• D.C. Homeland Security Director resigns amid scandal

    Washington D.C.’s homeland security director, Millicent D. West, abruptly resigned earlier this week amid the ongoing federal investigation of a former District Council member

  • Washington to test police gun safety equipment

    Lawmakers in Washington are currently debating legislation that would require police departments to thoroughly test the gun locks and safes they issue to law enforcement officers for use in their homes

  • Real ID deadlines looms

    More and more states have adapted the driver’s licenses they issue to meet the requirements of the Real ID Act; several states have not – and they have until 15 January 2013 to do so, or receive an extension from DHS; if these states do not change their driver’s license or receive an extension, their residents will need to start getting passports in order to board commercial airlines

  • Facial recognition tech helps California police nab two thieves

    With the help of facial recognition technology, police in Lancaster, California were able to apprehend two individuals thought to be behind a string of armed robberies

  • N.J. city augments surveillance cameras with spotlights

    Over the next three months, the East Orange police department will connect high-powered spotlights to their surveillance camera system, so that when camera operators spot suspicious activity they can turn on the bright lights of justice and deter would be criminals

  • Spike in violent incidents in hospitals

    Over the past decade, hospitals across the nation have been subject to an alarming increase in violent incidents; in the last five years alone, there has been nearly a 300 percent increase in the number of reported homicides, assaults, and rapes compared to the previous five years

  • DHS IG: Cook County communications program botched

    On Monday the DHS Inspector General blasted officials in Cook County, Illinois for mishandling a $45 million federally funded project to upgrade communications equipment for first responders; the Inspector General said the Cook County program, dubbed Project Shield, was fraught with trouble from the start, resulted in equipment that did not work, and potentially wasted millions of taxpayers’ dollars

  • LA sheriff department upgrading its 1980-era terminals

    The Los Angeles Sheriff Department is upgrading its 1980s-era terminals, for which it had become difficult for the largest sheriff’s agency in the United States to find parts; the upgrade – Raytheon’s Mobile Digital Computer System (MDCS); the MDCS project and major technology upgrade represents the largest-ever deployment of mobile digital computers to a sheriff’s department in the country

  • Emergency responders prepare for chaotic New Year’s Eve

    Emergency responders across the nation are gearing up for another busy New Year’s; each year the holiday sends overly enthusiastic revelers to the emergency room with alcohol-fueled deaths and injuries, but this New Year’s is expected to be particularly chaotic as it falls on a Saturday, giving party-goers all day to imbibe and a full day to recover

  • Buffalo – second best prepared city in U.S. for disasters

    Buffalo, New York was recently declared the second best prepared city in the United States for a major terrorist attack or disaster in terms of public health

  • NY counties receive money to prepare for emergencies

    The magnitude of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee posed serious communications challenges to the response and recovery efforts among many New York counties; these counties are now receiving $20 million in funding to help localities better respond to emergency situations

  • Underwater drones help NYPD secure harbor

    The New York Police Department (NYPD) has a new high-tech ally in its fight to keep the city safe from terrorists; to help sweep the city’s waterways and bridges of dangerous bombs, the NYPD’s Harbor Unit recently acquired six unmanned underwater drones that help sniff out explosives

  • Atlanta debuts new emergency communications systems

    Last week first responders in Atlanta, Georgia gained a valuable new tool in helping to reduce 911 response times and improve communication during a disaster

  • New York moves swiftly to spend Hurricane disaster funds

    Less than a week after Hurricane Irene blasted New York with wind and rain, state emergency officials had authorized disaster relief funds and were swiftly distributing them to hard hit farmers and residents

  • Another foreign executive arrested in Alabama on immigration charges

    For the second time in recent weeks, Alabama law enforcement officials arrested a foreign car manufacturing executive under the state’s strict new immigration law