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Business Partners Against Terrorism: Information exchange designed to keep you safe

'See something, say something'
Posted at 5:25 PM, Dec 21, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-21 17:47:59-05

"For those of you who don't know, that guy from up there in Orlando...he was here."

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw doesn't hold back when he talks about the threat of terrorism.

"That guy" he's talking about -- Orlando Mateen -- the Pulse Nightclub killer.
 
"He was checking CityPlace out. It just didn't feel right thank goodness, but he was here. And there are other ones like him," Sheriff Bradshaw said.

And to better identify potential terrorists Sheriff Bradshaw formed a group called Business Partners Against Terrorism or BPAT.

The mission: to exchange information that "just might" identify a potential terrorist.
 
"What we realized that was missing were business, because you have so many different type of businesses that come in contact with people every day," the sheriff said.

People you see every day, Realtors, hotel workers and truck drivers for example, are trained by the sheriff's office to be alert to warning signs in places deputies might not be able to get to before it's too late.
  
"Say a plumber walks into a house and there's 15 rifles laying on a bed or something, we're not going to ask people to go do searches or be intrusive at all. This is information that anybody would come across in a normal setting of a conversation," according to the sheriff.

When asked if the group has already stopped an attack the sheriff said, "I'm not going there."
 
The drivers for Tropical Shipping are part of the Sheriff's Business Partners Against Terrorism effort.

They make hundreds of trips throughout South Florida every day -- armed with information on what to look for and what potential terrorists -- or suspects -- may be after.
 
"We haul a lot of different cargo, to have that knowledge of what's going on and be aware of," said Dennis of Tropical Shipping.

"Folks it's not a matter of if...I’m telling ya, I’m not trying to scare ya but it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when," the sheriff said.
 
Sheriff Bradshaw says members of the Business Partners Against Terrorism whom you invite into your home do not search for evidence or fish for information

But if they see something, the sheriff wants them to say something.