The fire and emergency service can play an important role in protecting communities from the threat of terrorism. As firefighters and emergency medical personnel perform their daily duties, they may observe activities that should be reported to the proper authorities.

The Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative (NSI) is a collaborative effort, led by the U.S. Department of Justice, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and state, tribal, local and territorial public-safety organizations. This initiative provides another tool to help prevent terrorism by establishing a national capacity for gathering, documenting, processing, analyzing and sharing SAR information.

The NSI is a standardized process developed with input from the fire and emergency service, law enforcement, civil rights groups and others for identifying and reporting suspicious activity in jurisdictions around the United States. It also serves as the focal point for sharing SAR information.

The IAFC encourages members to sign up for and take the NSI's fire and emergency medical services training. This training is designed to help fire and rescue departments:

• Recognize the types of suspicious behaviors that are associated with pre-incident terrorism activities
• Understand how and where to report suspicious activities
• Protect privacy, civil rights and civil liberties when documenting information