The United States Department of Homeland Security was created in the aftermath of the terror attacks in New York; Washington, D.C.; and Shanksville on Sept. 11, 2001. The first director of Homeland Security was then-Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, who was appointed by President George W. Bush.

According to its website, the mission of Homeland Security is to secure the nation from the many threats we face. This requires the dedication of more than 240,000 employees in jobs that range from aviation and border security to emergency response, from cybersecurity analyst to chemical facility inspector. One of the ways that the department works with the states and counties throughout the United States is through a network of counterterrorism task forces.There are nine task forces within the commonwealth. The local task force for this area is the Northeast Regional Counter Terrorism Task Force, which includes Monroe, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton, Susquehanna, Pike and Wayne counties.The main mission of the regional task force is to train and equip first responders. A first responder is defined as someone or a group that is moving toward a disaster or event while others are fleeing from it.Local teams are made up of committees which represent each of the member counties. The committees include law enforcement, hospitals and EMS agencies, schools, volunteer organizations and fire, rescue and hazardous materials.The task forces are funded through grants from Homeland Security which are administered by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency in Harrisburg. Most of the money that comes into the Northeast Regional Counter Terrorism Task Force is spent on law enforcement. The majority going to regionwide special weapon and tactics teams and bomb squads."We get a request from a local law enforcement agency or fire department for equipment or training," said Robert Werts, program manager for the Northeast Regional Counter Terrorism Task Force. "As long as that equipment is found on the Federal Emergency Management Agency list of approved equipment and if our board of directors approves the request, then we can purchase it."According to Werts, no money passes through the task force. All equipment is paid for out of the grant by PEMA and training is paid for first by the county and then the county is reimbursed by PEMA."A full 25 percent of every grant must be spent on law enforcement," Werts said. "The grant to our region for 2016 is $1,039,348."Any purchases made in support of the task force must be used for counter terrorism efforts and ongoing training. Equipment earmarked for the task force cannot be used in day-to-day operations.Some of the training scheduled for 2016 include basic SWAT training, hostage negotiations and rescue and an advanced media relations course for law enforcement."We are constantly running basic training exercises for SWAT teams," Werts said. "We lose team members on a regular basis to promotions and retirement and we need to keep the team skills sharp."