As chaos unfolded in Barcelona, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw shook his head; he was not surprised a terrorist drove a van into a crowd of defenseless people.
"The bad guys here have figured out what's the perfect weapon and the perfect weapon now is vehicles," the sheriff said.
In hopes of stopping that kind of terrorist attack here, Sheriff Bradshaw keeps in close contact with local business leaders, asking them for a heads up when they notice something out of the ordinary.
"We actively go out and talk with rental car agencies, agencies that rent trucks, people that sell materials that can be used in bomb making, fertilizer, chemicals and stuff like that and try to get them alerted to anything that may be suspicious," he said.
And his deputies are trained on who to look for, and how to protect large crowds and other unsuspecting targets.
"Anytime we are going to have large events where people can possibly be in roadways, we are going to make sure that vehicles don't have access to these roadways. You have to see what's happening," Sheriff Bradshaw said.
But the sheriff said he and his department cannot do it alone. He says Barcelona is a call to action for us all. "The best thing we have going for us anywhere is people will call and tell us things.
"Our goal is try to prevent something from happening."
