The cities of Aurora and Naperville are working together to plan and prepare for the worst-case scenario — a potential terrorist attack — and are hosting a “transparency workshop” this morning (Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019) to show what they’ve accomplished over the past two years.

According to an Aurora Police Department news release emailed at 4:31 p.m. Wednesday, the community will get an opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the program overall.

Aurora and Naperville were selected as recipients of the Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attacks in 2017. The CCTA Program provided federal grant funding to cities and states across the country to improve their ability to prepare for, prevent, and respond to sophisticated, coordinated terrorist attacks in collaboration with the whole community.

The CCTA Program was launched in 2016, when the U.S. Congress provided the Department of Homeland Security and its Federal Emergency Management Agency $35.9 million to distribute to select communities across the country to develop plans, training, and exercises that focus on enhancing preparedness against CCTAs.

Twenty-nine recipients were selected in July 2017. The cities of Aurora and Naperville received a joint $1.4 million in federal grant dollars, one of the more substantial awards to the selected recipients.

Over the past two years, the cities have used the funding to create new regional emergency plans, training, and programs to prepare the cities for a potential worst-case scenario. The funding has also gone to help prepare citizens with programs like ALICE Training at businesses, schools, churches, and other locations across the two cities.

Organizers said today’s workshop will preview a large-scale exercise scheduled for 2020.

The workshop is set for 10:30 a.m. to noon today (Thursday, Nov. 7) at Cavary Temple, 9S200 IL-59, Naperville.

SOURCE: Aurora Police Department news release