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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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Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International to hold conference in August
The Unmanned Vehicles 2006 Symposium and Exposition will present latest technology, offer technical sessions; Innova Robotics to demonstrate command and control system for mutiple unmanned vehicles
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DHS launches information-sharing program with states
More information should lead to more effective law enforcement, and DHS next month will begin to share some of the information in its files with the states; first will be the personal and biometric information collected from travelers in the US-VISIT program; DHS also said that the number of illegal aliens in the U.S. reached 11 million
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Pictometry, Integraph integrate 9-1-1 solution
It is one thing for a dispatcher to call a first response unit and tell them that there is an emergency situation developing at the corner of Main Street and First Avenue; it is another thing for the dispatcher to be able to view the scene, obtain measurements such as distance, height, elevation, and more — and provide that information to the units en route to the scene; two companies combine their emergency solutions to offer just that
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The long view
History is repeating itself at the FBI as Agents Resist a Director’s Political Agenda
President Trump has installed loyalists to head the DOJ and FBI – loyalists who are determined to use the organizations they lead to advance the president’s political interests. In the past 50 years, the FBI has had only one other director as overtly – if not as unabashedly — political as Kash Patel: L. Patrick Gray, who served for a year under President Richard Nixon. Gray was held accountable after he tried to help Nixon end the FBI’s Watergate investigation. Whether Kash Patel has more staying power is unclear.
Trump’s Deployment of the National Guard to Fight Crime Blurs the Legal Distinction Between the Police and the Military
The deployment of National Guard troops for routine crime fighting in cities such as Los Angeles and Washington, and Chicago, and the proposed deployment of those troops to Baltimore, highlights the erosion of both practical and philosophical constraints on the president and the vast federal power the president wields.
Walk-Through Screening System Enhances Security at Airports Nationwide
A new security screener that people can simply walk past may soon be coming to an airport near you. Last year, U.S. airports nationwide began adopting HEXWAVE to satisfy a new Transportation Security Administration (TSA) mandate for enhanced employee screening to detect metallic and nonmetallic threats.