Columbus Officer Named Joint Terrorism Task Force Officer of the Year

Keith L. Bennett, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Cincinnati Division; and Walter L. Distelzweig, Chief of Police, Columbus Division of Police are pleased to announce that Timothy M. Grimm, a Columbus Division of Police Detective and a member of the FBI Columbus Joint Terrorism Task Force, has been named by the FBI as the JTTF Officer of the Year. The award was presented to Detective Grimm at the National JTTF Conference at Orlando, Florida on September 28, 2009 by FBI Executive Assistant Director Arthur Cummings, National Security Branch.

The FBI formed JTTFs in U.S. cities to draw upon the resources of federal, state, and local law enforcement and intelligence agencies to combat both domestic and international terrorism activities. The Columbus JTTF was the first one formed in the FBI’s Cincinnati Division and the Columbus Division of Police has been a member of this task force since its inception. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 the role of these task forces was greatly expanded and the focus of terrorism prevention was re-emphasized. Currently the Columbus JTTF includes officers and agents from the FBI, Columbus Police, U.S. Marshals, Internal Revenue Service, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, Columbus Fire Department, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Ohio National Guard, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Worthington Police Department, Upper Arlington Police Department, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and Westerville Police.

Detective Grimm has been a member of the Columbus Division of Police since December 17, 1995. He has been assigned to the Columbus JTTF for the past five years. Since his arrival on the JTTF Detective Grimm has participated in numerous high-profile international terrorism investigations. Among these were the investigations and prosecutions of Nuradin Abdi and Christopher Paul, both of whom have been convicted of conspiring to engage in terrorism and providing material support to international terrorism. SAC Bennett commented, “I feel comfortable stating that because of the work of Officer Grimm and the other members of the Columbus JTTF, acts of international terrorism have been prevented.”