“Equipment in two trailers sniffed out nuclear materials today on cars and trucks boarding the Bolivar Ferry in the first field test of the device in a maritime setting, a Homeland Security official said. The transportable radiation monitoring system, or TRMS, began screening cars entering the ferry from Galveston Island for the first full-day of [...]
“Last week, in one of the most damaging reports on the TSA to date, ABC News revealed that in the program’s first year under TSA control, there were “some 8,000 foreign students in the FAA database who got their pilot licenses without ever being approved by the TSA.” “Thousands of aliens, some of whom may [...]
“Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told a Senate panel Tuesday that the government needs to look for new ways to improve airport screening. Chertoff told the Senate Appropriations Committee panel that he has instructed the head of the Transportation Security Administration to think “outside the box” and come up with ways to “re-engineer the process” [...]
“Amtrak’s new 15-member security teams, heavily armed and “exceedingly polite,” will show up in force this week at Northeast rail stations, trying to secure a system that is inherently vulnerable to terrorist attack. The new security measures, including random searches of ticket holders before they board, are designed to balance safety and convenience, Amtrak officials [...]
“A company owned by international airlines said on Wednesday it had won approval from the United States for a system providing passenger details to U.S. border authorities almost instantaneously. The Geneva-based SITA information technology firm said the system allows airline check-in desks to get the go-ahead within 2 seconds from the U.S. Customs and Border [...]
“Amtrak, the only long-haul passenger rail service in the United States, will for the first time randomly screen passengers’ bags and deploy armed security officers on trains and platforms, the railroad said on Monday night. Details of the shift in security strategy at Amtrak will be released on Tuesday, but the railroad said the steps [...]
“The US administration’s demands for armed guards on all flights from Europe to America, and for a new permit system, are the latest of increasingly strict measures introduced since 9/11. After the 2001 attacks, when al-Qaida members hijacked four planes from within the US, the country’s airport security was heavily criticised.” (The Guardian)
“Does the security drill at US airports really make you wonder? Chances are high that if you are routinely subjected to extra airport security or unable to print boarding passes for airline flights at US airport kiosks, your name has somehow got mixed up with those on Uncle Sam’s bulging terrorist watch lists. Ann Davis, [...]
“An investigation conducted last year into how police credentials were scrutinized at Jackson-Evers International Airport exposed weaknesses in the system that terrorists could exploit to bring guns aboard planes. Despite those and earlier warnings, the federal government has not moved to change the regulations.” (Clarion Ledger)
“As a foreign traveler, Punit Pawar is used to the security when he flies into the U.S., so he barely noticed Tuesday when he was asked to put his 10 fingers on a digital scanner as part of an enhanced security system rolling out at airports across the country.”It didn’t take much of my time, [...]