I sincerely hope I am wrong. However, I have been in the law enforcement / military industry my entire adult life and have been mostly accurate on both private and publicly made predictions of what will occur within our industry. The world seems to be at a boiling point and I am afraid that the violence we have seen recently is going to get much worse.

It doesn't take a sage to forecast future problems based upon what is happening within the U.S. and other countries and regions throughout the world that can have a dramatic impact on our security and society.

America faces two huge, interlinked problems. We see direct results from these problems and are facing increasing threats from worsening perceptions of them. Our unemployment rate is running at 9.4%, meaning that in excess of 14 million Americans are out of work (not including those looking for full-time jobs but settling for part-time work - if you include those numbers the figure is around 18%). Job creation is not even keeping pace with our current rise in population (and no one knows the true numbers of our population growth). The intertwined problem is our budget deficit. It is nearly 10% of GDP - obviously non-sustainable. As a result, interest payments are consuming 10% of total government revenue (also non-sustainable).

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By Sgt. Lou Savelli, NYPD (retired)

In response to numerous requests for DHS pre-approved gang / terrorism investigations training, GTI has teamed with Lou Savelli for the development and delivery of the requested curriculum. GTI is excited to work with Lou on this critically important and timely project and look forward to providing this training to agencies throughout the United States in the coming months. The initial course offerings will include both 3 and 5 day programs. Contact the GTI office to inquire or add your name to a list of interested parties for course attendance.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with what experience Lou brings to the table, please see some highlights of his bio below:

Lou Savelli retired from NYPD after 21 years as a Sergeant and detective squad supervisor of the Terrorist Interdiction Unit created on September 11th, 2001 to aggressively hunt down al Qaeda terrorists threatening New York City and those responsible for the attacks of 9-11. He and his investigators immediately developed dozens of terrorist intelligence sources and arrested hundreds of suspected terrorists or terrorist support cells. Early into his investigations, he identified strong partnerships between gangs in the US and several terrorist groups.

Lou Savelli created NYPD's first citywide gang unit called CAGE (Citywide Anti Gang Enforcement) which was awarded the Most Effective Gang Unit in the US by the National Gang Crime Research Center. He and his unit conducted several Conspiracy and RICO investigations on gangs like the Latin Kings, Bloods and Crips as well as working the streets of New York City's most dangerous neighborhoods and arresting thousands of gang members armed with firearms.

As a detective, Lou Savelli was a member of the NY DEA Task Force during the time when the Colombian Cartels were at their strength and exceedingly violent. During this assignment, Lou Savelli and his fellow team members set the World record for the most cash seized in a drug case in one location: $20 Million in cash during the raid of a fortified warehouse protected by 11 Cartel members armed with Machine Guns and handguns. The record held until 2001 but is still the US record. During this time, he also worked investigations involving the Mexican Drug Cartels who were working closely with the Colombian Cartels. His unit seized several tons of wholesale cocaine and heroin and additional money seizures in excess of $100 Million.

Lou Savelli is the cofounder and current Deputy Director of the East Coast Gang Investigator's Association and one of the first members of the International Counter Terrorism Officers Association. He is a member of the California Gang Investigator's Association, International Latino Gang Investigators Association and several other gang investigator's associations covering the entire US and Canada. He is a member of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, the American Society of Industrial Security and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Lou was chosen by former NYPD police commissioner William Bratton as one of NYPD's Top Ten Most Effective Leaders of All Ranks (of 20,000 supervisors within the NYPD) and was twice awarded Supervisor of the Year.

Lou brings his New York City street cop style to his training classes. He has been voted at the top of every training academy he has worked as the best or one of the best instructors. In 2009, he was awarded Instructor of the Year for the Northeast Counterdrug Training Center. He is highly entertaining, dynamic and proactive during his instruction and always focuses on officer safety and putting bad guys behind bars.

According to NTI: The Global Security Newswire:

Al-Qaida documents found in Afghanistan in 2007 revealed that "greater advances" had been made in bioterrorism than was previously realized. An Indian national security adviser told American security personnel in June 2008 that terrorists "have the technical competence to manufacture an explosive device beyond a mere dirty bomb".

President Barack Obama declared nuclear terrorism "the single biggest threat" with the potential to cause "extraordinary loss of life".

"If not now, Pakistan will soon have the fifth largest nuclear arsenal in the world, surpassing the United Kingdom," said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer and the author of "Deadly Embrace: Pakistan, America, and the Future of Global Jihad."

GTI's Joint Operations Center (JOC) is a decommissioned Nuclear Fuels Reprocessing Plant that has been converted to a tactical training center. The JOC is located in South Carolina and is the only training site of its kind in North America. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has warned that we need to be ready for a nuclear presence from the Middle East.

GTI's Joint Operations Center can offer a one of a kind training facility to run real world scenarios and advance our troops preparedness should we need to take military action against a foreign nuclear threat.

For more information visit our Training Facilities webpage or contact the JOC training coordinator Jason Kemper at 803-259-1935 or info@gtitraining.org

GTI is happy to announce that the 9 story UF-6 building at the Joint Operations Center is online and ready for use.

The UF-6 building includes:

• 100,000 square feet of training space
• 9 stories of training site
• Varying CQB complexities
• Elevated shooting platform
• Elevator shaft access
• 8 story continuous stairwell
• Full roof access
• Sims/SRTA/UTM capable throughout
• Day or night accessible
• UF-6 tank farm and elevated platforms

Download a PDF copy of GTI Training Centers Capabilities

Contact GTI for additional information on the JOC or any of GTI's courses.
803-259-1935 or via email info@gtitraining.org

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