Riding Into the Hot Zone
First responders have become acutely conscious of the importance of interoperable command, control and communications. Today, they have a variety of options when choosing the vehicles that will support them on the scene.
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On the Perimeter
Perimeter security has come a long way in terms of technologies and techniques. But one major question remains.
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Setting the Standards for Security
Protecting public facilities is an immense task, but for nearly a decade a federal committee has been making steady progress in its efforts to protect the federal government’s leased buildings—and the people inside them.
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New Orleans: More than just hurricanes
New Orleans: More Than Just Hurricanes
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RFID Technology: Tag, you’re it
A boon to supply chain management, radio frequency identification (RFID) technology also has many security benefits and applications.
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The militarization of America
Restoring the civil side of government Keep Reading
Mexico reacts
President George Bush’s border security plan, announced on May 15, provoked a range of responses in Mexico, but some common points became immediately apparent.
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The future of FEMA
This much seems certain: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is likely to stay within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and not return to its status as an independent cabinet-level agency as it was before the department’s creation. The homeland security committees in both the House and the Senate oppose shifting FEMA resources out of the department, but that may be about all they agree on at the moment.
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Local First Responders: America’s First Line of Defense
Recently, responders and academics have trumpeted multiple emergencies as the next big threat to American security. These new threats include avian influenza, massive hurricanes and devastating earthquakes. Global media produce hundreds of stories calling attention to these looming disasters.
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Never too late to get it right
Colorado State University hurricane expert Dr. William M. Gray predicts 17 named storms, nine hurricanes and five intense hurricanes for the 2006 season, which began June 1. And though it's been seven months since Katrina's aftermath devastated the Gulf Coast region, we're not nearly ready to handle another major disaster.
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Funding the first 72 hours
Under the current framework for emergency preparedness, the burden of initial response falls largely to states and local governments. Historically, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has established 72-hours as the maximum amount of time for emergency response teams to arrive on scene, leaving local citizens vulnerable during what the National Response Plan refers to as “the initial 72-hour period of self-sufficiency.”
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Foster-Miller sees robotics, chem-bio market growth
Foster-Miller, an American subsidiary of UK-based QinetiQ (pronounced “kinetic”) Group plc, sees strong potential in homeland security for robots and chemical-biological protection materials originally developed for the US military.
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Mark Johnson, Oracle
<p class="MainStoryBody">Eight American flags line the driveway to the Reston, Va., campus of Oracle Corp. Each one stands for an Oracle employee who was lost on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.</p> Keep Reading
Putting IWN to Work
Interoperable communications are a key ingredient in effective response and operations. The Integrated Wireless Network is supposed to allow diverse authorities to communicate directly and seamlessly—and soon we may know who will provide it.
DHS Top 25 in 2005
Who did the most business in homeland security last year? A hint: Hurricane relief efforts dominated the list of DHS contractors. Keep Reading
Jihad, nature and the future
This being June, the start of the hurricane season, and this being our hurricane preparedness issue, the subject of this letter should be about the dangers of Nature run amok.
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Italy thwarts terrorist attacks
Italian security forces stopped two potential terrorist attacks by seven North Africans on the Milan subway and a church in Bologna, aimed at disrupting Italy's general elections held on April 9 and 10, according to Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu.
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