America's Cashiers - The Nation's "Eyes-and-Ears" - Our First Line of Defense
DHS Releases: Bomb-Making Materials Awareness Program (BMAP)
POS Awareness & Suspicious Activity Report For Private Sector

Sponsored by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Bomb-Making Materials Awareness Program (BMAP) is a national outreach program designed to promote private sector point-of-sale awareness and suspicious activity reporting to prevent the misuse of common household items as explosive precursor chemicals (EPC) and improvised explosive device (IED) components. To achieve this objective, BMAP works to build a growing network of vigilant public and private sector partners who serve as the Nation’s “eyes-and-ears” and act as the first line of defense by providing early detection of EPC sales to suspect individuals

Key Benefits for BMAP public and private sector partners:
• Strengthened prevention opportunities
• Enhanced public/private partnerships
• Increased private sector point-of-sale awareness
• A boost in general public awareness of suspicious purchasing behavior and reporting
• Community-based outreach
• Reporting mechanisms to track and measure success
• Free, secure access to training and awareness materials

For additional information on BMAP, download the BMAP factsheets.
 

Why BMAP Is Necessary

BMAP increases public and private sector awareness of EPCs like pool sanitizers, paint additives and removers, fertilizers, hair color developer, instant cold packs, and exploding target material so point-of-sale employees will recognize and report suspicious EPC acquisitions prior to the manufacture of homemade explosives (HMEs) or IEDs.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine produced a report in 2017 titled Reducing the Threat of Improvised Explosive Device Attacks by Restricting Access to Explosive Precursor Chemicals that prioritized the EPCs most likely to be used in making HMEs and IEDs. The list is comprised of common household chemicals that fall out of regulatory visibility and oversight due to their retail-level availability. BMAP fills this regulatory gap with community based education and outreach.

CISA’s Office for Bombing Prevention Offers Free Training

The BMAP Administrator Trainer is a three-day in-resident course at the FEMA Center for Disaster Preparedness in Anniston, Alabama. This course is an accredited, management-level training that provides participants with the information and skills required to administer BMAP within their respective jurisdictions and to teach the BMAP Community Liaison course. At the completion of the training, it is intended that the participant will establish and administer an outreach program within their jurisdiction by selecting, training, and providing oversight and guidance to local BMAP Community Liaisons.

The BMAP Community Liaison is a one-day non-resident training course that includes lecture, facilitated discussions, and activities. This course presents the knowledge and components necessary for BMAP Community Liaisons to develop and sustain a BMAP within their communities. This includes informing private sector partners (e.g., manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, point-of-sale retailers) and public safety officials (e.g., first responders, emergency management personnel, dispatchers, fusion center personnel) on the importance of being aware of and reporting suspicious behaviors and purchases.
 

Become a Part of the BMAP Team

For more information on how to receive the training and become a BMAP partner, visit: https://www.dhs.gov/bmap, or email OBP@hq.dhs.gov.