Extremism is nothing new for seasoned security leaders, but with the violence by both left- and right-wing extremists this past year, it’s on everyone’s radar now more than ever. “As a career FBI agent with exposure to jurisdictions across the country, I can say with some degree of credibility that (extremism) has gotten worse in recent years,” says Adam S. Lee, Vice President and Chief Security Officer at Dominion Energy Services in Richmond, Va.
The United States and other countries have a history of political unrest and extremist acts, but Lee says the difference now is that society is more divided than he’s ever seen it. “Perhaps most concerning to me, our leaders—federal, state and local—too often excuse or even encourage lawlessness in pursuit of political ends,” he says. “After a quarter-century working these issues, that, in my assessment, is a new and dangerous dynamic.”