Tom Ridge: Second Thoughts, But Not Second Guessing, on Homeland Security

Former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge does not want to “second guess” the motivations of his former colleagues in the Bush Administration. But, with a new memoir, The Test of Our Times, about to hit bookstores, he is ready to talk about all the second thoughts he has been having. (time)

US DHS Revises Border Laptop Search Rules

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has released new rules for border agents searching travelers’ laptops and other electronic devices, but the revised guidelines won’t quiet complaints from the American Civil Liberties Union.

The new guidelines, unveiled Thursday, continue to allow U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to search electronic devices during border crossings without suspicion of wrongdoing. Both CBP and ICE are part of DHS. (PC World)

Napolitano says country safer than ever

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday that the federal government is more prepared than ever to respond to a Hurricane Katrina-like disaster and that the county is safer than ever against foreign terrorist attack. (Courier Journal)

DHS Secretary Napolitano announces 60-day review of homeland security advisory system

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced the formation of a task force to conduct a 60-day review of the Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS). The mission of the task force is to assess the effectiveness of the system in informing the public about terrorist threats and communicating protective measures within government and throughout the private sector.

Secretary Napolitano appointed Fran Townsend, former Assistant to President George W. Bush for Homeland Security, and Judge William Webster, former director of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), to co-chair the task force and lead the review. (SecurityInfoWatch)

F.B.I. Agents’ Role Is Transformed by Terror Fight

The report last month was chilling: a 55-gallon drum of radioactive material had gone missing during shipment from North Carolina to California. Even worse, the person who signed for the cargo was not an employee of the company that ordered the load. (NY Times)

Early preparation key in fighting flu

Every fall, we deal with new strains of seasonal flu. But this year, we’ll also confront a potentially serious flu virus that first appeared last spring. While scientists won’t know exactly how strong the 2009 H1N1 flu will be until the middle of the flu season, they’re warning it could cause more illness as our kids return to school.

We don’t need to wait to act. In the fight against flu, preparation is more than half the battle — and we need everyone to chip in.

We in the federal government have been aggressively responding to the new H1N1 since April. We’re building on what we learned from the early spring season and from health officials in the Southern Hemisphere where flu seasons are already under way. (Full Story)

Boston FBI head: Police need assault rifles in case of terror attack

The top FBI agent in Boston said today that the Menino administration should revive a controversial plan to arm neighborhood officers with semiautomatic assault rifles, saying the scarcity of such weapons on the force makes Boston more vulnerable to a terrorist attack similar to the 2008 rampage in Mumbai, India, that killed 166 people. (Boston Globe)

Feds inspecting trains headed to Mexico

The U.S. government is increasing its surveillance and inspection of trains, especially in Arizona and other Southwestern states as it looks to curtail smuggling from Mexico.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said at a Border Security Conference in El Paso, Texas, that the Obama administration has deployed more intelligence officers and security forces in the Southwest to deal with Mexican drug cartels, violence and smuggling. (BizJournal)

FBI: Chicago Man Indicted for Allegedly Lying to FBI about Terrorism Activity

A Chicago man was indicted on federal charges for allegedly providing false information about possible terrorism activity to the FBI, causing agents to aggressively investigate the information before determining that it was a hoax. The defendant, Uzair Ali Hashmi, was indicted on three felony counts of making false statements to FBI agents, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northen District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced today.

Hashmi, 20,of the city’s far north side, is scheduled to be arraigned at 10 a.m. on Aug. 19 before Judge Milton Shadur in U.S. District Court. He was charged in an indictment returned Wednesday by a federal grand jury. (Park Forest eNews)

Immigration official says agents will no longer have to meet quotas

The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Monday in Los Angeles that he has ended quotas on a controversial program designed to go after illegal immigrants with outstanding deportation orders.

John Morton, a career prosecutor who took over as assistant secretary of Homeland Security in May, said during a meeting with reporters that he planned to make more changes soon. The “fugitive operations” program, he said, should do what it was created to do — target absconders who have already had their day in court. (LA Times)

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