International conflicts increase homeland security measures

SALT LAKE CITY — Days after a joint military strike from Israel and the U.S. decimated a group of high-ranking Iranian officials, including Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, state experts warn of potential dangers both within Utah and the United States as a whole.

“Places like New York City and Los Angeles, they always take these times very seriously,” former Unified Police Chief Chris Bertram said. 

Since Salt Lake City is far from the coasts, Bertram said it can be easy for people to think they won’t need to ramp up security measures. However, he said that is simply being complacent.

He pointed out that Utah would be hosting the Olympics in a few years, along with currently hosting the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and several major universities. 

“We are a target, unfortunately,” Bertram said.

Brandon Amacher, director of the Emerging Tech Policy Laboratory at Utah Valley University, said he believes the chance of a physical attack in Utah is low. However, he said some nefarious actors might be willing to attack the United States.

“The odds that they might have someone who is sympathetic to their cause or somebody … they have radicalized or someone who has even self-radicalized based on content that they found from one of these proxy groups going off and performing some kind of retaliatory attack in the U.S., that is plausible,” Amacher said.

While federal law enforcement is engaged with security measures across the country, Bertram said local law enforcement needs to be the first line of physical defense in protecting cities and neighborhoods.

“I feel from a law enforcement leadership standpoint, it’s a mistake to be complacent during these times, especially for the next few days or weeks, while that conflict is really ramping up,” he said.

Amacher said UVU had previously tracked online sabotage operations from Iran targeting domestic infrastructure following the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

“That is something that I think is very likely,” Amacher said. “People who are in the know and who are defending that critical infrastructure should be very on alert.”

Bertram agreed, explaining that Utah officials would need to rely on the state’s federal partners to tackle the cyber front.

Protesting the attacks at home

Many Americans have taken to the streets to protest the attacks made by Israel and the United States in both New York and Los Angeles. Other people gathered in the streets celebrating Khamenei’s death, celebrating the strikes against the Iranian government.

Bertram said that law enforcement would need to ramp up security measures and pay extra attention to agitators who may attempt to harness the energy of crowds into something more violent.

“We want to pay attention to those things that may go beyond what our First Amendment allows us to do and make sure that we are keeping the cities and our state safe.”

Amacher said he did not think that terroristic attacks would likely target protesters.

“It’s not necessarily something that should be flagged as a super high risk for terrorist type activities coming from protesters,” Amacher said. “But you could see that be a target for a lot of people densely together in an area that’s not necessarily designed for security.”

Amacher theorized that Iran’s loss of leadership and loss of capacity may have diminished its ability to project strength in its local region, let alone across a global field. 

“I would say that we should be alert, but I wouldn’t say that anybody should panic,” Amacher said.

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Read more: US and Israel clash with Iran at emergency Security Council meeting. UN chief condemns attacks