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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a new partnership with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for DHS’ “If You See Something, Say Something” security public awareness campaign. This combined effort is to help ensure safety and security during the NCAA March Madness college basketball tournament and all 88 NCAA championship games and tournaments.
“Every citizen plays a critical role in identifying and reporting suspicious activities and threats,” said DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. “Bringing the ‘If You See Something, Say Something’ campaign to the NCAA’s championship games and tournaments will play a critical role in ensuring the safety of players, employees, students, and fans.”
The DHS-NCAA partnership, which launched March 23, features both print and video materials—including a public service announcement featuring Napolitano and NCAA President Mark Emmert, which will play at all tournament games and future NCAA events. To view the public service announcement, click here.
The “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign originated with New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority and is now licensed to DHS for nationwide implementation. Public transportation agencies—including the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and Boston’s Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority [see story in this issue]—have joined the effort, along with the National Basketball Association, National Football League, and major corporations nationwide.
Over the past nine months, DHS has worked with its federal, state, local, and private-sector partners, as well as the Department of Justice, to expand the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign and the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative. This initiative is an administration effort to train state and local law enforcement to recognize behaviors and indicators related to terrorism, crime, and other threats; standardize how those observations are documented and analyzed; and expand and enhance the sharing of those reports with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and DHS—to communities throughout the country. |
