TERRORIST INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTER TERRORISM UNIT
Florida’s Domestic Security Strategic Plan was developed in cooperation with state, local governments and key private sector partners to ensure a plan designed to integrate multi-agency needs, yet remain focused on one state and one mission.
To support the Strategic Plan, Florida built an inclusive structure designed to encourage and facilitate multi-jurisdictional and multi-disciplinary participation at all levels of government. Today, Florida is much more secure from, and prepared for incidents, whether man-made or natural, than ever before. This is due to our comprehensive plan, consensus-built funding strategy, inclusive structure and critical partnerships formed and enhanced over the past several years.
Today, the key elements of strategy, structure and partnerships continue to serve Florida well. The Strategic Plan isdynamic and continues to be refined as experience is gained. These refinements extend to the goals, objectives and implementation steps, which will be reviewed on a three-year schedule to reflect current capabilities, status, measurement of performance and sustainment. The Strategic Plan is structured to focus activities on the primary requirements for a safer and more secure future for Florida. This structure aligns policy objectives under six goals:
1. Prepare for all hazards, natural, technological or man-made, to include terrorism.
2. Prevent, preempt and deter acts of terrorism.
3. Protect our citizens, residents, visitors and critical infrastructure against threats and hazards.
4. Mitigate the impact of incidents and events to reduce the loss of life and to property and the environment.
5. Respond in an immediate, efficient and coordinated manner, focused on the survivors and their needs.
6. Recover quickly and effectively to restore our way of life following an incident or event.
Florida’s governance structure has three primary and equally vital components; Regional Domestic Security Task Forces, State Working Group on Domestic Preparedness and Domestic Security Oversight Council.
Regional Domestic Security Task Forces (RDSTF)
Each RDSTF consists of local representatives from disciplines involved in prevention and response including: law enforcement, fire/rescue, emergency medical services, emergency management, hospitals, public health, schools and businesses. The RDSTFs work together with the Chief of Domestic Security to prepare for, prevent, and respond to terrorist events.
State Working Group on Domestic Preparedness (SWG)
Representatives and subject matter experts from the RDSTFs, designated urban areas and other key agency liaisons come together by function to address domestic security issues identified by the RDSTFs or the Domestic Security Oversight Council. Major Terry Bovaird of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office is the regional representative and on the Operations and Planning Committee. This committee’s primary responsibility is to review and develop operations plans to fight both domestic and international terrorism.
Domestic Security Oversight Council (DSOC)
Established to review and provide guidance to the state’s domestic security prevention, preparedness and response activities, to review and provide guidance to the RDSTFs, and to make recommendations to the Governor and Legislature regarding expenditure and allocation of resources related to the state’s counter terrorism and domestic security efforts. The DSOC formally approves and directs state adoption of the State Homeland Security Strategy.
The primary duty of the Terrorist Intelligence/Counter Terrorism Unit of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office is to gather intelligence in order to prevent future terrorist attacks against the United States and to build the capabilities within the Marion County Sheriff’s Office to respond to acts of terrorism. We do this working within the Nations Terrorism Response National Frame Work designed to integrate intelligence and build response capabilities tied to identifiable threats from past and anticipated terrorist events of the future. We focus on developing our response capabilities that strengthen our preparedness. This preparedness is tied to risks that are most relevant and urgent to our local needs. The unit works within the State of Florida’s Regional Domestic Security Task Force and the Federal Bureau of Investigations Joint Terrorism Task Force to keep Marion County citizens safe.