National Counter Terrorism Academy

The National Counter Terrorism Academy (NCTA) is a training center for U.S. state and local law enforcement officers. The Academy operates at the LAPD's Ahmanson Training Center, near the Los Angeles International Airport.

Creation

LAPD chief William Bratton founded the Academy in 2008, in partnership with the Center for Policing Terrorism. The academy began operation with a bricks-and-mortar location; a virtual, or online, academy; a digital library; and mobile academic teams.[1]

Curriculum

The Academy's five-month course aims to teach trainees how to recognize terrorist cells and build regional intelligence networks. Topics of instruction include homegrown radicalization; methods for interdicting terrorism finance; case studies of significant terrorism plots; the historical roots of terrorism; religious extremism, homegrown terror groups; the evolution of al-Qaida; and culturally sensitive interviewing techniques.[2]

Philosophy

The Academy advances a theory of intelligence-led policing. The doctrine fuses Israeli counter-terrorist tactics with the Fixing Broken Windows theories advanced by criminologist George L. Kelling and social scientist James Q. Wilson.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Center for Policing Terrorism Home Page
  2. ↑ "Los Angeles police chief launches first National Counter-Terrorism Academy," Homeland1 News, March 17, 2008
  3. ↑ Mark Riebling, The New Paradigm: Merging Law Enforcement and Intelligence Strategies, Center for Policing Terrorism, January 2006.