Jim Matheny, assistant chief of the Stamford Police Department, was among 39 top U.S. law enforcement leaders, who took part in the 22nd session of the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Advanced Training School (ATS) course on extremist and terrorist threats, held in Washington, D.C. this past December.
Participants in the class included executives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Secret Service, Coast Guard Investigative Service, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Central Intelligence Agency Threat Management Unit, and dozens of the nation’s largest state and local law enforcement agencies. The curriculum included presentations on white supremacy, anti-government extremism, homegrown Islamic extremism, the Mumbai attacks, Hezbollah and more.
“Thank you for this fantastic opportunity,” Matheny told ADL leaders upon his completion of the course. “This was the most distinguished and accomplished group of law enforcement professionals I have ever trained with.”
The Anti-Defamation League created the Advanced Training School in 2003 to provide top law enforcement leaders from across the country with practical resources and information to help them fight domestic and international terrorist threats. ATS has now trained 815 law enforcement executives from across the country, representing more than 230 different agencies, and is now recognized as one of the top counterterrorism schools in the nation. Candidates must apply to participate in the training, with several hundred applicants competing for the 40 places in each session of the course.
“ADL is proud to be the largest nongovernmental law enforcement education organization in the United States,” said Gary Jones, ADL’s Connecticut regional director. “It is important to remember that candidates must apply and be selected to participate in the Advanced Training School, and we are pleased that we were able to have Connecticut representation there in Stamford’s Jim Matheny. We have a strong relationship with law enforcement agencies at all levels throughout state. One of the many reasons for that relationship is the quality of training we provide. We look forward to continuing to work with them to make Connecticut a safer and better place for all who call it home.”