Phil Pulaski has 37 years of law enforcement experience and was the New York City
Police Department’s (NYPD) Chief of Detectives where he was responsible for 3,600
personnel. During his more than 33 years serving with the NYPD, Phil Pulaski managed
patrol, investigative, counterterrorism and other public safety operations. In the
immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Phil Pulaski managed
the NYPD’s counterterrorism and weapons of mass destruction operations. He also
supervised jointly with his FBI counterpart numerous terrorism related investigations
including the 9-11 World Trade Center attack and October 2001 anthrax attacks. Phil
Pulaski also was responsible for NYPD’s intelligence collection and analysis operations
as well as the critical infrastructure risk assessment and security programs.
The FBI is the primary federal law enforcement agency responsible for the prevention
and investigation of international and domestic terrorism within the United States.
Pursuant to Federal law, Federal regulations, and Presidential Directives and Executive
Orders, the Attorney General of the United States, acting through the FBI, will coordinate
the activities of the other members of the law enforcement community to detect, prevent,
preempt, and disrupt terrorist attacks against the United States. The FBI manages more
than 200 Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) operating throughout the United States.
The JTTFs are composed of highly trained federal, state and local law enforcement
personnel including investigators, intelligence analysts, forensic technicians and digital
evidence specialists. JTTF personnel investigate leads, collect evidence, make arrests,
collect and share intelligence, and respond to terrorist threats and incidents. The first
JTTF was established by the FBI and NYPD in 1980.
The FBI defines international terrorism as “violent, criminal acts committed by individuals
and/or groups who are inspired by, or associated with, designated foreign terrorist
organizations or nations (state-sponsored)”, and defines domestic terrorism as “violent,
criminal acts committed by individuals and/or groups to further ideological goals
stemming from domestic influences, such as those of a political, religious, social, racial,
or environmental nature.” The FBI website lists several ways people can protect
themselves from terrorist threats and report terrorist related suspicious activity. The FBI
recommends people always remain aware of their surroundings and prevent cyber
terrorism by carefully limiting the sharing of personal information via the internet.
Additionally, the FBI makes available to the public numerous guidelines for preventing
terrorism incidents including the Homegrown Violent Extremist Indicators booklet and the
Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative.
