Page 5 - TPA Journal September October 2022

From the President

Mike Davis, TPA President

“See Something,

Say Something is changing in 2022”

It has been twenty-one years since our
nation was attacked by 19 terrorist al Queda
Islamic extremists, who took the lives of
3,000 people on September 11, 2001 (9/11).
It was my first year as a rookie police officer
and I immediately became aware that the
entire vocation of policing was about to
change. After 9/11, it was discovered that
there was a lack of coordination and
intelligence sharing with the community.
The same was found within local, state, and
federal agencies. The training for first
responders in situational awareness related
to terrorism was limited to specialized
intelligence units and was not provided to
line officers at the time.

Terrorism and targeted violence seemed to be something that was handled by federal
agencies and most communities regarded the subject as a matter that was most often seen
in foreign countries. After the 9/11 investigation was completed, it was discovered that
three of the terrorists had been contacted by local law enforcement officers prior to
conducting their attacks. On November 25, 2002, with the passage of the Homeland
Security Act, the Department of Homeland Security was formed.

Sept./Oct. 2022 www.texaspoliceassociation.com • (512) 458-3140 1