Counter-Terrorism Response Teams Stand Ready to Respond When Threat Levels Rise

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue announced last week that Georgia now has the capability of deploying specially trained and equipped state law enforcement officers to protect key assets, critical infrastructure, or other sites and events determined to be under increased threat of terrorist attack. The recent formation of Counter-Terrorism Response (CTR) Teams will facilitate the training, equipping, and utilization of state law enforcement personnel who will function as rapid-response security forces.

"In the event of a specific threat, these response teams will be in place as soon as possible to protect our fellow citizens and secure critical infrastructure," said Perdue. "We will be better prepared to respond to potential threats in any region of Georgia with these specially trained teams located throughout the state."
Initially, seven state agencies will participate in the CTR Team Project including the Georgia Office of Homeland Security (OHS), Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA), Georgia Information Sharing and Analysis Center (GISAC), the Georgia Public Safety Training Center, Georgia State Patrol (GSP), Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).

The CTR Teams, coordinated by GISAC, will be comprised of highly skilled personnel from the GBI, GSP, DNR and GEMA. The teams will be scalable, with the number of team members activated depending upon the specific circumstance. With team members located throughout Georgia, deployment can be quickly targeted to locations statewide. Team members will be trained on how to respond to scenarios ranging from weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to explosive devices. When necessary, the teams will be able to utilize resources and expertise from other state agencies, like the Georgia Department of Defense's 4th Civil Support Team and the GBI's bomb response capabilities.

The OHS Central Command will be responsible for ordering the deployment of the CTR Teams. Once deployed, a CTR Team will remain on site until local and regional law enforcement agencies are able to organize and establish a long-term security operation.

"During the G8 Summit, multi-agency rapid response teams played a key role in assuring that potential threats or incidents were addressed quickly and efficiently," said Bill Hitchens, OHS Director. "With the establishment of these CTR Teams, we've taken this successful concept a step further to help deter terrorist attacks."