A top Secret Service agent advised his law enforcement colleagues last week to "assess how vulnerable you are" in the light of imminent hostilities abroad.
     In opening remarks to the New England Crimes Task Force's quarterly meeting at Babson College, which was held just before the war with Iraq began, John J. O'Hara, special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service's New England offices, stressed the importance of the group as the country wades through uncertain times.
     "In light of what appears to be imminent hostilities overseas, and in light of the media reports that people in sympathy with al Qaeda and other groups in sympathy with the people that we will be in contact with over there, may try to on their own move against us in various undefined ways, I would encourage you as much as possible at this time to assess how vulnerable you are," he said.
     Edward A. Flynn, secretary of public safety in the Executive Office of Public Safety, gave the keynote presentation.
     He said that, since being appointed to this position by Gov. Mitt Romney, most of his speaking opportunities have been within the context of a code orange terror alert.
     "I'm not sure if that's a correlation or a causation," he said, "but it seems to me that I spend a lot of my time speaking in the midst of a national crisis. But I think that's probably a very sensible point of departure for those here today, in terms of viewing the context of your work and understanding the nature of the very important partnerships that you are involved in."
     The NET quarterly meetings are designed for partners to exchange information, review case studies and learn about emerging technology and network with each other. The NET was launched last May as a cooperative venture between federal, state and local law enforcement entities in strategic alliances with industry and academic institutions.
     Flynn said partnerships with different groups of professionals are essential to understanding all angles of a situation. Nowhere did he learn this lesson more clearly than in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001 at the Pentagon. Flynn worked for five years as police chief in Arlington County, Va., and was instrumental in the recovery effort at the Pentagon after the terrorist attacks.
     "Certainly the most important lesson we learned both in the context of being the first responding agency, and with the other agencies involved in the investigation was the absolute primacy of partnerships," he said.
     David Curran, assistant to O'Hara in the Boston Field Office, spoke about the NET's Protecting Infrastructure through Partnership program.
     He said that information sharing is what makes most successful partnerships, and with different organizations working together, the public has a better chance of staying safe against attacks on America.
     "We're going to war," he said, and that may very well prompt more terrorist attacks on the U.S. "Unless the knucklehead in the Middle East decides to leave his country, which is very unlikely."