Archived News | Return to News Center

March 30, 2012

ULM's Sutherlin presents at International Security Conference

Dr. John W. Sutherlin, associate professor of political science and co-director of the Social Science Research Lab at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, presented at the International Security/Internal Safety Conference, March 23-24, at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches.

The focus of the conference was on homeland security issues, such as terrorism and counter-terrorism, and first responders for natural or man-made disasters.

Sutherlin's presentation was titled, "Louisiana's Vulnerabilities: How to Shut Down the State for Under 10 Grand."

"The idea for this presentation came out of a workshop I held a couple of years back at Northern Command in Colorado," stated Sutherlin, "Here, I put forward the idea that while cyber terrorism, high profile events or locations certainly should remain a primary focus, there were too many 'low-tech' ways to compromise public health and safety."

Sutherlin used his experience in working with urban environmental infrastructures to create a scenario where terrorists target landfills, sewerage systems and drinking water supplies to shut down vast parts of the state.

Sutherlin added, "The point is that we should not wait for another event, but we should think creatively and secure sites that pose potential threats."

PLEASE NOTE: Some links and e-mail addresses in these archived news stories may no longer work, and some content may include events which are no longer relevent, or reference individuals and/or organizations no longer associated with ULM.