On April 24, 2014, the National Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE)—the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) first Center of Excellence (COE)—celebrated its tenth anniversary with a full-day of events, discussions, and remarks from counterterrorism officials from the public and private sector highlighting the contributions and advancements developed by CREATE to enhance homeland security missions.

The COEs were established at the direction of Congress as part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) was tasked with developing and managing a university-based system that uses science and technology to enhance the nation’s security. Each COE has a focused area of study aligned with universities to engage the expertise of the academic community. The nine COEs are responsible for developing multidisciplinary, customer-driven, homeland security science and technology solutions as well as training the next generation of homeland security experts.

CREATE, led by the University of Southern California (USC), evaluates the risks, costs, and consequences of terrorism and man-made disasters. Comprised of a team of experts, universities, and research partners from around the country, CREATE provides analytical tools and guidance that enable users to prioritize terrorism countermeasures, compute risks for catastrophic events, and estimate the societal consequences of terrorism and other major disruptive events.

One of CREATE’s most successful projects, the Assistant for Randomized Monitoring Over Routes (ARMOR), was developed to assist law enforcement with randomizing their vehicle checkpoints and canine unit patrols to prevent criminals and terrorists from predicting patrol schedules and locations. This technology directly resulted in increased seizures of illegal weapons and drugs.

*Interested in learning more? Read the full S&T Snapshots story. Do you have any questions about the publication? Please email st.snapshots@hq.dhs.gov.