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| Every citizen including government employees play a crucial role in ensuring the security of United States |
"If You See Something, Say Something" campaign originally implemented by New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority is a simple and effective program.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano joined U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator Martha Johnson, Federal Protective Service (FPS) Director Eric Patterson, and GSA Commissioner of Public Buildings Bob Peck to announce the expansion of DHS' national "If You See Something, Say Something" public awareness campaign to approximately 9,000 federal buildings throughout the United States.
"Homeland security begins with hometown security and every citizen including government employees plays a critical role in ensuring America's safety and security," said Secretary Napolitano. "Our partnership with FPS and GSA to expand the 'If You See Something, Say Something' campaign to our nation's federal buildings is a crucial step in helping the millions of people who work in or visit our federal buildings every day identify and report suspicious activity indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats."
"GSA is pleased to partner with DHS to bring the 'If You See Something, Say Something' campaign to the over 9,000 properties we own or lease on behalf of the Federal Government," said GSA Administrator Martha Johnson. "The campaign is yet another important example of the work GSA and DHS do to ensure that our federal buildings are safe and welcoming to over one million federal employees and visitors alike."
The "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign originally implemented by New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and funded, in part, by $13 million from DHS' Transit Security Grant Program is a simple and effective program to engage the public and key frontline employees to identify and report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats to the proper transportation and law enforcement authorities.
The campaign for buildings will usher in a new era of measures where public is directly involved in safety and security |
"The men and women of the Federal Protective Service work tirelessly every day to protect the safety of Americans who work in and visit federal facilities," said FPS Director Eric Patterson. "This collaborative security effort will enable our law enforcement and protective security officers to join forces with the public to secure federal facilities from threats."
In the coming weeks, "If You See Something, Say Something" public awareness materials designed to help America's businesses, communities and citizens remain vigilant and play an active role in keeping our homeland safe will be posted in approximately 9,000 federal buildings throughout the country. Signage will appear at FPS guard stations at each facility, and any calls reporting suspicious activity will be directed to the existing national network of FPS call centers, which operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Over the past five months, DHS has worked with its federal, state, local and private sector partners, as well as the Department of Justice, to expand the "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign and the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative an administration effort to train state and local law enforcement to recognize behaviors and indicators related to terrorism, crime and other threats; standardize how those observations are documented and analyzed; and expand and enhance the sharing of those reports with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and DHS to communities throughout the country, including recent statewide expansions of the "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign across Minnesota and New Jersey. Other partners include Walmart, Mall of America, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, Amtrak, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, the sports and general aviation industries, and state and local fusion centers across the country.
In the coming months, the Department will continue to expand the "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign nationally with public education materials and outreach tools designed to help America's businesses, communities and citizens remain vigilant and play an active role in keeping the country safe.
