CHDS Emergence Alum Sees Youth Outreach Change Initiative Enjoy Success, Serves in Prized Overseas Assignment

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New England Special Agent and Criminal Investigator Peter Coste has had a banner year.

In January, the Boston, MA-based Coste graduated from the Center for Homeland Defense and Security’s Emergence Program. Then in April, he saw his Emergence change initiative reach a key milestone with the graduation of the first class of high school cadets from a program he initiated to introduce students to skills and career paths in federal law enforcement. And five months later, he completed a highly competitive international assignment in Indonesia and participated in the signing of a groundbreaking security agreement there.

Inaugural class of cadets from Lawrence High School HSI Cadet Program with CHDS alum Peter Coste

Coste (Emergence cohort 2301) credits CHDS with offering him the opportunities this year has brought.

“The Emergence Program was a real eye-opening experience; it was a great platform to collaborate with people from different sectors and different disciplines and different backgrounds, and to be in that think tank expressing our ideas and opinions,” he said. “That was the biggest benefit of it, the opportunity to collaborate with people and get those different perspectives. It doesn’t matter what homeland security topic you’re discussing; it can affect multiple sectors and disciplines. In a nutshell, it allows you to be the spark that hopefully sets off a chain of events that can inspire change within your organization.”

Coste said his change initiative, entitled “The HSI Cadet Program: Enhancing the Workforce One Recruit at a Time,” was inspired by youth outreach efforts his agency conducts with students from universities to high schools and career fairs and is modeled after his agency’s Explorer Program dedicated to aspiring law enforcement professionals. He said he chose to set up the inaugural HSI Cadet Program at Lawrence High School in Lawrence, MA, because it’s located in a “predominantly minority community” with a large Hispanic population from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and South and Central America, and he noted both a “lack of diversity” in the Boston area and his agency’s need for Spanish-speaking language ability.

As part of the first class, which included after-school sessions once a week for 10 weeks, Coste said he brought in a variety of law enforcement officials from different agencies to discuss various topics from the mission of a federal law enforcement agency and career paths as special agents, criminal analysts, and the like, to the use of electronic devices in investigations including a mock surveillance exercise, and issues such as human trafficking and identity theft.

“I used it as an opportunity for community outreach to get the word out about what we do in the community, how we keep our community safe, but also to ask [students] why don’t you consider a career in federal law enforcement and HSI,” he said. “The way I look at it is even if one kid down the road applies for one of these federal law enforcement jobs and remembers that experience that they had after High School and they’re able to join the ranks and serve their community, I think that’s rewarding.”

On April 1, the first class of cadets graduated from the program in a ceremony featuring the 10 juniors and seniors who completed the course along with Coste, HSI New England Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol, and school and community leaders.

Then, last summer, Coste spent time on a temporary assignment supporting HSI’s mission and operations at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia. While he was there, he participated in a ceremony on Aug. 20 marking the signing of a memorandum of understanding between HSI and the Indonesia Directorate General of Intellectual Property. The MOU represents a formal commitment to enhance cooperation in combating intellectual property theft and related transnational crimes and is aimed at facilitating the exchange of actionable intelligence and investigative leads related to intellectual property theft in Indonesia, while enhancing bilateral cooperation and enabling the sharing of best practices in operational and investigative activities.

Coste said he believes CHDS provided him with the “networking opportunity which directly influenced my decision to accept an international assignment in Southeast Asia, specifically Jakarta, noting that he was able to meet and speak with the HSI Regional Attaché for Hong Kong during a joint Emergence Program session with the CHDS Executive Leaders Program, “who just happened to be a very close friend and former colleague of the DHS Country Attaché for Indonesia.”

“Had it not been for CHDS and the Emergence Program, I would not have had the opportunity to meet and engage with this individual.”

Following his CHDS Emergence Program graduation, Coste said he has already “reconvened” with fellow alums a few times and that the program has given him “friends for life.” He added that he has also been inspired to apply for the CHDS Master’s Program.

INQUIRIES: Heather Hollingsworth, Communications and Recruitment | hissvora@nps.edu, 831-402-4672 (PST)

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