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Chertoff reiterates support for municipal data fusion centers
Intent is to improve information sharing between federal and local authorities; agency has already invested $380 million in centers in New York, Illinois, Maryland, and elsewhere; 55 more to come on-line by the end of next fiscal year; facilitating security clearances another critical objective
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Two companies prepare to rollout lie-detection MRI scanners
No Lie MRI and Cephos are hoping to take over the polygraph market, but for now they will have to focus on marital discord and business impropriety; technique measures changes in brain activity when confronted with untrue statements; critics call it modern day phrenology
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ShotSpotter takes hold in D.C. as city moves to thwart rising gun violence
Gunshot detection system informs police when shots are fired and directs them to the scene; three D.C. homicides have so far been detected, and one suspect arrested, due directly to the technology; company takes technology to Iraq to help in the fight against snipers
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TSA canines to train on discarded NYC subway cars
Four-legged members of the National Explosive Detection Canine Team to begin specialized training for mass transit situations; 35 teams currently exist in 11 transit systems, but TSA is hoping to boost that number with improved training
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“Buy American” rules at center of USAID contracting dispute
Rapiscan and Smiths Detection complain about losing an X-ray contract with Chemonics after deal goes to AS&E in partnership with a Chinese firm; deal is legal, but seems to violate spirit of “buy American rules”
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EFF challenges FBI’s ambitious IDW project
The FBI has launched an ambitious data-collection project — Investigative Data Warehouse, or IDW — which already has more than 560 million items of information in its possession, to which more than 12,000 law enforcement agents have access
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Enforsys, Svivot receive BIRD grant to develop law enforcement decision-making solution
Knowledge is power, and two companies, one American, one Israeli, with products aiming to assist law enforcement and antiterror authorities prevent nefarious activities — and, if not prevent, help solve them — are given a grant to merge their solution to create a more powerful decision-making tool
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Virginia asks emergency responders to use common language
Approach takes HSPD-5 and NIMS requirements seriously by asking agencies to abandon 10-codes; confusion often resulted during inter-agency responses due to different associated meanings
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Attensity announces new text analytics suite
Computational linguistics-based approach ideal for sorting through unstructured data to identify hidden patterns; applications range from managing insurance claims to detecting smuggling and counterfeiting; new product brings analytics and search together under a single label
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Fuel cells' promise for low power, long run-time devices
Two New Jersey companies demonstrate a fuel cell-powered wireless camera prototype system with infrared sensing and audio capability; the device is ideal for perimeter defense, border monitoring, batlefield observation, and more
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Cyclops Technology and Total Computer Group strike license plate imaging deal
Companies will package recognition software with automobile and criminal records databases
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SmartLink Radio Networks to provide San Francisco with interoperable radio networks
Award made under the Department of Justice’s High Risk Metropolitan Area Interoperability Assistance Project; Smartlink I-Network platform integrates existing radios into digital networks; unlike mobile radio patches, system is always on
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DHS relied on flawed information in extending visa waiver program
Contributing factors are understaffing and lack of information on lost or stolen passports; report comes as U.S. delays renewing program; Europe turns on the heat
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Cyclops Technologies offers inexpensive license plate recognition system
PlateSmart uses existing on-board cameras and computers; hands-free technology a plus
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ShotSpotter technology deployed to Minneapolis
Sensors immediately tell police the exact location of a fired shot; technology based on acoustic detection of muzzle blasts; data to aid criminal prosecutions
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The long view
Extremist Ideology Is Hard to Pin Down
When it comes to extremist motivations for political violence, their varied sources and the role of mental health make it difficult to attribute a root cause and who might have been responsible for leading them down that road. Benjamin Allison writes that thelack of ideological clarity among those who commit acts of political violence is not uncommon.
U.S. Domestic Terrorism Is Increasingly Motivated by Partisan Politics
One of the most alarming trends in terrorism is the growth in anti-government extremism. “The heightened risk of terrorist attacks motivated by partisan beliefs does not just endanger individual lives but also threatens the democratic process itself, casting a shadow over open discourse and discouraging civic engagement,” Riley McCabe writes.
World War I Was the Crucible of Air Power. Ukraine Looks the Same for Drones
We seem to be seeing a new kind of air battle—lower, slower at close quarters and in a physical environment where fighter aircraft cannot intervene affordably or effectively. Could it be that Ukraine is to small unmanned systems what World War I was to aircraft?
Efforts to Build Wildfire Resilience Are Heating Up
Stanford’s campus has become a living lab for testing innovative fire management techniques, from AI-powered environmental sensors to a firebreak-creating “BurnBot.”
Autonomous Disaster Response Technology Successfully Applied to Fire Extinguishing System of a 3,200-ton Vessel
An innovative technology for autonomously responding, without crew intervention, to ruptures to the pipes within the fire extinguishing system of vessels has been successfully verified for the first time in Korea.