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U.S. faces lethal combination of transnational terrorism and criminal gangs
Sometime in the near future a lethal combination of transnational terrorism and criminal gangs is going to cross the U.S. border in force
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More bad news for Taser guns: They raise deaths in custody
University of California-San Francisco study finds that sudden death of people held by California police increased sixfold in the first year after police departments there began using Taser stun guns
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Tampa authorities use a new Super Bowl security system
The system uses a software program called E-SPONDER, which is built into Microsoft Surface, a tabletop, touch-screen display
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Beyond fingerprints: The FBI's next generation database
New, mammoth database will include not only enhanced fingerprint capabilities, but also other forms of biometric identification like palm prints, iris scans, facial imaging, scars, marks, and tattoos — in one searchable system
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N.Y. policeman illegally obtains, uses U.S. terror watch-list information
NYPD sergeant uses a colleague username and password to access the FBI terrorist watch-list; he then obtains information about an individual on the list — an individual locked in a child custody fight with a friend of the sergeant — and provide the information to the friend’s lawyer
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New car-stopper uses squids' tentacle-based approach
Looking for an answer to stop fleeing cars or suicide trucks hurtling toward their target, an Arizona company developed a tentacle-based device that ensnares the vehicle and brings it to a halt
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U.S. worried that Mexico may be on verge of collapse
With drug-related killings doubling in 2008 over 2007, and with drug lords becoming more brazen in their attacks on the state, the U.S. Joint Forces Command warns of the potential for “rapid and sudden collapse” of the Mexican government
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Offset, or "Move off the Straight Line"
The human body likes to move in straight lines; standing still or moving in straight lines, however, is a dead giveaway to your opponent of your whereabouts, and makes you an easy target for returning fire
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The largest data breach ever?
In what may yet be the largest personal information breach ever, Heartland Payment Systems, which processes payroll and credit card payments for more than 250,000 businesses, announces that consumer credit card data may have been exposed
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U.K. military employs hovering droids in Afghanistan
Hovering petrol-powered prowler patrols to check Afghan ambush alleys so soldiers do not have to; device may be used by law enforcement in urban areas — and future systems may carry weapons
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Security specialist Core Systems sees U.S. prisons as opportunity
Belfast-based Core Systems provides biometric equipment to prisons in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland; it is now expanding to the United States; with a prison population of 2.2 million; “In the prisons business, the United States is the market leader,” says Patricia O’Hagan, company’s co-owner
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Survey of emergency care cases indicate excessive use of force by police
New survey: Excessive police violence is evident in the types of injury and trauma emergency care doctors are treating in the United States
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The Blackwater example: Private security booming
The war on terror has been a boon for private security companies; Blackwater is one of the more obvious success stories; the company is expanding its menu of offerings: it is wrapping up work on its own armored vehicle, the Grizzly, as well as its Polar Airship 400, a surveillance blimp
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India to establish federal agency to fight terrorism
Stung by the last in a series of deadly terrorist attacks, the Indian government will set up a new agency dedicated to combating terrorism; critics charge the budget and manpower of the new agency will likely be insufficient to the task
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New system locates origin of incoming fire
A Massachusetts company develops a system which helps soldiers pinpoint the location of sniper fire; system has been successfully used in Iraq and Afghanistan
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The long view
Remotely Coerced Violence: 764, The Com Network, and the Hybridization of Threats
Nihilistic violent extremism is best understood as a victim-driven, youth-centered online ecosystem in which status, belonging, and identity are earned through the production, circulation, and escalation of harm. It combine sadistic online exploitation, cybercrime, self-directed violence, animal abuse, school-violence threats, and terrorist or violent-extremist conduct.
The U.S. Murder Rate Fell to Historic Lows in 2025 – Here’s Why
The murder rate in 2025 was the lowest in modern American history. Homicide rates have closely followed three trends over the past decade: alcohol consumption, drug abuse and firearm purchases. Now that the drug and alcohol crises are waning and gun purchases are falling, so too is the murder rate.