BETHLEHEM, Pa. — As William S. Walker, deputy special agent for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, addressed the third annual DeSales University Center for Homeland Security Conference on Wednesday, the stories and informational video slides he shared proved riveting.
Sex and drug trafficking by gangs in Reading.
Seizure of a large cargo ship that contained 20 tons of cocaine.
Combating financial crimes.
Cybercrimes, including the capture and conviction of a darknet vendor, a former law enforcement officer in Norristown, importing synthetic opioids and distributing them throughout America.
The arrest and conviction of a person who was obtaining counterfeit and defective automobile airbags from China, installing them into vehicles and putting drivers and pedestrians in grave danger.
The prevailing message was: Homeland Security — It’s not just about investigating terrorist bombings.
- The third annual DeSales University Center for Homeland Security Conference was held Wednesday
- Among the speakers were William S. Walker, Homeland Security Investigations Deputy Special Agent, and FBI Agent Jacqueline Maguire, both of Philadelphia
- DeSales students in the Homeland Security academic program attended the program
“Our mandate is to make life safer for everyone in our communities,” Walker told an audience that included members of the FBI, local law enforcement and DeSales students enrolled in its Homeland Security academic program.
“The best way to make the public safe is to stop crime before it starts. When we do that, that’s the true metric of how we measure our success. What people may not realize is Homeland Security Investigations mitigates threats all the time that never make the front page.”
Walker is a 24-year veteran of law enforcement who leads 200 special agents, analysts, task force officers and administrative professionals throughout Pennsylvania and Delaware.
'Critical challenges'
The theme of this year’s conference was "Getting Ahead of Critical Challenges in Homeland Security."
Topics addressed by six guest speakers consisted of, in part, the limits of transnational terrorism and strategies to counter domestic political violence.
The annual program also serves to expose students in DeSales’ Homeland Security program to professionals whose real life experiences can provide them with invaluable information about their field of study.
“This program is important because it helps our 40 students in the undergraduate Homeland Security program and 10 in our Master’s program get a grasp of the process."Ahmet Yayla, director of the Center for Homeland Security, DeSales University
“This program is important because it helps our 40 students in the undergraduate Homeland Security program and 10 in our master’s program get a grasp of the process,” said Ahmet S. Yayla, Ph.D., director of Center for Homeland Security at DeSales and a 20-year veteran of the counterterrorism and operations department in the Turkish National Police.
“We’re trying to help provide our students a foundational education and information they can apply in the future.”
DeSales is a regional leader in homeland security education, offering bachelor’s degrees — both traditional and online — minors, master’s degrees, concentrations, and certificate programs.
The Homeland Security course of study consists of a broad field that includes critical infrastructure protection, disaster preparedness and response, intelligence analysis, cybersecurity, and counterterrorism.
Still focusing on stopping attacks
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle M. Outlaw told how local law enforcement works in conjunction with Homeland Security to help root out threats to citizens.
“We’re part of the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center that investigates terrorism, cyber crime and situations that are critical to protecting our infrastructure,” Outlaw said. “The Philadelphia Police Department also has a counterterrorism operations team. I cannot underscore how much local law enforcement identifies threats and passes them along to HSI.”
Other speakers were Brian Michael Jenkins, of the RAND Corporation, discussing strategies to counter domestic political violence; Barak Mendelsohn, professor of political science at Haverford College, on the limits of transnational terrorism and what it means for counterterrorism; and Jacqueline Maguire, special agent in charge of the FBI field office in Philadelphia.
While Homeland Security addresses a variety of non-terroristic threats, it also retains a focus on escalating violence and attacks in U.S. cities, given the significant increase of those incidents against government, military and law enforcement agencies by extremists.
“There has been a rise in terrorist incidents,” Yayla said. “But we have agencies and research institutions that understand our shortcomings in dealing with those incidents.
"We need to be proactive to counter those threats. That’s why programs like this one are so important.”
