• Canada tests explosive detecting ticket readers

    In a pilot program, Canadian light rail passengers in Edmonton will be scanned for explosives as they pass through ticket turnstiles in a seamless system that avoids recreating the long lines of airport security checkpoints

  • TSA screens employees for radiation from body scanners

    In response to fierce criticism that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was needlessly exposing millions of airport passengers to potentially harmful amounts of radiation, the agency has agreed to measure radiation exposure levels from full-body scanners at 100 airports across the country

  • Accenture to bolster capabilities of US-VISIT

    DHS has awarded Accenture Federal Services a 13-month, $71 million contract further to enhance the capabilities of US-VISIT

  • More travelers worry about health effects of airport scanning

    More than 1 in 5 passengers in a recent survey (23 percent) said they would refuse to be examined in one of the whole-body scanners now in many airports; a third of people under 35 said they would decline the scans; the debate among health and radiation experts continue, with no consensus yet about the health effects of airport screening

  • Coast Guards blocks Hawaii bay to protect president

    The Coast Guard has established a security zone in the waters of Kailua Bay to protect the president on his family during their holiday vacation; unauthorized people entering the zones are subject to penalty of $40,000 for each violation or a criminal penalty resulting in imprisonment of twenty-five years; the exclusion zone will be in effect until 7 January

  • TSA union blasts DHS over labor dispute

    Union representatives of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees sharply criticized the agency’s leaders over its approach to labor negotiations

  • Accenture wins $71 million contract for US VISIT

    On Wednesday Accenture Federal Services announced that it had won a thirteen month, $71 million contract with DHS to bolster its immigration and border management systems

  • 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

  • New GOP bill targets TSA screeners

    A new bill introduced by House Republicans would prohibit Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees from wearing badges and uniforms that resemble a police outfit

  • Model airplane hits federal building

    Last week a three-foot model airplane crashed into a federal building in Waltham, Massachusetts; federal investigators from DHS and the FBI promptly began investigating the incident, but so far no evidence exists to suggest any foul play; earlier this year a 26-year old man from Massachusetts was arrested for plotting to attack the Pentagon with a remote-controlled plane packed with explosives

  • New autopilot makes another 9/11 impossible

    A hijacking-proof piloting system for airliners is being developed to prevent terrorists repeating the 9/11 attacks. The mechanism is designed to make it impossible for terrorists who highjack a plane to crash the aircraft into air or land targets. The device enables the plane to be flown by remote control from the ground in the event of an emergency.

  • Underwater drones help police keep harbors safe

    Growing attention to underwater security along U.S. coasts has resulted in an increasing reliance on a relatively new tactical weapon for the police: an unmanned submersible drone, often referred to as a remote-operated vehicle, or ROV. The NYPD has six of these underwater drones, similar to those in use by the United States military and by oil companies with offshore operations.

  • Congressional transportation security caucus formed

    On Thursday members of the House Homeland Security Committee announced that they were starting a “Transportation Security Caucus”

  • Court rules in favor of American Airlines in $30 million dispute with TSA

    On Tuesday a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against DHS ordering the agency to review its decision to deny reimbursing American Airlines $30 million for the additional security procedures it had been asked to put in place by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) following the 9/11 attacks

  • U.S. deploys radiation detectors in Chinese port

    As part of its ongoing efforts to secure terrorists from attacking the global shipping system via cargo container, the United States recently reached an agreement to deploy radiation scanners at the world’s largest container processing port in Shanghai