I had the opportunity to interview with Steve Moore, retired FBI agent and past Deputy Director of Public Safety at Pepperdine University. (This interview was done via skype – thank goodness for technology!)

Some of you may have been introduced to Mr. Moore through his advocacy work on the Amanda Knox “Injustice in Perugia” website. I interviewed Mr. Moore because he has a unique perspective about public safety planning for international programs.  My interview with Mr. Moore focuses on his training in the FBI and how that type of work translated into best practices at a university which has a large student population abroad.  I hope you will recognize that this is not an “Amanda Knox who dunnit” interview.  He and I discuss Ms. Knox’s case in the context of study abroad program safety and emergency planning.

After watching the interview, please scroll down to read Mr. Moore’s impressive bio below. Steve is available for consulting and presentations.  Click here for more information.

Steve Moore’s Bio: In an FBI career that spanned 25 years, Special Agent Steve Moore rose to supervise the Los Angeles Al Qaeda squad, and later, the LA FBI Extra-Territorial Investigations squad which was charged with the investigation of acts of terrorism against U.S. persons or interests for all of Asia and parts of Pakistan. He was the case agent on many high-profile FBI cases including the bombing of the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan; the bombing of the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia; the white supremacist shooting/murder spree at the Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles in 1998; as well as the Los Angeles component of the attacks of 9/11, after which he testified before the congressional 9/11 Commission.

In conjunction with the United States Attorney’s Office, in 1999, he obtained the first conviction of a threatened Anthrax attack in United States History. Steve was awarded the 2001 ‘Outstanding Counterterrorism Investigation’ award by the Los Angeles FBI office, and nominated for the FBI’s national ‘Outstanding Terrorism Investigation’ award the same year. Three years in a row he was presented with the United States Attorney’s award for excellence in investigation. As an FBI undercover Agent, Steve conducted covert surveillance of white supremacist organizations and conducted classified foreign intelligence-related undercover operations.   As a member of the FBI’s Rapid Deployment Team, he was assigned as lead investigator on the FBI’s terrorism response team at the Athens Olympics in 2004. He has served as (term) Assistant Legal Attaché, and has lectured on investigative techniques and terrorism at the International Law Enforcement Academy in Bangkok, Thailand, as well as the Pacific Training Institute in the Philippines. Additionally, he has taught and organized counter-terrorism training and investigation conferences around the world.

Following his retirement from the FBI in 2008, Steve was selected as the Deputy Director of Public Safety for Pepperdine University in Malibu, California and served there for two and a half years.  Steve was responsible for security on the Malibu campus, all U.S. campuses, and the safety of the students at Pepperdine’s six overseas campuses in Europe, South America and Asia.  He developed programs to monitor international situations of concern, and served on university threat assessment teams.  He worked closely with the International Programs department at Pepperdine, and worked to create innovative security and safety programs.

Steve is currently a private investigator, and is on the board of advisers for the “Special Investigative University”, SIU.  He is also involved in pro-bono advocacy for innocent persons accused of crimes in U.S. and foreign courts.  He has recently appeared on the “Today” show, “Good Morning America”, and “Anderson Cooper 360”.

Steve is the son of a United Airlines executive and by the age of 18 had traveled through most of the world, seeing it through the eyes of a teenager.