InfraGard Presents at Long Island Chapter of Shields Monthly Meeting
| FBI New York December 03, 2009 |
Special Agents (SA) Maryann Goldman and James Capozzi, InfraGard Coordinators for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, attended a meeting of Shields - Long Island at the Stuart Thomas Manor in Farmingdale, New York on Thursday night to promote the FBI's InfraGard Program. The InfraGard program is a private sector outreach effort geared at protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure and key resources through collaboration with the public. SA Goldman spoke to over 100 members of The Shields, a group which is made up of active and retired law enforcement officers who live and/or work on Long Island.
SA Goldman highlighted the role of the private sector in the FBI's intelligence cycle, and added that information sharing is a key component to keeping our nation safe. SA Goldman urged attendees to join the local Long Island chapter of InfraGard, and play a role in the safeguarding of Long Island's infrastructure, resources, and communities. Over the past year, members of InfraGard in New York have contributed to numerous criminal and terrorism investigations by providing information on bank robberies, financial crimes, public corruption matters, organized crime activity, and threats to our national security.
The President of the Shields - Long Island group, Rich Pettito, and the group's Financial Secretary, Joseph Wolff, both present at the event, agreed that InfraGard and other local law enforcement outreach programs contribute to the safety and security of individuals and businesses on Long Island. They urged their members, who arealready committed to supporting their communities, to join the FBI program.
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SA Maryann Goldman with Shields - Long Island group’s Financial Secretary, |
President of the Long Island InfraGard chapter, Yonesy Nunez,also present at the meeting, addressed the group about upcoming InfraGard events, including a "webinar" on Monday, December 14thwhich along with Intelligence Analysts and participants from the MTA on Long Island willexplore the Nevsky Express Bombing in Russia.
Rich Pettito, President of the Long Island Chapter of Shields said, “The presentation provided by the FBI InfraGard team was engaging. Speaking for the chapter, I know we all learned a lot from this event. We look forward to working closely with the FBI team in the future on mutual projects.”
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President of the Shields - Long Island group, Rich Pettito |
SA MaryAnn Goldman stated, “This was an excellent opportunity to share ideas and information with the Shields Chapter. They are a valuable partner for the FBI. InfraGard exists to build and establish these relationships so we can all work together to keep our community safer.”
ADIC Joseph Demarest added, “MaryAnn and Jim are out there everyday establishing liaison with the community to address these critical safety issues to help keep our community and country safer. InfraGard is an important outreach program in the New York office and I am glad we were able to work so closely with Rich Pettito on this event.”
Special Agent Richard Kolko who has oversight of the InfraGard Program in the New York office of the FBI added, “This is a perfect example of what our InfraGard program can provide to the community. Special Agent InfraGard Coordinators MaryAnn Goldman and Jim Capozzi work with our partners every day in three local InfraGard chapters to keep this important liaison active and ongoing.”
For more information on InfraGard go to www.fbi.gov. You can sign up for email alerts about the FBI’s New York office by clicking on the red envelopes.