US-VISIT faces land border challenges
Dec 27, 2006
The US-VISIT program to collect, maintain, and share data on selected foreign nationals entering and exiting the United States at air, sea and land ports of entry has insufficient management controls to identify problems and evaluate operations, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report....
Federal security regulations for chemical plants proposed
Dec 27, 2006
The Department of Homeland Security has proposed new regulations that would require chemical companies like DuPont and Dow Chemical Co. to tighten security at their U.S. plants.
The rules, which stem from concerns that an attack on chemical plants could prompt a deadly spill or explosion, would require companies to put in place a buffer zone outside the facilities, require personnel background checks and allow the DHS to perform site visits....
DHS traveler assessments may violate Congressional ban
Dec 14, 2006
Officials are debating whether the Department of Homeland Security's computerized risk assessments of international travelers violate a specific ban that Congress imposed on the agency's spending for the past three years...
U.S. to begin testing inbound cargo for nuclear materials
Dec 14, 2006
Beginning early next year, cargo containers bound for the United States from six foreign seaports will be screened for dangerous nuclear materials. The screening effort will be the first phase in a program intended to expand the scrutiny of shipments before they reach American ports...
Survey shows high levels of interoperability
Dec 14, 2006
Communications interoperability throughout the U.S. is on the rise, according to results from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) nationwide survey of first responders and law enforcement...
Simulated Response
By Jacqueline Emigh
If a disaster strikes, will you really be ready? Through live presentations, aided by multimedia computer simulations, the U.S. Army's EPiCS (Emergency...
Securing Freight
Dec 1, 2006
The Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Energy (DOE) have announced the first phase of the Secure Freight Initiative, an effort to build upon existing...
Congressional Democrats lining up security issues
Nov 30, 2006
Better communication systems, improved rail security and more rigorous oversight are high on the list of Homeland security issues Democrats plan to examine when they assume control of Congress in January.
"You'll see a committee that is not afraid to take on tough issues," Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the incoming chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, told The Associated Press in an interview....
Chertoff promises interoperable communications in one year
Nov 30, 2006
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has said that the nation's 35 highest-risk cities must have systems enabling first responders to communicate in a disaster by the end of next year, Newsday reports. Every state must have such a system by the end of 2008, he added.
"The bottom line is we have to be able to communicate during a disaster," Chertoff told more than 1,000 state and local Homeland security officials assembled at the Washington Hilton. "We're going to get it done."...
Cargo screening tests to begin in Seattle
Nov 16, 2006
The Department of Homeland Security will begin testing air cargo screening technologies this fall at the Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) International Airport as part of its previously announced $30 million Air Cargo Explosives Detection Pilot Program (ACEDPP). The purpose of the Sea-Tac testing is to better understand the technological and operational issues associated with detecting hidden persons or explosives that could be in air cargo....
Thompson lays down Democrats' Homeland security agenda
Nov 16, 2006
When Democrats assume control of the U.S. Congress next year, they plan to make Homeland security one of the cornerstones of their agenda.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who will become chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, told reporters last week he would seek to boost funding for rail and mass transit; strengthen security regulations for chemical plants and container cargo; and implement what he said are a number of recommendations from the 9/11 commission that remain unaddressed....
Border fence may have a few holes
Nov 2, 2006
No sooner did Congress authorize construction of a 700-mile fence on the U.S.-Mexico border than lawmakers rushed to approve separate legislation that ensures it will never be built as advertised, according to a Washington Post report.
Congress has approved a proposal to build a barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border. It would include two layers of fencing, lighting, cameras and sensors. But a few weeks ago the House and Senate gave the Bush administration leeway to distribute the money to a combination of projects -- not just the physical barrier along the southern border....
Firefighters receive funding for safety technology
Oct 19, 2006
The Department of Homeland Security has awarded $91.8 million in direct assistance grants to 860 fire departments and first responder organizations....
Thousands wrongly on terror watch list
Oct 19, 2006
DHS directs funding to radiation detection
Oct 5, 2006
Congress passes port security legislation
Oct 5, 2006
Bush signs Homeland bill; border fence coming
Oct 5, 2006
Standing before a mountainous backdrop in Arizona, a state that has been the center of debate over secure borders, President Bush this week signed into law a $35 billion Homeland security spending bill that could bring hundreds of miles of fencing to the busiest illegal entry point on the U.S.-Mexican border.
Among other things, Bush said the Homeland security funding bill deploys nuclear detection equipment to points of entry, raises safety security standards at chemical plants, provides better tools to enforce immigration laws and provides vehicle barriers, lighting and infrared cameras to help catch illegals trying to cross the border....
Trust Me
By Michael Fickes
Oct. 27, 2006 marks, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, the end of the beginning. On that day, all federal agencies will have opened at least one facility...
Cyber Storm results released
Sep 21, 2006
Faux Fido
By Ashley Roe
As 500,000 people shuffled in and out of the National Mall gates in Washington, D.C., on July 4, National Park Police officers were testing a new method of screening for explosives — one that doesn't bark....
Special Report: Airline Terror Plot Foiled
Sep 7, 2006
Click here for our breaking news coverage of the terrorist plot against U.S. airlines....
Tight security produces seven flight security incidents in one day
Aug 29, 2006
Amid new anxiety about air travel and tough new regulations covering what passengers may bring on planes, seven U.S. flights were involved in security incidents on Friday of last week. In one case, a stick of dynamite was found to have been aboard a flight.
The rash of events, safety consultants and others say, reflect heightened emotions and appropriately tightened security in the wake of an alleged plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners thwarted this month by British authorities....
Agents fake their way through border checkpoints
Aug 24, 2006
Debate in U.S., Britain over airline passenger profiling
Aug 24, 2006
Homeland security officials in both the U.S. and in Britain are calling for expanded government monitoring and airline passenger profiling. House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King, (R-N.Y.), even suggests pulling those of Middle Eastern descent out of airport lines for additional questioning....
'Clean bombs' may be the new focus of explosives detection
Aug 24, 2006
Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee, says the type of bombs that the alleged London terror group intended to use to crash planes into the Atlantic probably would have slipped through airport detection devices armed even with the latest technology....
