Erroll G. Southers

How many students at USC can say their professor was a former FBI special agent? SPPD alumnus Erroll Southers
(MPA ’98) has returned to USC with three new identities: professor on counter-terrorism, founding member of the SPPD Alumni Association, and associate director of the USC Homeland Security Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE).

“I lived in that world where the CIA, FBI, customs, and police didn’t share information and were extremely competitive with each other—it was a big mistake,” Southers says. Southers worked four years for the FBI—three of those years as a member of SWAT— completing 41 missions all over the U.S.

“I worked two undercover operations,” Southers says. “I had a few exotic cars in my driveway, including a 1961 show Corvette. I came and went in all kinds of hours of the night. I think my neighbors thought I was a drug dealer!”

He was also a Santa Monica Police Department detective, where his experience qualifies him to be a gang and security expert witness, and a member of the Rio Hondo Police Academy.

Now, Southers’s daily routine is more predictable, but no less challenging and exciting.

Since 2003, Southers has taught a master’s-level “Homeland Security and Public Policy” class, which is structured on the contemporary discourse of terrorism post-September 11.

Southers did not know when he arrived at Brown University that he would be spending the next 30 years in law enforcement. He completed his pre-med studies and was in his first semester of medical school when he decided to pursue another career path.

“One thing I know about myself is what I like to do,” he says. “I keep saying that one day I’m going to have to get a job because I’m having too much fun. I’ve never had a dull moment.”

It was in these early years that Southers first crossed paths with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger—as competitive body builders.

“The governor teases me about not ever having won Mr. Universe,” Southers says, laughing.

The governor appointed Southers as the deputy director of the California Office of Homeland Security. These days, both are too busy to go motorcycle-riding every Sunday like they used to, so Southers has sought alternate forms of exercise.

“I get my best ideas while cycling from the Marina to Palos Verdes,” he says. “I can detach; there are no distractions. I find it extremely relaxing.”

Many would find Southers’s job stressful. After all, his recommendations and analysis help protect the fifth largest economy in the world. When asked whether USC or Los Angeles is at any risk, Southers said that the best way to defend against terrorism is to be better prepared for all disasters, by engaging the public in an ongoing education process.

“I’m not paranoid and I’m not a fear monger, but I am a realist and I know what the threats are,” Southers says. “If you think about it, the better prepared we are to respond to an earthquake, the better we will be able to mitigate a terrorist attack or recover from a natural disaster.”

Southers believes in the importance of educating students about terrorism. “Terrorism engages every discipline: sociology, education, physics, engineering,” he says. “It doesn’t call for a military solution. It’s an interdisciplinary solution. As globalization increases, terrorism will not be confined to any one region or country. If you ask me whether we’ll see a suicide bomber from the United States in the future, the answer is yes, I think we will.”

Southers’s background in counter-terrorism study in Israel, at the invitation of the ministry of foreign affairs, has made him a reputable source in counter-terrorism education. He returned to Israel in December for an International Consequence Management Seminar hosted by the Israeli Defense Force’s Home Front Command’s Civil Defense School.

“Until you go to the Middle East and see what it’s like to live day to day, you don’t know the full impact,” Southers says. “We are very lucky. Every business there, with rare exceptions, has a security officer who’s armed—banks, cafes, McDonald’s. It’s an eye opener.”

Southers is currently developing a certificate program, “Executive Program in Counter-Terrorism” that will unite six nations in combating terrorism beginning in August 2007. When asked how he could find time to co-chair SPPD's new Alumni Association, Southers replied, "When it comes to my relationship with USC, it's all about giving back. There's nothing I wouldn't do for this school and this university. I'm just incredibly grateful to be involved."