What should an engine company do when it responds to a call for chest pain and finds a 1,200-square-foot apartment inhabited by four adult males only one of whom speaks any English who have no furniture but do have high-end computers and expensive printers? Just as they do hundreds of times per day, the crew should stabilize, treat and transport the patient. As the crew heads back to the station, this is what the discussion sounds like:

“Did you guys see those computers and printers? Those looked really expensive, but there was nothing else in the place. What do you think they were up to?”

“Something wasn't right about the way they acted. Maybe we should tell someone.”

“Who? PD won't do anything.”

“Oh, well. What's for dinner?”

Firefighters are instinctual and often recognize when something isn't right, but without some basic awareness training, they likely are unable to verbalize these instincts. However, a program recently launched in Arizona could provide a solution.

The Arizona Terrorism Liaison Officers program features weekly briefings on the newest terrorism techniques, trends, tactics and procedures. The program is operated out of the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center, or ACTIC, and includes participants from 21 law enforcement, four military, five federal and 13 fire service agencies throughout the state.

Participating firefighters and police officers all know each other by first name, share relevant information and ask questions from their perspectives. Everyone in the room currently has, or will receive, an FBI secret clearance and has been trained on handling and processing intelligence documents and information.

Arizona adopted the TLO concept from California and expanded its capability to include additional areas of operation. Quite often the program is described as “flying the plane as we build it,” and the program is receptive to all viable suggestions. The program currently includes more than 100 certified TLOs from around the state and recently received approval to add 70 more TLOs outside of the Phoenix area.