Northwestern College Hosts 3-Day Law Enforcement Training Conducted by NCTC on Narco-Terrorism
Instructor Sgt. Lou Savelli (seated on desktop) presented a Narco-Terrorism course to law enforcement at Northwestern College’s Oak Lawn Campus, co-sponsored by the IL Tactical Officers Assoc. & Northeast Counterdrug Training Center.
Northwestern College’s Oak Lawn Campus (7725 S. Harlem Avenue) recently served as the host location of the Northeast Counterdrug Training Center’s (NCTC) 3-day course entitled, “Introduction to Narco-Terrorism”, which was co-sponsored by the Illinois Tactical Officers Association (ITOA). NCTC has regularly offered these courses as well as others at No Charge to law enforcement agencies, making them valuable training tools for departments to take advantage of. Northwestern College has regularly provided its facilities at No Charge for NCTC and law enforcement, as it did this month, so as to assist with the facilitation and access to training in order to keep local law enforcement officials current on techniques, trends, and tactics, despite whether or not a department has funds to conduct such training for its officers.
The 3-day session, Introduction to Narco-Terrorism, was conducted June 16-18 at Northwestern College’s Oak Lawn Campus and was taught by Sergeant Lou Savelli, the President of Homefront Protective Group, a law enforcement training company and a frequent contractor for NCTC courses.
The 3-day, 24 hour “Introduction to Narco-Terrorism” course was geared towards law enforcement officers, prosecutors and military intelligence, as well as law enforcement intelligence analysts and support staff. Its content was designed to expose the narcotics connection to all forms of terrorist organizations and to identify how they affect the US as well as foreign terrorist organizations threatening within US borders. A proactive approach to terrorism investigations in all communities was recommended, illustrated with a focus on drug-related issues. Multiple known terrorist organizations, including localized (US) narco-terrorists were discussed, with a subsequent primary focus placed on the identification and investigation of terrorist cells in the United States. Each type of US law enforcement officer was further educated on how to use the methods discussed in the fight against terrorism.
Course Instructor Sergeant Lou Savelli is a 21 year veteran of the New York Police Department (NYPD) who retired as a Supervisor of Detectives for the NYPD Terrorist Interdiction Unit, a proactive counter-terrorism and intelligence gathering unit responsible for identifying and investigating Al Qaeda cells threatening the City of New York since 9-11-01. He is credited for having created the NYPD’s first city-wide gang unit which was awarded the National Gang Crime Research Center’s Award for the Most Effective Gang Unit in the country. Savelli was a member of the NY DEA Task Force and of the investigative team that conducted the largest cash seizure in a drug case in world history – $20 million dollars. NYPD Commissioner William Bratton chose Savelli as one of the NYPD’s Top 10 Most Effective Leaders across all ranks. Beyond his law enforcement accomplishments, Savelli is also the author of ten (10) law enforcement books and is the co-founder of the East Coast Gang Investigator’s Association.
This week’s training event was brought to Northwestern College with the assistance of Randy Meyers, the Executive Director of the Illinois Tactical Officers Association, as well as an adjunct Northwestern College Criminal Justice Instructor. Meyers is also a retired Commander of the Oak Lawn Police Department. NCTC provided this month’s training of local law enforcement officials free of charge, and Northwestern College was pleased to be able to provide the College’s Oak Lawn auditorium and facilities for the training, also free of charge, in further support of area law enforcement.
The NCTC serves military, state, federal, and local law enforcement officials and community prevention specialists by offering unique counterdrug training courses focused on topics such as operations and interdiction, interrogation, undercover operations, leadership, terrorism, intelligence, and drug demand reduction. Although located in Annville, Pennsylvania where it provides the majority of its training opportunities, conferences, and planning sessions, in 2007 NCTC developed its Mobile Training Teams (MTT) as a result of the growing demand for its specialized training. MTTs effectively deliver NCTC course offerings (such as the Introduction to Narco-Terrorism course taught this month at Northwestern College) throughout an 18-state region and the District of Columbia. NCTC instructors are subject-matter experts with extensive education and training backgrounds and proven successes. The NCTC courses are taught free of charge to local law enforcement, allowing them to obtain training that could otherwise cost local agencies significant funds.
Northwestern College continues to serve as a resource for the local law enforcement community by providing a venue for various training sessions and operations throughout the year.