Homegrown: The New Age of Terrorism

The dangers posed by terrorist organizations is nothing new. For decades, these groups have launched sophisticated attacks against individuals as well as major corporations, causing significant loss of life and billions of dollars in damage. The workshop will describe contemporary terrorism and extremism as it exists in the United States with a special emphasis on the radicalization process that leads to extremist ideologies and the differences between random and tactical terror activities. Students will also learn about the structure and history of extremist organizations such as the Aryan Brotherhood and how these groups contribute to gang violence in both communities and correctional systems. It will also cover terrorist organization ideologies, sources of terrorist financing, human trafficking, and cyberterrorism. We will use case studies that provide an overview of high-profile terrorist attacks and promote the opportunity for discussion.

Objectives

Upon Completion of this workshop, the student will be able to:

1. Describe modern-day terrorism related to the motivations, tactics, and strategies of domestic acts of terror.
2. Understand how extremist organizations such as the Aryan Brotherhood contribute to gang violence.
3. Understand the key factors to develop strategies for fighting terror within the United States.

About Your Instructor

Robert M. Brzenchek, founder of the Brzenchek Foundation Corp received his Public Service Leadership and Criminal Justice PhD with a research focus is on gangs. He holds a Masters in Strategic Intelligence and Terrorism from the American Military University and an undergraduate degree from George Mason University. Mr.Brzenchek has held academic positions and has taught courses in criminal justice, emergency management, unmanned aerial vehicles, and areas within the intelligence community. He has conducted research for varied public and private sectors for over a decade. He pioneered with Michael Penders the International ISO 27k standard development and use of innovative techniques and alternatives to traditional risk assessments.

Mr. Brzenchek’s career as a law enforcement officer in Washington, DC, military member in the intelligence community, emergency management specialist at both the state and federal levels, UAV instructor, and higher education administrator affords him a unique perspective in the development of policy and procedure. In the public sector, Mr. Brzenchek worked with dozens of national agencies, governments, and international organizations in the use of advanced
technologies and information sharing to detect violations of international laws. In the private sector, Mr. Brzenchek has worked with organizations as diverse as DHS, DOD, major corporations, ports, and public utilities on security matters, risk management, policy, and technologies. There are very few individuals in the U.S. that can conduct ISO 27k risk assessments that Mr. Brzenchek has performed.
Mr. Brzenchek has had many invitations to conduct gang situational awareness presentations to include an audience of International Fellows at the National Defense University in Washington, DC. In addition, Mr. Brzenchek another notable invitation was to conduct a Social and Cultural Awareness (Gangs) presentation for the Marines 3D Civil Affairs Group at Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois. Mr. Brzenchek has published many articles on emergency management, threat assessments, gangs, and homeland/international security. Mr. Brzenchek has authored books entitled: Transnational Organized Crime – Prevention, Intervention, and Suppression of Cybersecurity by Roman and Littlefield. He’s also authored a book entitled: The Gang Life: Laugh Now Cry Later: Suppression and Prevention published by CRC Press Taylor and Francis.
Mr. Brzenchek is a member of many professional associations including the OSS Society, and Masonic Lodge #591. Mr. Brzenchek sat on the international group of experts on the ASIS Investigative Technical Committee to advance the development of the standard for integrated Security Management Systems (SMS). He serves as a Board Member for SERAPH and served as as a board member of South Florida Chapter of Infragard, Philadelphia Crime Prevention Council, and Chair for the HLS/Cyber Group for the Congressionally mandated Strengthening the Mid-Atlantic Region for Tomorrow (SMART).