This page contains links to materials for the ISIS/Extremism Community Briefing, first public presentation on 25 January 2016 in Mount Vernon, Missouri, updated for presentation in Springfield on 20 June 2016 and Mount Vernon on 09 August 2016. The briefing will consist of a talk, question/answer session, and additional reading materials. We have divided the presentation into several sub-presentations so that we can mix-and-match for different audiences and time-slots.

Frank Furedi's book, "Invitation To Terror: The Expanding Empire of the Unknown" explores the culture of fear which has developed around terrorism and the ways in which we do the work of the Terrorist for them. As Schmid's definition of terrorism starts:

Terrorism refers on the one hand to a doctrine about the presumed effectiveness of a special form or tactic of fear-generating, coercive political violence...[Academic Consensus Definition of Terorism (ACDT 2011)]

On a regular basis, I have people ask me variations on the question: "If I cannot volunteer for the Sheriff's Auxiliary (physical limitations, work schedules, etc), what can I do to help?" This article will go into part of the answer by helping people to understand what it costs to volunteer and where some of those costs go. This breakdown may also help people who are planning to start a volunteer emergency response organization understand what they are getting into.

This morning's website update includes a new theme with accessibility improvements, including better adaptation to bigger and smaller screens. This should provide much better functionality on tablets and phones.