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Welcome to FLETC
The Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) mission is “We train those who protect our homeland.” To carry out this mission, the FLETC serves as an interagency law enforcement training organization for 91 federal agencies or Partner Organizations. The FLETC also provides training to state, local, rural, tribal, territorial, and international law enforcement agencies. During FY 2012, almost 70,000 students received FLETC training. Since it was established in 1970, approximately 1,000,000 law enforcement officers and agents have been trained at FLETC. Although the FLETC trains officers and agents from all federal departments and all three branches of government, it is a component of the Department of Homeland Security.
As an interagency training organization, the FLETC has the finest professionals from diverse backgrounds serving as faculty and staff. Approximately one-third of the instructor staff are permanent FLETC employees. The remainder of the cadre is comprised of federal officers and investigators who are on short-term assignments from their parent organizations or who recently retired from the field. This mix of permanent, detailed, and recently retired staff provides an appropriate balance of training expertise, recent operational experience, and fresh insight from the field.
The FLETC is headquartered at Glynco, Ga., near the port city of Brunswick, halfway between Savannah, Ga., and Jacksonville, Fla. In addition to Glynco, the FLETC operates other residential training centers in Artesia, N.M., and Charleston, S.C. The FLETC also conducts training at a non-residential facility in Cheltenham, Md. The Cheltenham center is primarily intended for use by agencies with large concentrations of personnel in the Washington, D.C., area. The FLETC maintains an office in Orlando, Fla., which provides a gateway to the technology and training expertise within a nationally recognized hub for simulation and training.
Since 1995, the FLETC has participated in the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) Program. Over the years, academies have been established in Hungary, Thailand, Botswana, and El Salvador. The FLETC contributes academic, program, and operational support to the ILEAs, including instructors for the ILEA’s core and specialized programs, and the Director at ILEA Gaborone and the Deputy Director at ILEA Bangkok.
February 7, 2014
This morning, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson delivered his first major address since being sworn in on December 23, 2013. During an event at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., Secretary Johnson outlined his priorities for the Department and elaborated on his first seven weeks as Secretary before an audience of DHS leadership and employees, the Aspen Security Group, friends of the Wilson Center, members of the media, and others in attendance.
Secretary Johnson discussed the complex, diverse missions of the Department including our continued vigilance in detecting and countering threats of all kinds.
During his remarks, Secretary Johnson also discussed the creation of this Department in the wake of the events of September 11, 2001, and how the Department has grown in its service to this Nation and its people. He said, “In my opinion the creation of a Department of Homeland Security in 2003 was long overdue. Many other nations who face threats similar to ours had Ministries of the Interior or a Home Office with the similar basic missions of bridging national and domestic security, counterterrorism, and border and port security. Perhaps because our own nation was protected by two big oceans from many of the world’s hot spots, we thought that one department of the United States government, devoted to the mission of “homeland security,” was unnecessary. That thinking obviously changed on 9/11.
“Further, consider where all the 22 components of Homeland Security existed before the creation of the Department in 2003 -- scattered across the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Justice, Treasury, Transportation, Defense, Health and Human Services, and the General Services Administration, including departments that do not have national security or law enforcement as their core mission.
“In just seven weeks in office as Secretary, I have already seen the wisdom of combining a number of these capabilities within one department of government: when I convene a meeting to discuss how the latest terrorist threats might penetrate the homeland, the participants include DHS’ Intelligence and Analysis Office, Customs and Border Protection, TSA, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Citizenship & Immigration Services, the Coast Guard and DHS’ National Protection and Programs Directorate. Put another way, with the creation of DHS, a terrorist searching for weaknesses along our air, land and sea borders or ports of entry is now met with one federal response – from me.”
After his remarks, Secretary Johnson also participated in a conversation with Jane Harman, President and CEO of the Wilson Center.
Watch the full video of today’s event at the Wilson Center here.
"If You See Something, Say Something™"
Homeland Security Begins with Hometown Security
If you see something suspicious taking place then report that behavior or activity to local law enforcement or in the case of emergency call 9-1-1. Factors such as race, ethnicity, national origin, or religious affiliation alone are not suspicious. For that reason, the public should report only suspicious behavior and situations (e.g., an unattended backpack in a public place or someone trying to break into a restricted area) rather than beliefs, thoughts, ideas, expressions, associations, or speech unrelated to terrorism or other criminal activity. Only reports that document behavior reasonably indicative of criminal activity related to terrorism will be shared with federal partners.
DHS is working to expand “If You See Something, Say Something ™” throughout the country by partnering with a variety of entities including: transportation systems, universities, states, cities, sports leagues and local law enforcement. If you’re interested in getting your group involved please contact 202-282-8010.
Report Suspicious Activity to Local Law Enforcement or Call 9-1-1.
Learn More
Raising Public Awareness
In July 2010, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), at Secretary Janet Napolitano's direction, launched a national "If You See Something, Say Something™" campaign – a simple and effective program to raise public awareness of indicators of terrorism and terrorism-related crime, and to emphasize the importance of reporting suspicious activity to the proper state and local law enforcement authorities. The "If You See Something, Say Something™" campaign - originally implemented by New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and now licensed to DHS for a nationwide campaign - is a simple and effective program to engage the public and key frontline employees to identify and report indicators of terrorism and terrorism-related crime to the proper transportation and law enforcement authorities.
The Department launches the "If You See Something, Say Something™" campaign in conjunction with the Department of Justice's Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative - an administration effort to train state and local law enforcement to recognize behaviors and indicators related to terrorism and terrorism-related crime; standardize how those observations are documented and analyzed; and ensure the sharing of those reports with the Federal Bureau of Investigation-led Joint Terrorism Task Forces for further investigation and Fusion Centers for analysis.
Protecting Privacy, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
A critical element of the DHS mission is ensuring that the civil rights and civil liberties of persons are not diminished by our security efforts, activities, and programs. Consequently, the "If You See Something, Say Something™" campaign respects civil rights or civil liberties by emphasizing behavior, rather than appearance, in identifying suspicious activity.
Factors such as race, ethnicity, national origin, or religious affiliation alone are not suspicious. For that reason, the public should report only suspicious behavior and situations (e.g., an unattended backpack in a public place or someone trying to break into a restricted area) rather than beliefs, thoughts, ideas, expressions, associations, or speech unrelated to terrorism or other criminal activity. Only reports that document behavior reasonably indicative of criminal activity related to terrorism will be shared with federal partners.
Strengthening Hometown Security
Both the "If You See Something, Say Something™" campaign and the NSI underscore the concept that homeland security begins with hometown security. An alert public plays a critical role in keeping our nation safe. Strengthening hometown security involves creating partnerships across numerous states as well as the private sector.
Recent expansions of the "If You See Something, Say Something™" campaign include partnerships with numerous sports teams and leagues, transportation agencies, private sector partners, states, cities and universities. DHS also has Public Service Announcements which have been distributed to television and radio stations across the country. The campaign will continue to be expanded in the coming weeks and months.
