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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BUSINESS PARTNERS AGAINST TERRORISM (B-PAT) John J. Sullivan, Jr., Ph.D., Executive Liaison

Phone: (561) 688-3916 Email: [email protected]

The Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office is one of the largest sheriff’s offices in the United States. Under the leadership of Sheriff Ric L. Bradshaw, the agency is proactive in developing a series of outreach programs that foster partnerships with the public and the results demonstrate how law enforcement is infinitely more effective when supported by an educated, aware, and engaged citizenry. One such outreach program is the Business Partners Against Terrorism Program, commonly referred to as B-PAT. The B-PAT initiative was founded in 2006 and placed under the command of the Homeland Security Bureau so as to provide an effective medium of communication between law enforcement’s first responders and the representatives of the participants in our National Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources (CIKR) in Palm Beach County. Each B-PAT Council Member has been selected based upon their valued expertise to law enforcement and subjected to a background investigation by the Office of Internal Affairs. Each member has been cleared to receive Law Enforcement Sensitive (LES) and For Official use Only (FOUO) information in connection with their B-PAT responsibilities in compliance with FBI and DHS recommended guidelines. B-PAT currently uses a law enforcement secure network utilizing Microsoft SharePoint established as part of the South Florida Virtual Fusion Center to exchange information with and keep Council Members abreast of information essential to the safe operation of the eleven critical infrastructures in Palm Beach County. It is derived from the operational reality that 85% of America’s critical infrastructure is owned and/or operated by the private sector. This initiative has divided the county’s private sectors into eleven individual councils, each representing a selected critical infrastructure operational in Palm Beach County. The purpose of creating separate councils was to maintain close two- way partnerships between the Sheriff’s Office and vetted representatives of the critical infrastructures within the private sector that are vital to the South Florida economy and the citizens each infrastructure serves. Each geographical area of the country may reflect various differences in what is identified as critical infrastructure. In Palm Beach County, the following divisions of critical infrastructure have been identified in the first step of creating the Business Partners Against Terrorism (B-PAT) program and each area was then separated into a specific council:

 Agriculture Council

 Chemical / Petrochemical Council

 Communications & Energy Council

 Financial Security Council

 Healthcare Council

 Hotel, Lodging, Food, & Storage Council

 Packing and Shipping Council

 Private Sector Security Council

 Real Estate Council

 Retail Council

 Transportation Council The impetus for the initiative and the choice of sectors has been drawn from materials developed by the United States Department of Homeland Security.