern border

From the ABC News report:

Amid a bitter election-year debate over illegal immigration, FBI Director Chris Wray told a Senate panel on Monday that dangerous individuals have entered the United States illegally at the southern border.

“We have had dangerous individuals entering the United States have a variety of sources,” Wray said at the annual “Worldwide Threats” congressional hearings at which the heads of U.S. intelligence agencies testify.

…

“There is a particular network that has — some of the overseas facilitators of the smuggling network have — ISIS ties that we’re very concerned about, and we’ve been spending enormous amount of effort with our partners investigating,” Wray said.

Overall, he said, threats from various groups have reached a “whole other level.”

“Even before October 7, I would have told this committee that we were at a heightened threat level from a terrorism perspective — in the sense that it’s the first time I’ve seen in a long, long time,” he said. “The threats from homegrown violent extremists that is jihadist-inspired, extremists, domestic violent extremists, foreign terrorist organizations, and state-sponsored terrorist organizations all being elevated at one time since October 7, though, that threat has gone to a whole other level. And so, this is a time I think for much greater vigilance, maybe been called upon us,” he said.

Foiled Terrorist Attempts in Europe

• A New Terror Threat Is Emerging in Europe Linked to Iran, Gaza War

Authorities in Europe say they have foiled several terror plots, some involving suspects posing as refugees, raising alarm about a growing array of threats from extremists. In one previously unreported investigation last December, police in Austria and Bosnia arrested two separate groups of Afghan and Syrian refugees who carried arms and ammunition, including Kalashnikov assault rifles and pistols. Investigators found pictures of Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe on some of the suspects’ mobile phones, which they said suggested they were motivated by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

• Italian police arrest three Palestinians on terrorism charges

Italian police have arrested three Palestinians based in central Italy who they said were planning attacks in an unspecified country, a police statement said on Monday.

Analyst Comments:

Current threat assessments, and actual terrorism attempts in Europe, indicate that Faith-Based Organizations in the United States should consider being extra vigilant to protect against terrorist threats.

ASIS International Soft Target Articles

The following items from ASIS International’s Security Management publication provide insight and guidance for protecting soft targets. By their nature, many Houses of Worship are soft targets. Faith-Based Organizations should consider reviewing the ASIS material.

• The Balancing Act: How Soft Targets Can Attract Guests While Discouraging Attacks
• Fast Facts: What is a Soft Target? (video)
• Active Assailants Increasingly Seek Open Spaces, FBI Data Finds
• Crash Ratings 101: The Cornerstone of Effective High Security Vehicle Barrier Systems

Venue Security, The IAVM Podcast Series: Stella Salyer on Leadership, First Aid and Emergency Response: (way) better safe than sorry

Venue Security, The IAVM Podcast Series is Gate 15’s newest podcast as Gate 15’s founder and Managing Director, Andy Jabbour, hosts short interviews with venue safety and security experts from the International Association of Venue Managers’ (IAVM) Venue Safety and Security Committee (VSSC) and other special guests from the IAVM community.

In this episode of Venue Security, Andy Jabbour talks with Stella Salyer, Assistant General Manager, Sales & Services, Virginia Beach Convention Center. Stella is a Nationally Registered Advanced  Emergency Technician and volunteers every weekend in Virginia Beach’s 911 system. She holds certifications in Mass Casualty and Tactical Emergency Critical Care, Stop the Bleed instructor, and is a Proctor for Virginia Beach EMS’s Advanced EMT Academy. Read more at her complete LinkedIn profile. Contact Stella by email: ssalyer@vbgov.com.

In the discussion they address:

• Stella’s background.
• First Aid and Emergency Response. 
• Leadership during incidents.
• What’s on Stella’s mind.
• With a shoutout to Farrow Bouton, New Orleans Director of Event Services, for his and Smoothie King Center’s kind support to IAVM and AVSS 2024.

Information on other Gate 15 podcasts can be found at Podcasts (gate15.global).