In a stunning case of bad timing, a federal Office for Bombing Prevention class for first responders on deadly IEDs has been scrubbed due to the government shutdown — just days after a pair of Islamic extremists hurled homemade bombs outside Gracie Mansion.
The online class, set for this month, deals with the “function, components, classifications, and how [improvised explosive devices] are constructed” — training first responders, law enforcement, and emergency managers on how to contend with the growing threat.
The Department of Homeland Security has warned that IEDs “remain the terrorist weapon of choice due to their relative ease of construction, availability, and destructive capacity.”
The failed March 8 attack is exactly the type of incident that ordinarily might prompt law enforcement and those who oversee critical infrastructure to sign up for an array of training the government offers to prepare against threats.
But they have been nixed for now “due to the lapse in federal funding,” according to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security website. Online training is “currently unavailable,” as are some in-person classes on bomb prevention.
Also unavailable: “Bomb Threat Assessment for Decision-Makers.”
They are among dozens of classes offered by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and its Office of Bomb Prevention that deal with topics ranging from identifying bomb-making materials to identifying “hostile surveillance” plotting a potential attack.
They are offered in-person, online, and in customized formats. Some, such as Introduction to Terrorist Attack Cycle, last just 90 minutes for a virtual meeting. Others, like CISA’s Introduction to Hostile Surveillance Course, last a full day.
“You can see with what’s happening around America and we need a strong DHS,” said one NYPD officer. “With all the recent terror attacks you can see why they’re needed. It’s irresponsible to have this agency defunded when you see a car driving into a synagogue or a guy throwing a homemade bomb in front of Gracie Mansion.”
Office of Bomb Prevention training specialist Lyndsey Bonner told The Post the team will be “operating at a significantly reduced capacity while we are in ‘shutdown mode.’”
Furloughs at the agency and at FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness, which partners in the training, account for the suspension of online classes.
“We have normally, fully staffed, 18 instructors,” she said. “Right now we have six. We’re doing at least two classes a week. We’re operating on a very limited capacity with who we have working.”
Luckily, an in-person three-day bomb surveillance prevention course for about 30 NYPD officials went through this week.
Bonner said the agency was focusing most of its efforts on the safety preparations for the upcoming FIFA World Cup and upcoming celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding.
The feds were already on high alert before the IED incident due to the war with Iran. With top officials warning about the potential for Iranian “sleeper cells” to strike inside the homeland, well-trained and eagle eyed responders are an asset.
Any hopes the shutdown would immediately cease and allow full class loads to resume were dashed Thursday, when Senate Democrats blocked a GOP effort to provide temporary funding for Homeland Security programs, as they haggle with the White House over efforts to impose new restrictions on ICE agents.
“It is unacceptable that critical training to prepare first responders to counter the use of explosive devices—including programs run by the Department’s Office for Bombing Prevention—has been disrupted by Congressional Democrats’ political games,” said House Homeland Security Chairman Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY). “New York is still a top terror target 25 years after 9/11, and the recent ISIS-inspired attempted bombing in Manhattan underscores exactly why DHS training and counterterrorism grants are so important for local law enforcement. Our homeland security should not be held up by Washington’s partisan gridlock.”
The classes began under a 2013 order signed by President Obama on the 20th anniversary of the first World Trade Center attack. It called for enhanced training for law enforcement, first responders, and bomb technicians on “how to respond to the latest terrorist IED tactics.”
