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TSA strikes back at dope smuggling employees
Agency sends 160 officers to Florida after drug runners infiltrate Orlando airport
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Analysts see strong growth in the worldwide private security market
The Freedonia Group estimates 7 percent annual growth through 2010, with estimated revenues at $160 billion; contract guarding makes up 40 percent of total; India and China marketplaces expected to explode
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War on terror harms police recruiting
High salaries in the private sector and reserve call-ups drain local police forces; Springfield police department finds itself thirty-five officers short of authorized strength
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ManTech sells off MSM Security Services
Company CEO pays $3 million in cash for MSM after the personal security business fails to evolve into a technology services industry; deal follows spin-off of NetWitness and the breakup of Vosper-ManTech
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Raytheon wins National Data Exchange contract
Company will build out N-Dex information sharing network; system will operate alongside R-Dex to facilitate rapid exchange of critical data; Raytheon programmers to rely on Global Justice XML Data Model and the National Information Exchange Model
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MIT students invent wall crawling device
Intended for first responders, the Atlas Powered Rope Ascender uses the capstan effect to pull a firefighter carrying one hundred pounds of equipment up a thirty-story building in thirty seconds; students have already sold units to Army and look to commercialize
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Galileo Avionica offers electrical UAV for urban missions
UAVs are growing in popularity, and an Italian company offers a vehicle which is especially designed for urban warfare and special operations: It is an electrically powered UAV which is so small it can be carried in a backpakck
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"Whole face" software to improve composite sketches of criminals
Iowa State researchers show that allowing the witness to dictate the drawing rarely leads to success, even when using software; new approach presents witnesses with a random selection of faces; through process of elimination, a more accurate rendering is created
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DoJ to take DNA samples from all detainees
Effort to stop sexual predators now seen as an effective anti-illegal immigration measure; millions of DNA samples to be processed, but FBI labs lag behind; business opportunities abound, especially in the robotics field
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Procera new data intrcepting solution meets CALEA new requirement
What with the firestorm over the NSA domestic eavesdroping campaign, broadband providers have a 14 May deadline to allow law enforcement agencies to intercept and capture suspicious data transmission without compromising the privacy of innocent cstomers; a California company comes up with a solution
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U.K. introduces first-in-the-world shoeprint database
Forensic Science Service asks shoe manufacturers to provide sole impressions; more than 1,000 Nike trainers are enrolled already; Cinderella analysis guides police to the suspect
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Morphix mounts a methamphetamine detector to a UGV
Developed with a USMC grant, New York, Chicago, and other cities show interest in a chemical sensing system that can be worn on the clothing or attached to a robot; Chameleon system relies on armbands and disposable cartridges to provide a reading
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NYPD refuses to use $140 million subway radio system
Long overdue and overbudget, the system is troubled by widespread interference and decrepit cabling; E.A. Technologies and Petrocelli Electric struggle to explain the problem
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New and improved taser overcomes clothing and fur
Insulation often prevents full immobilization; new technique takes advantage of instinct to pull out the barbs; once touched, an extra shock is transmitted to the criminal’s bare hands
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Foster-Miller receives $1 million in DoD funding for Boat Trap
Development with Coast Guard seems to have paid off; hand-held system, launched from a helicopter, uses a ballistic net to tangle a boat’s engine; 100 percent success rate claimed; Moscow Mills Manufacturing lends a hand
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The long view
Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?
Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”
“The Federal Government Is Gone”: Under Trump, the Fight Against Extremist Violence Is Left Up to the States
As President Donald Trump guts the main federal office dedicated to preventing terrorism, states say they’re left to take the lead in spotlighting threats. Some state efforts are robust, others are fledgling, and yet other states are still formalizing strategies for addressing extremism. With the federal government largely retreating from focusing on extremist dangers, prevention advocates say the threat of violent extremism is likely to increase.
Luigi Mangione and the Making of a ‘Terrorist’
Discretion is crucial to the American tradition of criminal law, Jacob Ware and Ania Zolyniak write, noting that “lawmakers enact broader statutes to empower prosecutors to pursue justice while entrusting that they will stay within the confines of their authority and screen out the inevitable “absurd” cases that may arise.” Discretion is also vital to maintaining the legitimacy of the legal system. In the prosecution’s case against Luigi Mangione, they charge, “That discretion was abused.”
Autonomous Weapon Systems: No Human-in-the-Loop Required, and Other Myths Dispelled
“The United States has a strong policy on autonomy in weapon systems that simultaneously enables their development and deployment and ensures they could be used in an effective manner, meaning the systems work as intended, with the same minimal risk of accidents or errors that all weapon systems have,” Michael Horowitz writes.
Ukraine Drone Strikes on Russian Airbase Reveal Any Country Is Vulnerable to the Same Kind of Attack
Air defense systems are built on the assumption that threats come from above and from beyond national borders. But Ukraine’s coordinated drone strike on 1 June on five airbases deep inside Russian territory exposed what happens when states are attacked from below and from within. In low-level airspace, visibility drops, responsibility fragments, and detection tools lose their edge. Drones arrive unannounced, response times lag, coordination breaks.
Shots to the Dome—Why We Can’t Model US Missile Defense on Israel’s “Iron Dome”
Starting an arms race where the costs are stacked against you at a time when debt-to-GDP is approaching an all-time high seems reckless. All in all, the idea behind Golden Dome is still quite undercooked.