Better Communications Needed
BY PAUL ROTHMAN
The federal government must recognize the important role played by local governments and provide streamlined and more flexible funding, improved regional...
Houston police pondering surveillance cameras
Feb 23, 2006
Local response key to pandemic emergencies
Feb 9, 2006
Small Towns, Big Surveillance
BY PAUL ROTHMAN
So far, the growth of small-town surveillance camera systems has not received much national notice, but according to a recent Washington Post article,...
New Jersey begins screening rail passengers
Feb 1, 2006
Commuters heading to work in Manhattan walk through metal detectors at a busy train station and feed their bags into X-ray machines marking the start...
Monitoring Town Hall
BY ERIN SEMPLE
A year ago, the only security at the town hall of Chatham, N.J. was keyed door locks. Yet as the number of town hall employees continued to grow, and...
Coming In Loud and Clear
BY PAUL ROTHMAN
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, radio interoperability continues to be one of the most critical challenges facing first responders. Local, state and...
INSIDE OUTSOURCING
BY JACQUELINE EMIGH
New choices are available in information security outsourcing these days, spurred by factors that include proliferating federal regulations, terrorist...
Once And Future System
Oct 1, 2005
A top security priority for any governmental agency is to make sure only authorized personnel are moving about the premises. The City of Corona, Calif.,...
Search and Rescue
BY MICHAEL FICKES
Except for emergency operations at the Alfred P. Murrah FBI building in Oklahoma City and at the World Trade Center towers, first responders have had...
The Incident
BY ERIN SEMPLE
Before FBI officers are allowed on the line of duty, they are trained using stimulated films that anticipate the possible outcomes of various situations...
Listen Up!
BY ERIN SEMPLE
A technology being used in Chicago recognizes the sound of a gunshot within a two-block radius, pinpoints the source, turns a surveillance camera toward...
NETWORKED AS ONE
Aug 1, 2005
The pressures of modern life create a heightened awareness of the need for security. The population boom puts pressure on public facilities of every kind....
Calling All Radios
BY MICHAEL FICKES
Three-quarters of the United States still does not have interoperable communication systems for first responders, according to Homeland Security in the...
A DROP OF PREVENTION
BY MICHAEL FICKES
Could terrorists contaminate the water supply of a major city? Probably. People have been contaminating water supplies inadvertently for decades. A 2002...
Sharing Best Practices
BY ROGER L. KEMP
Cities and counties are at the forefront of forging best practices in the field of Homeland security. States are doing their best to circle the wagons...
TEARING DOWN THE STOVEPIPES
BY NEIL KURLANDER
In order to secure local communities and the nation, the public's protectors must be able to collect, organize, evaluate and disseminate information effectively....
Seal of Approval
BY MICHAEL FICKES
The nation's national laboratories are developing an innovative product certification program for radiation detection technologies that first responders...
Access Control: Take Two
BY MICHAEL FICKES
Following the Sept. 11 attacks, Bend, Ore., moved to upgrade security in city facilities. As a first step, officials bought a state-of-the-art access...
Aftermath Of A Tragedy
BY PAUL ROTHMAN
For years, lawyers and judges worried about lax security at Seattle's King County Courthouse. It took a bloodbath in Atlanta to get their concerns addressed....
Overcoming Signal Barriers
BY MICHAEL FICKES
Enabling wireless communications devices inside high-rise buildings moved to the top of first responder agendas following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks...
Connecting the Dots
By Michael Fickes
When Wayne Comer retired from the FBI, he took his 28 years of experience to an anti-drug program in Philadelphia and stumbled across an idea that may...
Disaster Hospitals
By Michael Fickes
What would happen if casualties from a bio-terror attack overwhelmed the capacity of hospitals in the surrounding area? Conventional disaster plans authorize...
