Joel Vargas, JD, is a security consultant and researcher who serves as the Head of the National Security, Intelligence, Community Policing Programs (Best Practices and Development) Research, Border Security, Terrorism and Counter-terrorism, Special Contingency Risks, Political Strategy for Latin American Countries, and Transportation Security.
He currently is engaged in a project researching anti-money laundering, suspicious activity reports, correspondent banking relationships, and how a financial intelligence unit (FIU) can be outsourced/hired when the bank is unable to build its own FIU.
Joel’s sole goal is to make communities and the world safe, helping to transform places experiencing war and crime. “War and violence are not community builders,” he says. “We must focus on the people to obtain the benefits of safety and security by transforming people first.”
A Latin American intelligence specialist and political adviser with more than 20 years of experience, Joel also undertakes security planning and risk management work for private clients. He created a Community Policing Program that can reduce crime by half in one year. The project in Bensenville, Ill., and has been producing significant research in terms of Inclusion, Outreach, and Crime Prevention and how they integrate into a holistic policing approach.
In addition, Joel is the liaison/coordinator for the ORD Airport Watch Program with the FBI, DHS, TSA, Chicago Police Department, Chicago Department of Aviation, and the Air Marshall Service. He also serves as a liaison for the International Airport Watch Association as well as Borderpol.
From 2012–2015, Joel held the post of Assistant Director for Law Enforcement Operations and Head of Intelligence for InterPortPolice. He has produced research in the area of insider threats to transportation and counterintelligence research for officers and personnel in the US/Mexico border.
Joel also serves as adviser for the Organization of American States in the area of Transportation Security & Terrorism, working closely with the European Union in transportation security, the International Maritime Organization, and Europol. He serves as advisor to nongovernment organizations operating in Latin America, fighting for human rights, rights of indigenous people, and security issues.
In the past few years, after the falling of several governments in the Arab Springs in MENA, Joel published a paper addressing the Impact of Social Media to the Intelligence Community.
