WASHINGTON (WUSA9) -- The Secret Service is in charge of protecting the pope, but agencies such as the FBI are in charge of keeping you and the public safe.
Inside of the FBI Command and Operations Center, various agencies will be monitoring the huge crowds and the pope's movements next week. There will be a handful of command centers of this scale operating during his visit.
Different agencies will be able to share sensitive information in real time. In his first sit down interview as Assistant Director in Charge for the FBI Washington Field Office, Paul Abbate says they have the enormous task of protecting hundreds of thousands of people who want to catch a glimpse of the pope.
"We are most concerned about the unknown. The threat that emerges that we don't yet know about. What I can tell you is that if we had something specific and credible we would be acting upon that to disrupt it, neutralize it and to ensure no harm comes to anyone," Abbate says.
Part of that protection will be handled at the FBI Command and Operations Center. Different representatives from various agencies sitting side by side sharing information in real time.
"This place will be filled with individuals and representatives across government and across a multitude of state, local and federal law enforcement and emergency agencies and that's how we always approach events like these," Abbate says.
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