• Street microphones eavesdrop on crimes

    The city of Coventry has installed microphones on street at the city center; the microphones detect suspect sounds, including trigger words spoken at normal volumes as well as angry or panicked exchanges before they become violent; operators can then direct police straight to the scene

  • Less-than-lethal options and riot control in maritime environment

    The Israeli soldiers who fired their weapons on board the Marmara in order to defend themselves when attacked by multiple individuals, some armed with blunt objects, edged weapons, and even firearms, cannot be criticized; the important question is why the soldiers were not equipped with less-than-lethal-options — options which are available to law enforcement and the military for use in riot-control situations; these options have their drawbacks, but their use may have prevented the loss of lives

  • Political summits should be held in remote locations

    Canadian security expert says that holding the G8 summit in Toronto makes no sense; bringing world leaders to an urban setting escalates cost — and risk; “it is overwhelmingly easier to get a device such as a powerful dirty bomb into Toronto than it would have been into Kananaskis [Alberta],” where the 2002 G8 summit was held

  • Hi-tech navies protect shipping from Somalia's pirates

    The six ship EU force and other Western-led forces patrolling the Gulf of Aden have disrupted fifty-nine pirate groups in April and May alone; some naval forces in the region concentrate on escorting convoys of their own national vessels, while the Western-led forces spread themselves across the region saying they want to protect all shipping regardless of flag

  • Researchers show that light can be bent around corners

    Israeli researchers show that small beams of light — called Airy beams — can be bent in a laboratory setting; Airy beams promise remarkable advances for engineering, and they could form the technology behind space-age “light bullets” — as effective and precise defense technologies for police and the military, but also as a new communications interface between transponders

  • RadPRO SecurPASS from Virtual Imaging

    As worries about security increase, more venues require employees, customers, and visitors to pass through security scans; the scanning machines at the growing number of security check-points must meet two criteria: they should be able to detect a wide variety of materials and objects, and should do so at the lowest radiation dose possible; Virtual Imaging, a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc., says its RadPRO SecurPASS meets these two criteria

  • World Cup security strike still spreading in South Africa

    More than 1,500 South African security personnel abandoned their posts in five of the stadiums in which the World Cup soccer games are played; security guards at the stadiums in Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and Soccer City, the main World Cup stadium on Johannesburg’s outskirts, appear to have been cheated by the South African security company which hired them: the contracts the company signed with them said they would be paid £130 per shift, but their first payment, which they received Monday, was only £17 per shift; the South African police pulled more than 1,000 police officers from other World Cup-related security duties to replace the striking security guards

  • Mexican army kills 15 drug gang members

    Suspected drug hit men attacked soldiers who intended to inspect a drug cartel safe house in the colonial town of Taxco southwest of Mexico City; soldiers returned fire, killing the assailants in a 40-minute gunfight; more than 23,000 people have been killed in drug violence since President Felipe Calderon launched his crackdown on the multibillion-dollar drug trade upon taking office in 2006

  • License-plate readers help police, alarm privacy advocates

    License-plate readers are becoming popular with police departments; automatic license-plate readers enable police rapidly to verify that passing motorists are not behind the wheel of a stolen vehicle or do not have outstanding warrants; opponents of excessive government intrusion warn the readers will allow law enforcement to spy on innocent people by tracking their whereabouts

  • Security a work in progress at World Cup venues

    Outside the venues, security has been a constant concern for many World Cup participants, and several foreign journalists have been robbed of their money and gear; most teams in the tournament — and some media organizations — have their own security personnel; the big worry is about lax security at the stadiums in which games are played; reporters say security personnel is too lax, waving people through without inspection even if the buzzer on the metal detector sounds; at the Olympic Games in Beijing, and Winter Olympics in Vancouver, credentials were electronically scanned every time one entered an official venue, while at this World Cup there is no such scanning

  • Security staff at England's next match walk out over wages

    Security staff at the stadium where England is due to play Algeria on Friday have walked out in a row over wages; the South African security company, contracted to provide stadium security, hired security staff and promised to pay them £130 per shift; when the employees received their first wage packets, they found they had been paid as little as £17 per shift; 300 staged a sit-in at the Durban stadium, and South African riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse them

  • Aviation security milestone: TSA performs 100 percent watch-list matching for domestic flights

    DHS now performs 100 percent watch list matching for domestic flights through TSA’s Secure Flight program; 99 percent of passengers will be cleared by Secure Flight to print boarding passes at home by providing their date of birth, gender and name as it appears on the government ID they plan to use when traveling when booking airline tickets

  • Video of shooting contradicts Border Patrol's claims

    The Border Patrol agent who shot and killed a 15-year old Mexican boy last Monday said he was “surrounded” by rock-throwing Mexican youth; a video of the incident shows no such thing: the agent is seen without anyone near him except one Mexican boy he, the agent, had detained; the boy is on his knees near the agent; the agent is seen drawing his gun and firing in the direction of a second suspect, standing about 60 feet away from the officer — on the Mexican side of the border; the video shows the suspect running away when the agent drew and fired his gun

  • Ciudad Juárez is extremely violent, but U.S. companies are still going there

    Mexico’s Ciudad Juárez is one of the most violent places on earth; in the past twenty-eight months, this city of 1.5 million, across the Rio Grande from El Paso, has recorded 5,200 murders; still, low wages and freight costs, tax breaks, and location are all persuading companies to stay in Juárez