Charleston County Sheriff Al Cannon leaves for Israel today to attend an international summit on terrorism and share his ideas for re-examining the traditional roles of police and citizens in times of crisis.
Cannon will spend the week in the city of Herzliya at a conference organized by the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism. The event, which will focus on terrorism's global impact, is expected to attract hundreds of high-level defense, intelligence and police officials.
Cannon is slated to speak on a panel that will discuss how counter-terrorism measures can be incorporated into modern policing. The $3,000 trip is being paid for with seized drug funds, he said.
The sheriff said a number of law enforcement leaders don't seem to have recognized how much the world has changed since the 9/11 terrorist attacks and domestic mass killings like the Columbine massacre.
Many officials seem to adhere to old models of policing while terrorists, domestic and foreign, are honing their skills to wage deadlier attacks, he said.
For example, a student accused of launching a recent pipe bomb attack at a San Mateo, Calif., high school took a page from the Columbine killers' planned suicidal bombing in 1999 that morphed into a mass shooting when the bombs failed to work, Cannon said.
The traditional police response to such events is to seal off the area, gather forces and attempt to negotiate a peaceful resolution through negotiations with the suspects. But in cases such as these, hesitating to take action could simply lead to more deaths, Cannon said.
The public also needs to realize that police cannot be everywhere at once, and people might have to take action themselves to avert a potential crisis, much as the passengers of Flight 93 did when they took on a crew of terrorists on 9/11, Cannon said.
Similarly, the recent San Mateo attack was thwarted by a teacher who tackled the student, authorities said.
"Law enforcement cannot take the position that they are the only solution," he said. "I don't think people can depend on police to be there soon enough to make a difference every time.
"Law enforcement doesn't want to hear that, but I think law enforcement jeopardizes its credibility if it maintains that position."
Cannon said this discussion has potential implications on police training, tactics and other areas.
Cannon has traveled to Israel before to participate in law- enforcement-related meetings. He also attends the Center for Homeland Defense and Security's Executive Leaders Program at the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, Calif.
Reach Glenn Smith at gsmith@postandcourier.com.