SubscribeAping US security model will not work
November 13, 2007
Kevin Rudd’s policy to create a department of homeland security is trying to fix something that isn’t broken.
ONE of America’s greatest failings in the past decade was the response of its Department of Homeland Security to the human tragedy that followed Hurricane Katrina.
Now Kevin Rudd wants to mimic this flawed framework by creating Australia’s own department of homeland security and, in the process, dismantle one of the most effective national security systems in the world. Along with the new department, Rudd proposes to centralise decision-making by appointing a national security adviser and creating a new office of national security that will sit within the prime minister’s portfolio. (The Age)
Local agencies ask for help fighting terrorism
November 8, 2007
Local law enforcement agencies are working to prevent individuals in their communities from acting on extremist views but are calling for additional federal resources to help combat the threat of terrorism, a Senate panel was told Tuesday.
Recent attacks and thwarted plots against European and U.S. cities indicate a rise in homegrown terrorism, where individuals identify with violent extremism and plot to attack their home countries from within, members of several large-city police departments told the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. (LA Times)
Local First-Responders Learn From Minnesota Bridge Disaster
November 8, 2007
Some local emergency responders got a lesson in preparedness on Monday night directly from crews who responded to the Minneapolis bridge collapse three months ago.
First-responders shared their stories with about 50 Illinois and Wisconsin EMS professionals in Baraboo on Monday night, WISC-TV reported.
“You don’t train to go through a 100-foot embankment, going in waist- or chest-deep of water, and extricate people,” said first-responder Jeff Lanenberg. “That’s stuff you can’t dream up in the movies half the time, but we did it that day.” (WISC TV)
Pakistan braces for a gathering storm
November 8, 2007
What does it say when a leader tells his people he must suspend their civil rights in order to combat extremism, then locks up judges, lawyers and human rights activists - society’s most moderate forces - while Osama bin Laden and the Taliban run free?
And what are those oppressed people supposed to conclude when the reaction of the world and even some of their own leaders is grudging?
That’s been the twisted reality unfolding in Pakistan as its military dictator, General Pervez Musharraf, propels his nation toward greater instability. Fortunately, there are signs of forces mobilizing against the general and his decree of martial law. (International Herald Tribune)
GAO exposes lax border, port security
November 8, 2007
Government inspectors guarding the nation’s ports of entry are understaffed, fatigued from excessive overtime, poorly trained and frequently fail to question visitors entering the country, according to an audit of U.S. Customs and Border Protection operations.
The Government Accountability Office, in an audit released this week, said that although CBP inspectors have had some success in identifying individuals not authorized to enter the U.S., they allowed ‘’several thousand” criminals and inadmissible immigrants to enter in fiscal year 2006. (Houston Chronicle)
OU to build virtual world for Columbus Police with Homeland Security grant money
November 8, 2007
Ohio University’s School of Telecommunications and Game Research and Immersive Design (GRID) Lab have won a two-year, $702,000 grant to create a virtual world capable of making the real world safer.
The grant will help fund development of interactive digital environments in 30 high-profile Columbus buildings or sites that could be most susceptible to terrorist attacks, hostage situations or other critical incidents. The funding comes from the Urban Area Security Initiative Terrorism Early Warning Group, a unit of the Columbus Division of Police.
“The GRID Lab development, the multimedia staff and curriculum there fit in well with our purposes for our homeland security project,” said Lt. Fred Bowditch, head of the Terrorism Early Warning Group. “The eagerness of the staff, the knowledge of the staff and the product they can produce are what sold us on Ohio University.” (The Athens News)
More than 20 people arrested in immigration raid at O’Hare
November 8, 2007
In a string of early morning raids today, federal and local authorities cracked down on a wide-ranging scheme to provide illegal aliens with fake ID badges that allowed them to work at O’Hare Airport.
The fraudulent security badges gave the illegal or undocumented immigrants access to the tarmac at O’Hare, where they loaded pallets, freight and meals onto commercial airliners. The badges were issued by the city’s Dept. of Aviation. (Chicago Sun Times)