The massive economic stimulus package that is working through Congress includes hundreds of millions of dollars for various IT and physical security projects, including $448 million for a new headquarters for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The DHS and other agencies responsible for managing such funds will have 60 days after the bill is [...]
Ever since the Federal Emergency Management Agency was absorbed into the Homeland Security Department after its creation in 2003, bureaucrats and elected officials have debated the merits of that decision. After weighing the arguments for and against making FEMA a stand-alone agency again, the department’s inspector general found such a reorganization could have significant negative [...]
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security tracked the protest plans of a peaceful Washington area antiwar group and passed the information to the Maryland State Police, which had previously labeled the activists as terrorists in an intelligence file. The federal agency obtained two e-mails containing plans for upcoming demonstrations at a military recruiting center in [...]
The homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, is re-evaluating the largest federal program for testing the country’s ability to respond to terrorist attacks, one of several Bush administration initiatives she has ordered to come under review. (NY Times)
U.S. intelligence gathering is pretty good. Investigations post-9/11 showed that information had been known that could have stopped the hijackers at several points. The point where it breaks down is in the sharing. The result is the worst attack against civilians on U.S. soil in history. Sharing intelligence may have helped those indicators stick out [...]
Pull out your cell phone, start writing a text message and you’ll probably notice the device guessing what words you are writing. It will even offer to finish them for you. It’s called predictive text. Federal law enforcement and intelligence authorities have adopted the idea, along with a new way of thinking. New shadowy, transnational [...]
The federal government is looking for contractors to build a possible detention center in the Los Angeles area that would hold up to 2,200 illegal immigrants and others suspected of violating immigration laws. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice said last week that the agency was “exploring the feasibility of such a project,” though [...]