Unique One-Press Classroom Deadbolt Avoids Door Barricade Dangers
Securitech, the industry leader for innovative, purpose-driven locking devices, is promoting safe classroom security and warning of the dangers of door-blocking devices that cannot be opened from the outside by first responders. According to the National Association of State Fire Marshals, some of the proposed solutions for securing classroom doors in the event of a threatening situation ?may compromise aspects of life safety.?
Leading Chemical Company Enhances Entrance Control With Smarter Security
Smarter Security, Inc., provider of premium, innovative entrance control and outdoor security solutions, announced a leading chemical company ordered Fastlane® Glasswing optical turnstiles for a building on the east coast. DHS directives for chemical companies moved the company to better control the entry to the office building and witnessing the operation and beauty of Fastlane turnstiles installed nearby was compelling.
TSA Director Reassigned in Wake of Security Failures
Melvin Carraway, an 11-year veteran of the TSA who became acting administrator in January, was immediately reassigned to a DHS program coordinating with local law enforcement agencies, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said Monday night. The acting director of the Transportation Security Administration has been reassigned after an internal investigation revealed security failures at dozens of the nation?s busiest airports, where undercover investigators were able to smuggle mock explosives or banned weapons through checkpoints in 95 percent of trials.
Busy Airports Require Fundamental Security Solutions – Webinar
Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world. Nearly 5 million people pass through the sprawling 17,000 acres, but only a limited portion is open to the public. Security measures mean everything to the airport?s aviation security experts. Dale McCauley is an airport security expert, and has more than 10 […]
U.S. Yet to Develop Strategy to Secure Nation?s Critical Infrastructure
For years, the U.S. government has warned federal and state agencies about the threat posed by hackers who may target computer systems responsible for operating nuclear plants, electric substations, oil and gas pipelines, transit systems, chemical facilities, and drinking water facilities. In February 2013, President Barack Obama issued a directive stating, ?It is the policy of the United States to strengthen the security and resilience of its critical infrastructure against both physical and cyber threats.? Two years later the federal government has yet to develop or adopt a consensus on how to secure America?s critical infrastructure from cyber criminals.
Biometrics for Government and Law Enforcement
Biometrics for Government and Law Enforcement returns for its 9th consecutive year as the only biometrics event to exclusively cater to the needs of federal government and local law enforcement. Join hundreds of biometric professionals (both industry and end users) to preview the future of biometric initiatives and technology, first hand from those leading the […]
Department Of Homeland Security Seeks Technology To Create License Plate Database
Catherine Herridge is reporting today on privacy concerns over the federal government’s apparent push to track license plates as a way to find fugitive undocumented immigrants. License Plate Readers: Keeping Us Safe or Violating Our Privacy? Here’s more from Fox News Latino : The federal agency tasked with arresting and deporting undocumented immigrants, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, put out an official request last week for contractors to submit bids for commercial technology that would help the agency its law enforcement officers tap into the National License Plate Recognition Database, or NLPR. “The database should track vehicle license plate numbers that pass through cameras or are voluntarily entered into the system from a variety of sources (access control systems, asset recovery specialists, etc.) and uploaded to share with law enforcement," the request for proposals stated ."NLPR information will be used by DHS/ICE to assist in the location and arrest of absconders and criminal aliens.” The technology that ICE wants developed for the agency would allow agents to use smart phones to quickly snap a photo of a license plate and quickly determine the plate is on a "hot list" of "target vehicles." License plate readers, however, would automatically record information on all vehicles that cross their paths instead of just suspect vehicles. "This system is supposed to be for the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement branch of DHS, for the tracking of illegal immigrants," said J.J. Green, a national security correspondent in Washington D.C. for WTOP radio. The ACLU […]
Source thebrownsboard.com
Global Biometrics Market To Reach $8.7B In 2013, $11.2B By 2014
dhs-biometrics December 16, 2013 – According to new research from BCC Research , the global biometric technologies market is expected to reach $8.7 billion in 2013 and will increase to nearly $11.2 billion next year. In addition, BCC projects the market to grow to nearly $27.5 billion by 2019 and to register a five-year CAGR of 19.8% from 2014 to 2019. According to the report, Biometrics: Technologies and Global Markets , technological advances, consumer and commercial acceptance as well as demand of the technology and cost reductions will drive the growth of the market for the foreseeable future. BCC says the new report gives an overview of global and regional markets for biometric technologies and dvices, as well as analyses of market trends from 2013 and estimates for 2014. The report also studies the product life cycle and technology life cycle of various types of biometric devices and the methods employed by different manufacturers and users in maintaining ecological balance. Everyone is in agreement that the market is set for profound growth. The Biometrics Research Group has projected that the global biometrics market will grow to $15 billion by 2015, from its 2012 estimated value of $7 billion. Leave a Comment comments
Source www.biometricupdate.com
Judge Deals Blow To NSA Phone Data Program
HC-130J aircraft In May 2013, a P-3 Orion patrol aircraft of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) cued the CGC Bertholf to a target several hundred miles off Costa Rica in the eastern Pacific. The national security cutter (NSC) launched a ScanEagle unmanned aircraft that maintained streaming video surveillance on the target and followed up with an armed MH-65D Dolphin multi-mission cutter helicopter. The arrest ultimately made by the crew of a long range interceptor cutterboat netted 1,250 pounds of cocaine and a half-dozen smuggling suspects. It also illustrated the seamless integration of air and sea assets for homeland defense. Coast Guard Vice Commandant Vice Adm. John P. Currier subsequently told Congress, “This is exactly how the system should work, and we’re very gratified to see this. The level of interoperability was simply not available with our legacy assets. It demonstrates how we apply these updated capabilities to defeat the threats in the offshore environment – and I would underscore the offshore environment is our area of greatest risk.” The Coast Guard is the maritime arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) , and Coast Guard aviation is essential to the layered security measures meant to deter, detect, interdict, and neutralize maritime threats before they reach American shores. In June, the crew of an HC-144A Ocean Sentry , a medium range surveillance aircraft (MRSA) used their sensors to spot a go-fast smuggling boat south of Puerto Rico. U.S. and Dutch vessels seized the smuggler suspects, and Ocean […]
Source www.defensemedianetwork.com
Cambridge MA Blocks Surveillance Cameras
How one Mass city watches the watchers, and how others should follow suit On February 2, 2009, the Cambridge City Council voted in unanimous opposition to the installation of eight Department of Homeland Security cameras at major intersections on the basis that “the potential threats to invasion of privacy and individual civil liberties outweigh the current benefits” of accepting the DHS funds. While six such cameras were installed all the same, the council and a vocal citizenry has since successfully opposed their activation. At a follow-up meeting earlier this month, all nine Cambridge councilors reaffirmed their position: the cameras must remain off until police prove beyond doubt that their department has the capacity to balance investigative methods with civil liberties. Such aggressive civilian oversight of law enforcement should serve as a model not only for the Boston region, but for the whole country. Since 9-11, police chiefs, sheriffs, and commissioners have had an open invitation to request any range of surveillance and tactical gear from federal coffers, often without accountability checks to ensure that deployment squares with the Bill of Rights. Between DHS, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Defense, local overseers can secure every conceivable toy that they could ever covet without spending a dime of their own. From drones, to armored vehicles, to Long Range Acoustic Devices, which are essentially giant human dog whistles, it’s a veritable buffet via federal grants. Since these checks are written by the feds, such arrangements are often executed without […]
Source digboston.com
Biometric Exit Improvement Act: Wrong Solution To Broken Visa And Immigration System
Email Print PDF Several Members of Congress recently released the Biometric Exit Improvement Act in an effort to enhance the U.S.’s security and immigration system. However, the law triples down on a costly policy that adds little real security. Instead of feel-good but ineffective strategies, Congress should reconsider the biometric exit requirement and push the Administration to faithfully execute the U.S.’s existing immigration laws. Biometric Exit Has Consistently Not Been Implemented The requirement for an integrated entry-exit system has been in place since the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. In the following years, several other bills were passed that called for an entry-exit system, with increasing requirements for biometric technology, leading to the creation in 2003 of US-VISIT, a program focused on developing a biometric entry-exit system. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 explicitly required and called for the acceleration of US-VISIT’s efforts to create an automated biometric entry and exit data system. While the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made progress on the entry portion of US-VISIT, the exit system largely went nowhere. Congress repeated its demand for a biometric exit system in 2007, setting a deadline of 2009. That deadline came and went with only two small pilot programs. Since then, DHS has continued its slow move to meet this requirement in what the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has called “a long-standing challenge for DHS.” [1] The Biometric Exit Improvement Act would be at least the third law to call […]
Source www.heritage.org