The Manhattan Institute's Center for Policing Terrorism (CPT) was founded in the wake of September 11th, 2001 by former White House counterterrorism director R.P. Eddy. The NYPD, familiar with the Manhattan Institute's longstanding policy focus on policing, relied on Eddy to develop a network of security experts who could instantly provide crucial advice. With the help of CPT, the NYPD adopted the concept of first preventer policing, the understanding that local law enforcement officers must not only respond to disasters, but actively prevent them. This style of policing is executed by training street level officers to recognize signs of terror related activity, and by facilitating the timely sharing and analysis of intelligence between agencies at the Federal, state and local level. America's 700,000 state and local law enforcement personnel will always be first responders at emergency scenes, but as first preventers they are a key weapon in the War on Terror.

CPT expanded in 2004 in order to popularize the principles initially developed for the NYPD. Partnering with agencies such as the New Jersey State Police and the Los Angeles Police Department, CPT executive director R.P. Eddy and director Tim Connors confronted the core counter-terrorism issues facing state and local police. CPT is currently collaborating with LAPD Chief William Bratton to administer the National Counter-terrorism Academy, a one of a kind pilot program which offers local law enforcement officers a standardized counter-terrorism curriculum.