Officials trained in terrorist defense

By Staff
Jonathan Willis FCT Staff Writer
If Franklin County emergency management officials are ever called to action in response to a terrorist threat, they should be well-prepared.
A workshop was held Wednesday at the A.W. Todd Center in Russellville as part of an ongoing series of training exercises for local agencies as they learn how best to prevent, prepare, respond and recover from terrorist threats and actions.
Various agencies from an eight county north Alabama area met to talk about different scenarios and situations in which they would handle those potential threats.
To begin the session, the participating members from Franklin, Colbert, Lauderdale, Marion, Winston, Lamar, Fayette and Walker counties were posed with a hypothetical terrorist threat.
They were asked to discuss solutions to the possible event and what would happen if the plan went through.
The workshop is one of seven to be held state-wide and consisted of members from a wide range of emergency response officials.
Though terrorist threats seem to be remote possibilities in north Alabama, it is crucial that local agencies are prepared to respond in the event of such actions.
James said that some of the hijackers of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., had actually spent some time in north Alabama.