45th Anniversary of the Joint Terrorism Task Force
Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTF) can be found at each of the FBI’s 55 field offices and many of their smaller offices—around 280 locations in all. FBI Atlanta organized its JTTF in 1994. The FBI Atlanta JTTF has representatives positioned around the state of Georgia.
JTTFs gather trained investigators, intelligence analysts, linguists, and tactical experts from federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Task force members share intelligence and investigative leads and respond to threats and incidents.
“We rely on our law enforcement partners to help keep our communities safe,” said Paul Brown, special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta. “All of our partners bring their special skills and expertise to these teams, making us all that much stronger.”
The FBI’s JTTF model dates to 1979, when the New York Police Department and the FBI’s New York Field Office created a joint task force to tackle violent bank robberies. They imitated the model in 1980, when terrorist bombings, bomb threats, and other violence plagued the city and announced the formation of the first JTTF in April 1980.
After the 9/11 attacks, FBI leadership directed all FBI field offices to establish a JTTF. In addition, the FBI established its National Joint Terrorism Task Force to support the local task forces in June 2002. The NJTTF, at FBI Headquarters, enhances communication, coordination, and cooperation from partner agencies.
JTTFs have disrupted dozens of plots in the past four decades.
FBI Atlanta counts numerous disruptions of its own, including a plan to attack the White House in 2020. Thanks to a tip from a member of the Atlanta community, Hasher Jallal Taheb was captured and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/forsyth-man-sentenced-attempted-attack-white-house
The FBI Atlanta JTTF also investigated the Jihadists of Georgia case, where two men living in Georgia made videos of the U.S. Capitol and other Washington, D.C., landmarks with plans to travel and attend a terrorist training camp.
https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2009/december/jihadists_121509
https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2009/december/jihadists_12170 .