Nearly 200 first responders and public safety officials throughout Michigan were the focus of the “Protecting America-Defending Against the Threats” homeland security symposium hosted by Oakland Community College (OCC) recently at its Combined Regional Emergency Services Training (CREST) facility on the Auburn Hills campus. This is the fifth annual symposium on domestic terrorism held at OCC.
Attending the one-day event were representatives from 50 local, state and national agencies, including police, fire and EMS departments; the Michigan State Police; the FBI; the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; U.S. Customs and Border Patrol; and military personnel, along with Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard, who delivered the keynote address.
During the symposium, presentations from national experts covered a wide array of homeland security topics, including “Lessons for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security”, “Campus Unrest, U.S. Border Security”, “Aviation Security” and “Cyber Threats”.
"The conference is a chance for OCC to bring training and resources to our law enforcement and emergency services personnel at no cost to make it accessible for all,” said David Ceci, OCC’s dean of public services and director of law enforcement training.
OCC Chancellor Peter Provenzano, Jr., who provided opening remarks for the symposium, said CREST is the perfect location to hold such an important homeland security event.
“Our CREST facility is used as a training center for numerous local and state public services agencies, so it is a natural location for this type of symposium,” he said.
The symposium was organized by Ken Aud, Criminal Justice faculty and Public Services Department Chair; Ken Van Sparrentak, Fire Fighting Technology and CRJ faculty; Daniel Rodriguez, Criminal Justice faculty; Public Services/CREST Dean and Director of Law Enforcement Training David Ceci; and Nicholas Rainwater, Advanced Police Training coordinator.
“This year’s program focused more on case studies of mass attack incidents to better prepare local first responders,” Van Sparrentak said.
Aud added that the symposium helps prepare first responders to continually respond to new and emerging threats.
"Our conference goal was to provide a platform for all agencies at the local, state, and federal level to meet, discuss, and share the latest technology and information relative to terrorism both here and abroad.” Aud said. “The feedback from the conference attendees was extremely positive, and all indications are that we exceeded our goal.”
OCC’s event partners for this year’s symposium included the Oakland County Homeland Security Department and the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. OCC’s Public Safety Dept. and Oakland County Sheriffs provided security for the symposium.
For more information about OCC’s Homeland Security and Criminal Justice programs, visit CREST.
About OCC
Oakland Community College offers nearly 100 degrees and certificates programs with the resources students need to be successful and advance our community. As a top transfer institution, OCC offers one of the state’s most affordable tuition rates and flexibility in scheduling with face-to-face and online options. The College is nationally recognized for its high-demand career training with expert faculty in their fields. More than 1 million students have enrolled in the College since it opened in 1965. Learn more at oaklandcc.edu.
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