http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/RSS.ashxiPaper PagesSun, 02 Aug 2009 14:36:05 +0200http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=1http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=1INTEROPERABILITY: RESPONDERS GET CLOSER TO THE SAME WAVELENGTH HomelandSecurityToday I N S I G H T & A N A LY S I S August 2009 Vol. 6, No. 8 $5.95 USD ™ Unholy Trinity The budding Latin American alliance between narco-cartels, street gangs and jihadists. Plus. Defeating the Cartels: A Broader Approach National Guard Tackles New Missions TSA Breaks Out2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=2http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=2THE ENEMY IS UNCERTAINTY. What’s out there? What’s next? What’s under the radar? Our mission at DRS is to help defeat this common enemy, to turn questions into answers. Make the unknown known and give our forces the situational awareness to succeed. Surprise is a great tool when it’s on your side. Which is why DRS continuously improves the technology to see more and know more within an ever-changing battlefield environment: night vision and vehicle sight enhancement products, tactical computers and communications tools that inform and protect our men and women on the land or sea, or in the air. Bring us your toughest challenges. We’re always looking for new enemies to conquer. www.drs.com Photo: Department of Defense2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=3http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=3REUTERS/EDGARD GARRIDO DEPARTMENTS 3 4 7 Editor’s Letter Half a world away and close to home Updates & Responses Fall flu preparedness 24 Unholy Trinity By Anthony Kimery Frontlines Defeating the drug cartels: A broader approach BY BRADLEY C. SCHREIBER 9 Funding & Resources Sizing up 2010 BY MICHAEL PADDOCK 11 Responders Today More brain, less brawn BY PHILIP LEGGIERE 15 Nebraska Ave. Congress’ TSA template BY MICKEY McCARTER • DHS Roster What do street gangs, narco-cartels and terrorists have in common? It seems that in Latin America, they’ve found some common ground— getting into the United States. 19 Agency Spotlight GSA: Getting closer to homeland security BY HANK HOGAN 21 Market Monitor Europeans eye US homeland security market BY PHILIP FINNEGAN Closer to the Same Wavelength By Mickey McCarter 22 Industry News • Industry Roster 52 After Action When peanuts were poison BY SARA FRANCIS-FUJIMURA All responders want to communicate with each other but the obstacles are formidable. Still, some progress is being made. A look at the people, the progress and the prospects for advancing the art of interoperability. 38 46 56 Tools & Technology 60 Leadership Profile Ken Plummer Honeywell International Corp. RESOURCES 58 Tradeshow circuit 58 Advertiser index 59 Coming in the next issue The ‘Always-On’ Guard By Philip Leggiere Read more articles online at It’s not your Daddy’s National Guard anymore—now it has to wrestle with natural disasters, anti-terrorism and the threat of WMD. But the Guard is coping— and coming up with new ways to respond. www.HSToday.us2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=4http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=4Providing a defense against avian flu and other diseases is just one of our many jobs. We’re Science Applications International Corporation – 45,000 smart, dedicated people who have the deepest understanding of their fields and a passion to find the right solution. People like Laura Peitersen, Ph.D. Smart people solving hard problems. For detailed information, visit www.saic.com/diseasecontrol Energy I Environment I National Security I Health I Critical Infrastructure © 2009 Science Applications International Corporation. All rights reser ved. NYSE:SAI2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=5http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=5EDITOR’S LETTER Half a world away and close to home AT THE VERY END OF JUNE WE WERE FACED WITH TWO POLITICAL UPHEAVALS ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE GLOBE. In Iran, after a suspiciously quick election result that confirmed the ruling party in power, the opposition took to the streets only to be beaten down. In Honduras, a tangled constitutional battle led to the president being taken from his bed at gunpoint by the military and put on a plane in pajamas for exile in Costa Rica. The president claimed he was being ousted by an old-fashioned military coup; the military and opposition claimed that, in fact, they were defending the Constitution from a would-be dictator in the mold of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. Both these events hold relevance in light of this month’s cover story, “Unholy Trinity,” which relates the findings of a report on links between Latin American narco-cartels, street gangs—many of whose members come from countries like Honduras, Guatemala and Costa Rica—and Middle Eastern persons of interest, some of whom may have links to Iranian-related groups like Hezbollah. like Communism (although Fidel Castro remains an unreconstructed communist andVenezuelan leader Hugo Chavez has his own, strange ideology that essentially amounts to a cult of personality with Castroist flourishes) but from the simple threat to constitutional governments by criminal cartels engaged in the trade of illegal narcotics. In Mexico, these cartels continue to battle the government directly, and there are disturbing signs that they may be corrupting the military, the institution that President Felipe Calderon is counting on to defeat them. When legitimate government begins to falter, other evils can follow, as history has shown. For example,Al Qaeda thrived in the failed states of Afghanistan and Somalia. To those who intend ill to the American homeland and to democratic government in general, the breakdown in order in Mexico and the growth in criminal street gangs in Latin America and the United States may represent an opportunity too tempting to pass up. Those conditions, plus the presence of longstanding sympathetic enablers in countries such as Panama, represent an area which— while perhaps not yet deserving of the label “threat”—nonetheless bears watching. BY DAVID SILVERBERG reflected its president’s aggressiveness— and which had not stepped away from either its quest for nuclear weapons or its support for terrorist organizations. No country outside Iraq itself had been liberated as much by the downfall of Saddam Hussein. The end of his regime gave Iran wide scope to pursue its revolutionary ambitions throughout the region and the Muslim world, and it was doing so with vigor until its disputed election forced it to pause. In the wake of its election, Iran may go in one of two directions: It may try to placate or co-opt its opposition by implementing some of its demands, including less strident rhetoric, less support for terrorism and more receptivity to Western approaches, or it may go in the exact opposite direction, becoming more defensive, aggressive, paranoid and threatening. If it chooses the latter course, then its connections to South America will bear special scrutiny because that may be a key channel into the United States should it seek to have an American-based capability for making trouble. Whichever way Iran goes, its well to remember that the jihadist movement has not disappeared, that it continues to pursue its agenda, whether Sunni or Shiite, and that its tentacles can extend around the world, including into our own hemisphere. When combined with failed government on the US border, its menace grows, and when there is a failure of law, whether national or local, and a growth in strategic, organized criminality, it becomes an immediate and pressing concern for homeland security. HST Simple threats During the ColdWar, the United States faced in Soviet communist expansion a relatively simple threat that might manifest itself in compl2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=6http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=6UPDATES & RESPONSES Administration puts emphasis on fall flu preparedness SINCE THE APPEARANCE OF A n o t h e r n ew i n i t i at ive LAST MONTH’S COVER STORY, announced at the summit was “The Flu Next Time:Are We Ready the launch of a new federal govThe Flu for a Pandemic in the Fall?” ernment’s new website, www. Next Time: Are We Ready for a administration officials have flu.gov, designed to centralize Pandemic in the Fall? taken measures to prepare and communications about H1N1 spread the word that people and seasonal flu on a “one-stop need to be ready for a possibly comprehensive site,” bringing dangerous influenza outbreak in together flu-related information the fall. from across HHS and other fedPlus. On July 8, Health and Human eral agencies. Going from Pawns to Partner in Emergency Management HHS: A prescription for Services (HHS) Secretary KathTo p r o m o t e g r a s s r o o t s homeland security leen Sebelius, Homeland Secuactivism, Sebelius announced a rity Secretary Janet Napolitano, $2,500 prize for the best public Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and Home- service announcement promoting flu preparedland Security Advisor John Brennan hosted an ness posted on You Tube. all-day H1N1 Flu Preparedness Summit at the Subsequent to the summit, on July 16, Natcher Conference Center at the National Insti- Obama announced that he was taking $1.8 tutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. billion of a total $5.8 billion emergency approCalling into the summit from a visit to Italy, priation for a flu pandemic and putting the President Barack Obama told the attendees money toward procurement of adjuvant, which that, “We want to make sure that we are not pro- boosts the effectiveness of vaccines, immunmoting panic, but we are promoting vigilance ization campaign planning, H1N1 regulatory and preparation. And the most important thing activities at the Food and Drug Administration for us to do in this process is to make sure that and funding for an administration injury state and local officials prepare now to imple- compensation program. ment a vaccination program in the fall but also that they are working on an overall public com- Word to governors munications campaign with the White House As part of spreading the flu preparedness mesand the possibilities that we may need to be sage, on July 19 Napolitano, told the annual dealing with schools that are seeing significant gathering of the National Governors Association in Biloxi, Miss., that governors need to work outbreaks of H1N1.” Delegations from 54 states, tribes and with their school officials to prepare for the territories attended the event, designed to potential outbreak. “As we saw this spring, we have to start thinkkick off the government’s national fall flu ing about schools. This thing transmits very preparedness efforts. Sebelius told attendees that HHS would dis- quickly.We need to move forward and be aggrestribute grants worth a total of $350 million to sive,” she said, adding: “The whole issue of state and local public health offices and health schools and school closure is important. People care systems to step up their preparedness don’t realize what it means when schools close. efforts. Scheduled for distribution by July 31, the The ideal is to keep schools open and keep sick grants were in the latest supplemental appropria- students home.” She advised school districts to prepare attions bill. Sebelius also reported that the efficacy of home curricula in the event that students must possible H1N1 vaccines will be tested starting be out of school for lengthy periods and undergo in early August and that vaccination programs home schooling. This kind of planning and preaimed at high-risk groups might be possible by paredness can serve in the event of other disasmid-October. However, she stated that no final ters or emergencies that keep students home decision had been made whether to vaccinate from school, she stated. HST —By Homeland Security Today staff Americans. THE 2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=7http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=7Panasonic recommends Windows Vista® Business. IN YOUR WORLD, YOU NEED THE MOST RELIABLE LAPTOP—THE TOUGHBOOK 30. As a core manufacturer, we build every computer from the ground up, allowing us to maintain exceptional quality control standards. That makes perfect sense when you consider that the Toughbook® 30 has an average annualized in-warranty repair rate of less than 3%,* compared to the in-warranty industry average as noted in available published reports. The Panasonic Toughbook 30 is the ultimate productivity tool and is powered by Intel® Centrino® 2 with vPro™ 7 TIMES MORE RELIABLE THAN THE INDUSTRY AVERAGE. 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Reliable Laptop_30 Promo_FG_FY09-2 *Results may vary depending on environment product is used in.2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=8http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=82009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=9http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=9FRONT LINES By BRADLEY C. SCHREIBER Defeating the drug cartels: A broader approach PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA SHOULD BE LAUDED FOR QUICKLY RECOGNIZING THAT THE INCREASING VIOLENCE BETWEEN MEXICO AND THE DRUG CARTELS POSES A SIGNIFICANT NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT. However, the steps his administration has taken—including increasing Border Patrol agents, attempting to stem the flow of weapons into Mexico and authorizing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to conduct drug investigations—present a one-dimensional solution to a complex, multifaceted problem. For both nations to win, we must do a better job of stopping the flow of drugs into Mexico from other countries and stemming the flow of money out of the United States that funds the cartels. Here are five steps the United States should adopt to reverse the deteriorating situation. First, we need to stop bulk cash smuggling. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Mexican banks repatriate $12 billion to $13 billion annually to the United States. About $9 billion to $10 billion per year cannot be explained by legitimate transactions— such as tourism or worker remittances— and is likely smuggled into Mexico. We have been far more successful at stopping drugs coming into the U.S. than money leaving our shores. Intercepting the flow of money to the cartels would seriously weaken their operations and enhance efforts to dismantle them. The president should submit to Congress the bulk cash smuggling study prepared by DHS and order the departments of Treasury, Justice, Homeland Security and others to develop a comprehensive strategy to address bulk cash smuggling, electronic transfers and Mexican currency exchange houses. Second, we need to dramatically strengthen our drug interdiction operations in the Western Caribbean and Eastern Pacific areas. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), over 80 percent of the drugs heading into the United States flow through Mexico. Much of it—especially cocaine—does not originate there, but transits through the country. The drugs are transported from South America via air or sea routes in the Western Caribbean or Eastern Pacific. Given the vast size of those transit routes, the Defense Department’s reduced commitment to drug interdiction due to its operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and opposition from South American governments—particularly Peru, Venezuela and Ecuador—DHS needs additional assets to successfully fight this war. ONDCP’s interdiction target of 40 percent of all drugs coming into the United States will also require additional planes, boats and personnel. To that end, the US Interdiction Committee—consisting of the Coast Guard, Defense Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration and others— should immediately give Congress a detailed assessment of what is needed to stop the drug flow into Mexico and meet our nation’s interdiction goal. Third, in order to effectively combat the drug cartels, the United States must develop a long-term, comprehensive interdiction and law enforcement strategy aimed at drugs transiting to the US through the Caribbean and to Europe from Africa over the eastern Atlantic. While this trade does not pose a direct threat to Mexico, the proceeds from those sales strengthen the cartels in both Central and South America—fueling the ongoing battles in Mexico. Currently the United States takes a relatively sporadic approach in the Caribbean—focusing on short-term surge operations, general patrols and targeted seizures based on various intelligence sources. Given the widely different economic, political, cultural and law enforcement capability issues in that region, we need a better plan to address the ongoing challenges. In the Atlantic, the US and its European allies should work with the newly created the Africa Command to assess the challenges and develop a strategy. Only then will we have a true stranglehold on the cartels. Fourth, DHS should adopt the Government Accounta2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=10http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=10Additional savings for qualified federal, state, and local employees Federal employee customers stay with GEICO for an average of 12 years Created in 1936 to serve government employees 97% customer satisfaction .and counting 1- 800- 947-AUTO © GEICO CUSTOMERS COULD SAVE 15% OR MORE. (And if you’re a federal employee, you’re leaning toward the “more” part.) GEICO is sponsoring a program with the Council for Excellence in Government, which created a website for new, young federal employees. To find out more, visit YoungFeds.org. Hathaway Inc. GEICO auto insurance is not available in Mass. Average tenure for GEICO policyholders in the federal government GEICO, Washington, DC 20076 GEICO2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=11http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=11FUNDING & RESOURCES provides training nationwide to federal,state and local officials, has been slated for a reduction of 13 percent. The reduction of $300 million in FEMA grant programs could be considered an offset to the same amount of Recovery Act funding allocated to transit and port security projects,most of which will not be expended until 2010, but, overall, the trend is toward aggregating new funding at the federal level for federal use. Meanwhile, in the Department of Justice (DoJ), the administration appears to be taking a similar approach to state and local funding, particularly as it relates to state and local programs. Compared with 2009 funding of $1.32 billion, the budget request for 2010 state and local law enforcement assistance was set at $728 million, a reduction of over $600 million. Congress has already taken steps to restore much of the funding for state and local activities, but the writing is on the wall. Here, too, the trend is toward the aggregation of incremental funding at the federal level. Sizing up 2010 BY MICHAEL PADDOCK IN THE PAST SEVEN YEARS, THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (DHS) HAS DEVELOPED FROM AN AGENCY FOCUSED ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY ON PREVENTION, DETERRENCE AND RESPONSE TO TERRORISM INTO AN ALL-HAZARDS ENTITY WITH A MANDATE THAT COVERS BOTH MAN-MADE AND NATURAL DISASTERS. Funding has also evolved from the sector-specific approach of pre-DHS days to a group of large, broad and flexible programs and then back toward the sector-specific approach. Lastly, DHS has grown up over the past several years, with a set of published goals, standards and priorities that provide a more unified structure to its various functions. In fact, the evolution of the department has been documented from the development of the National Incident Management System, the first and most tactical plan still in use today, through the many iterations of the more vision-oriented National Preparedness Guidelines. From 2003 to today, the guidance for the Homeland Security Grant Program has been consistent in foregrounding terrorism preparedness as its primary goal. During that same period, however, the National Preparedness Guidelines and its predecessor, the National Preparedness Goal, were part of an effort with the stated goal of creating a national preparedness architecture that “encompasses the full spectrum of prevention, protection, response, and recovery efforts to prepare the Nation for all hazards—whether terrorist attack or natural disaster.” five main action areas. To that end, the budget contains funding to consolidate many of the efforts of the department and work toward the goal to build “One DHS.” This appears to be more of a bureaucratic goal than a functional one, with broad implications for the future of DHS. Specifically, the effort to unify the federal agency that is DHS may well result in less support for local initiatives, where the dayto-day security activities take place across the country. The 2010 budget request includes a 40 percent increase in funding for “Departmental Operations,” which covers the offices of the Secretary and Executive Management, Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding, Under Secretary for Management, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Information Officer. It also includes a 69 percent increase for the National Protection and Programs Directorate. At the same time, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Office of Health Affairs and grant programs in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have been slated for cuts of 3, 12 and 9 percent, respectively. The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center apparatus, which Starving the states and locals Don’t expect big increases in many programs, including those like the Interoperable Emergency Communications Program, for which $50 million was supposed to be a starting point. Instead,at the end of the executive and legislative wrangling that is the federal budgeting process, most homeland security funding programs will r2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=12http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=12Let your voice be heard. Out here, your communications system has to work. It starts with a company that really listens to your needs and can respond with an end-to-end solution. Because you rely on your mission-critical communications, you need a technology partner you can rely on. At Harris RF Communications, we understand the complexity of applying the right communications model to meet all of your needs— voice, data, situational awareness, and more. That’s why we offer a complete portfolio of solutions—everything from IP-based networks, to information security, to multiband radios. And drawing on our vast experience partnering with public safety and military agencies, we know how to listen so we can deliver the solution that works best for you. Let your voice be heard. Talk with us. APCO Booth #1324 www.harrispublicsafety.com/HST2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=13http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=13RESPONDERS TODAY Rugged computers and peripherals in Queen Anne’s County, Md., found that manual ticket and report generation took valuable time away from policing the streets. As Corporal Sean Hampton of the Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’s Office recalled it, “The Sheriff’s Office knew it wanted a system that would provide the mobility needed to turn its police vehicles into mobile offices so that officers could spend less time at headquarters writing reports and more time in their cars on patrol.” “We were looking for notebooks that supported our officers’ needs for issuing tickets, doing background checks, writing and filing reports and more—most of which can be done from their vehicles,” Hampton added. “While we needed a notebook that was durable, officers in the vehicle environment don’t have to deal with a downpour of rain on, or frequent drops of, their notebooks. It offered extra rugged features we just didn’t need.” The solution Queen Anne’s County chose was a “vehicle-rugged” notebook that met the standards for extreme temperature, vibration, dust ingress and humidity— conditions most often associated with a vehicle environment. The vehicle rugged notebooks also have options for integrated GPS, wireless wide area networks and wireless local area networks for always-on connectivity. Using wireless networks,officers,in addition to creating and sending reports from their vehicles electronically, are now able, to gather information regarding prior arrests, mug shots and protective orders in real time from crime databases. GWINNET COUNTY A rugged, vehicle-mounted laptop in a Gwinnett County, Ga., police cruiser. More brain, less brawn BY PHILIP LEGGIERE, HOMELAND SECURITY TODAY THE FIRST GENERATION OF “RUGGED COMPUTING” DEVICES WAS DESIGNED TO WITHSTAND THE RIGORS OF THE MOST EXTREME CONCEIVABLE ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSES. THEY WERE “HARDENED” FOR USE—PRIMARILY MILITARY USE—IN CONDITIONS REQUIRING THEM TO BE DROPPED FROM HILLTOPS, SUBMERGED IN WATER, FROZEN SOLID, POUNDED BY WIND, HAIL, SNOW AND DUST STORMS OR BAKED IN DESERT HEAT. In their search for extreme toughness, however, designers of rugged solutions favored brawn over brain, a fact that has severely limited the usefulness of these devices for actual first response needs and conditions. ultra-rugged computers came on the market, but they were not only expensive and bulky but not really robust in processing ability,” White told Homeland Security Today. “What first responders realized was that there was a need for much smaller, faster, but still tough devices optimized for the vehicle.” Creating hardware for the vehicle office has become a key trend in public safety computing devices,White added. “Five years ago, all a mobile computer needed to do was automated dispatch,” he said. “Now police need to run license plate number,in-car video and license plate recognition. There’s a big push currently to have GPS [Global Positioning System] built in to all devices so that every police car in a fleet can have situational awareness of where all other police cars are. In addition, there’s a demand for computers that enable police to generate their reports while they are in the field during downtimes, before they’d have to head back to their desks at headquarters.” One General Dynamics Itronix client, the Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’s Department Beyond the battlefield tank “You can think of rugged hardware and peripherals up until recently as the Sherman tanks of computing,” explained Patrick White, vice president of strategic marketing at General Dynamics Itronix, Spokane Valley, Wash., a mobile computer manufacturer. “They were dogged and virtually indestructible, but not very flexible. What first responders really needed was something more like an all-terrain jeep able to perform a variety of tasks.” A new generation of rugged devices, developed by General Dynamics Itronix and others, are now coming to market, designed for the real world needs that first responders actually fac2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=14http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=14RESPONDERS TODAY can change the profile and configuration easily,whether it’s a video cam or a common access card reader. Any existing handheld can have new functionality added on and integrated with the same ruggedness level.” Among the functions that can be layered onto Dap Technology’s handheld computers are TransportationWorker Identification Credential verification, vascular biometric identification, remote control of video security and access control systems, and terrorist watch lists interfaces. Florida’s St. Petersburg police department, after experiencing significant performance and durability problems with commercial-grade laptops during the driving wind and rain conditions of hurricane season, turned to Panasonic Toughbook computers as an all-weather solution. “The commercial-grade laptops didn’t perform,” recalled Police Officer Richard Grimberg. “During the hurricane season or when it was extremely hot, the computer would shut itself off. And without a signal, it could be a life or death situation. So it’s very important that our laptops perform to the best of their ability.” Panasonic’s Toughbook devices, according to Joe Martin, executive director of government sector business development for Lemont, Ill.-based Panasonic Computer Solutions, are designed to be used in extreme field or vehicle-mounted environments where water, dust, vibration and temperature extremes would destroy an ordinary device. Rugged computers also typically offer extremely bright screens for sunlight viewability and the broadest array of integrated wireless technology options, including 802.11 (WiFi), mobile broadband, GPS and Bluetooth technology, all designed to enable work to happen in more remote locations. “The bottom line is simple,” Martin told Homeland Security Today. “When you’re designing a device for first responders, it has to work in any condition. When having data is a life and death matter, there’s no justification or excuse for downtime.” a docking station that allows for additional connections and additional system interfaces. Each 3000M is connected to a scanner, printer, GPS, 800 MHz radio and microwave system, and several software systems in each squad car. Each laptop purchased by the Marion PD was upgraded with an interface to Iowa’s state database of criminal reports, driving under the influence reports, vehicle inspection information and crash reports. “The updated docking station provided ease of connectivity to our systems and peripherals without sacrificing our current features,” said Marion Police Department Lt. Michael De La Mater. Looking ahead, White predicts that the next frontier of rugged computing will be dual-use rugged devices that can either be used in-vehicle, connected to a display on a dashboard or easily detached for mobile use outside the car. “Police responders must now move continuously between different types of transport,” saidWhite. “One day they might need to be using a four-wheel drive, then the next day a cruiser, a motorcycle or a bicycle or even a jet-ski. Whatever the mode of transport, they need to be able to take rugged notebook functionality with them.” HST Anywhere computing Other manufacturers have also pushed to feature more adaptability and customizability in their rugged computers. The Marion Police Department in Marion, Iowa, has expanded multi-functionality to its fleet’s hardware using laptops manufactured by Elmsford, NY-based Microslate. Microslate’s current generation of rugged laptops (the 3000M series) have NEW THIS YEAR! Presents its 5th annual training conference: The summit goes tactical and practical! October 26 - 29, 2009 Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center, Washington, DC Can’t-miss topics at this year’s summit include: • Featuring back-to-back sessions from Chief Border Patrol Agents! Inter-agency and information sharing operations Biometrics and identity management systems • Drug interdiction programs and requirements Current and future surveillan2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=15http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=15Integrated Security Solutions Identity Management Safeguarding Information Compliance Support Physical Security Security Systems IT Services and Products . and much more. Where Total Security Solutions Converge Your mission to safeguard America’s property, assets and workforce requires an integrated approach including access control, guards, surveillance and detection. The combination of physical and IT security offers the best defense against today’s potential threats to our nation’s infrastructure. 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With more than 9,000 units in the world’s harshest environments and at sensitive border crossings, it’s simply the most powerful and widely deployed hand-held multi-modal biometric ID system of its kind. When introduced in 2005, HIIDE set the standard for the industry. Today, its unparalleled functionality, accuracy and reliability continue to lead the way. When you need to know, rely on L-1 and the only proven solution. Trust HIIDE. Protecting and Securing Personal Identities and Assets HIIDEinfo@L1id.com2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=17http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=17NEBRASKA AVENUE portation Committee—not the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, sources told Homeland Security Today. At press time, the Commerce Committee was drafting a version of the bill for consideration. But Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, introduced the Senate’s first attempt at a DHS authorization bill last fall. Prior to the confirmation hearing of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in January, Lieberman called for a comprehensive approach to authorizing the department’s activities, mirroring the way the Armed Services Committee generates an annual authorization bill for the Defense Department. Lieberman spokesperson Leslie Phillips described Lieberman as open to a review of TSA authorization by the Commerce Committee, however. “The senator expects to work with Commerce on that bill,” Phillips told Homeland Security Today. “We don’t see a conflict, and it’s possible that the TSA authorization will be added to the overall DHS authorization that the senator is working on.” In the past, Lieberman and others have called for streamlining the oversight of DHS. An estimated 108 panels of Congress claim some oversight over DHS activities. Jena Baker McNeill, a homeland security policy analyst for the Heritage Foundation, aWashington think tank, protested that sending a TSA authorization bill to the Senate Commerce Committee does not help reduce the number of committees with homeland security oversight. “That’s another example of how we have to get DHS congressional oversight under control,” McNeill told Homeland Security Today. “That’s another course that isn’t focused on DHS’ true mission. You have all of these people with their hands in the pot, and they don’t always know what’s best for the department. It’s another example of congressional oversight gone haywire.” Despite that complaint, McNeill acknowledged that a TSA authorization bill could assist with moving an overall DHS authorization bill forward in the Senate. “It’s both a sign of progress and a step backward,” she stated. “On the one hand, an authorization bill is good because it shows progress toward a DHS authorization. But on the other,this piecemeal approach sends the wrong message—that stovepipes of authorHomeland Security Today Magazine | August 2009 REUTERS/GEORGE FREY Passengers prepare to go through an experimental millimeter wave scanning machine at a TSA checkpoint. Some members of Congress believe that TSA needs its own authorization bill, apart from DHS'. Congress’ TSA template BY MICKEY McCARTER, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT UNABLE IN THE PAST TO MUSTER SUPPORT FOR AN AUTHORIZATION BILL FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (DHS), THIS YEAR, MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE DETERMINED THAT THEY WOULD PRODUCE AUTHORIZATION BILLS FOR ITS INDIVIDUAL AGENCIES—A HIGHLY UNUSUAL MOVE. In June, the House approved an authorization bill, HR 2200, for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), introduced by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas). Shortly afterward, Jackson Lee speculated at a hearing that her subcommittee on transportation security and infrastructure protection would also craft an authorization bill for the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD). But at that same hearing, Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), who co-sponsored the TSA authorization bill, lamented that the bill had moved forward without formal input from TSA, which lacked a permanent administrator at the time. Without the input from TSA, Dent noted, lawmakers inserted provisions that actually weakened the final legislation. “I believe it was a good bill, and I was happy to be an original co-sponsor of the legislation,” Dent commented. “Republican members of the committee, however, believe it was premature to bring the bill to the floor for consideration before a new administrator was named for the TSA. TSA did not provide any formal input into the bill, and 2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=18http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=18Want to See In the Dark? The KP-E500 series cameras offer approximately 100 times normal sensitivity with full color motion even in extremely low light. Color KP-DE500 Mono KP-E500 Sensitivity KP-DE500 KP-E500 Full Motion 0.0009 lux 0.00003 lux Still Motion 0.000015 lux 0.0000006 lux Thermoelectric Cooling Digital Signal Processing Field Memory NEBRASKA AVENUE In June: In cybersecurity, Greg Schaffer was appointed assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications, Bruce McConnell was appointed counselor to the National Protection and Programs Directorate deputy under secretary and Philip Reitinger was named director of the National Cybersecurity Center. …Philip Mudd withdrew from consideration as the nominee for under secretary for Intelligence & Analysis. … David Heyman was confirmed as assistant secretary for Policy. …William Webster was sworn in as chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Council and Southwest Border Task Force. …At TSA, Chris McLaughlin was appointed federal security director, Emma Garrison-Alexander was tapped as CIO and assistant administrator for the Office of Information Technology and Robin Kane was appointed assistant administrator. …Rand Beers was confirmed as under secretary for National Protection and Programs. …Rafael Borras was nominated as DHS under secretary for management. DHS ROSTER New Combination Pan / Tilt System EM-CCD and MIR Pan / Tilt Camera System Day / Night All Weather Monitoring 0.0006 lux (f1.2) Full Motion Color Sensitivity 0.00004 lux (f1.2) B/W Full Motion Sensitivity Selectable lens up to 1500 mm w/Auto Focus Nitrogen Filled Enclosure Wide range of pan/tilt speed 0.01°~45° / sec Accurate positioning less than 0.02° Complex Digital Noise Reduction Optional MIR (8-14µm) camera for Night Operation Visit us at Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc. ASIS 14-1, Sotokanda 4-choume, Chiyoda-ku International Tokyo 101-8980, Japan Booth 1082 Phone: +81(0) 3-5209-5931 HITACHI Kokusai Electric America Ltd. Eastern Central Western 516-682-4404 817-490-5124 310-328-6116 www.hitachikokusai.com/IVS Questions? Email us at: ivs@hitachikokusai.com High Performance Low Light Camera Systems ity are a good way to govern.We learned from 9/11 that it’s just simply not true,that we needed a DHS to bring together all of these different parts of the response lifecycle. That’s why we made DHS.” Producing authorization bills agency by agency also could provide templates that might make it easy to muster political will for an authorization bill for DHS, which has never had one, McNeill noted. Agency authorization bills could serve as models or pieces for a larger DHS authorization bill, which is important for the legitimacy of the department, she added. While the House has not demonstrated the appetite for a DHS authorization bill, Lieberman could generate significant momentum if he combined the TSA authorization bill with his DHS bill and shepherded it through the Senate. McNeill was skeptical that it could happen this year, however, with all of the other priorities facing the Senate. Analysis Congressional sources tell Homeland Security Today that HR 2200 overall is not a bad piece of legislation despite the prohibition on whole body imaging, which could be stripped out by the Senate. The bill would provide direction to TSA for $15.6 billion in spending for fiscal 2010 and 2011—tripling money for surface transportation security, toughening general aviation security, providing training for TSA employees and creating a surface transportation security advisory council. The bill also supports the creation of a “known air traveler” biometric credential for speeding air passengers to their planes. House Democrats and Republicans alike embraced the bill, and airports and airlines generally expressed positive views on it, as well. So despite questions of oversight and consultation with TSA, the bill could end up jump-starting a process that leads to overall DHS authorization, which would be an end that justifie2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=19http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=19When the government asks you to help secure its network of facilities, assets and people, that’s trust. For government’s physical, operational and cybersecurity challenges, ADT represents effective, scalable solutions. Government relies on ADT’s global capability and over 130 years of experience to help secure its critical assets throughout the homeland and the world. From command and control integrated platforms and wireless video surveillance networks, to credential-identity management and mass notification systems, ADT’s Total Security Platform helps government fulfill its vital security mission. 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ADT, the ADT logo, ADT Always There and 1-800-ADT-ASAP are registered trademarks of ADT Services, AG, and are used under license.2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=20http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=20America’s largest Push to Talk coverage area. Because disaster never tells you where it will strike. Motorola Adventure™ G’zOne® Boulder™ Verizon Wireless 8975 Ruggedly Redefined. Built to Survive. On-the-Go Communications Systems. Switch to America’s largest Push to Talk coverage area. Brought to you by the same people who created America’s largest and most reliable wireless voice network. Emergencies can happen anywhere. Keep your team connected just about everywhere. Make the right call today. Click www.verizonwireless.com/gov Call 800.657.7649 Push to Talk requires compatible phone and is available only with other Verizon Wireless Push to Talk subscribers. Largest claim based on comparison of carrier-owned/operated Push to Talk coverage areas. Coverage varying by service, not available everywhere. Network details and coverage maps at verizonwireless.com. See verizonwireless.com/bestnetwork for details. © 2009 Verizon Wireless. GOVHSTSTRIKE8092009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=21http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=21AGENCY SPOTLIGHT Getting closer to homeland security BY HANK HOGAN, IT CORRESPONDENT LIKE ANY GOOD PURCHASING AGENT, THE US GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION (GSA) WANTS TO GET THE MOST FOR ITS CUSTOMER’S MONEY. SO IT LEVERAGES THE BUYING POWER OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, TO THE TUNE OF $26.3 BILLION IN 2008. That power is used for more than to simply drive prices down. An example of this can be found in the opening up of the security-related GSA Schedule 84 contract in September 2008 to state and local governments. The contract covers such things as the communications devices and other equipment used by first responders. In addition to potentially saving money, that change could have another important benefit for local first responders rushing to a disaster, Josh Sawislak, GSA acting chief emergency response and recovery officer, told Homeland Security Today. “They can buy the same equipment under the same contract that the feds can buy, and you have a better pathway to interoperability.” designed to deal with the situation. The problem is that life—and disasters—can be unpredictable. For example, pandemic flu planning long assumed that the disease would arise in Asia from bird flu, with as much as six weeks of buildup before it hit America. Instead, swine flu came from Mexico and was in the United States within hours. As a result, GSA now approaches the GSA sell to government agencies, thanks in part to its contract management services and knowledge of GSA schedules. These schedules cover everything from precision instruments to IT hardware to physical security and security in general. The latter is covered by Schedule 84. Ostrow said the push to expand Schedule 84 seems to involve more than GSA itself. “It appears the government is promoting the use of the Schedule 84 contract down to the state and local level.” Because the definition of what’s securityrelated can be very broad, Schedule 84 can encompass a great many items. These can run the gamut from the orange vests worn by road workers to cameras that work over the Internet to laptops to guns. What’s more, just which schedule on which an item appears can depend upon the item’s use. A router,for example, would seem to belong on Schedule 70, the IT contract. However, if it’s being used to encrypt or decrypt a packet, it may show up on Schedule 84. Knowing on which schedule something belongs can be tricky. What’s more, sometimes a schedule may demand exclusivity, meaning that an item that appears on it cannot show up on another schedule. Schedule 84 is not one of those, though, said Ostrow. “ THEIR SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT CONNECT POINT WITH DHS, AND IT IS A VERY MAJOR ONE, WILL BE AND IS THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE HEADQUARTERS.” —Frank Pugliese Floods and flu GSA’s involvement with homeland security is bigger than Schedule 84, though. GSA also provides disaster support to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other agencies before, during and after an incident. Disaster support, of course, is easier to provide for known periodic threats, such as hurricanes or wildfires. If two or more disasters are happening at the same time, the Office of Emergency Response and Recovery will coordinate GSA’s efforts through an emergency operations center inWashington,DC. GSA’s support can also be vital long after a calamity has faded from the headlines. A case in point was last year’s Iowa flood, which damaged the federal courthouse in downtown Cedar Rapids. As a result, GSA had to find space for the courts, doing so first in a shopping mall and later in a more permanent, although temporary, location. Sawislak reported a change in GSA’s approach to such disruptions. In the past, planning for such events involved binders full of specific steps and other information issue of dealing with disasters in terms of enterprise risk management, looking at what it does and attempting to ensure the continuation of its core mission. “We want to look at how we do our job every day, regardless of w2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=22http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=222009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=23http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=23MARKET MONITOR Europeans eye US homeland security market BY PHILIP FINNEGAN EUROPEAN DEFENSE AND AEROSPACE COMPANIES ARE MAKING ENTRY INTO THE AMERICAN HOMELAND SECURITY MARKET A PRIORITY, SPURRING A STRING OF US ACQUISITIONS AND NEW INITIATIVES THAT ARE ESTABLISHING WORLD CLASS CAPABILITIES. Paris-based Safran’s purchase of a majority stake in General Electric’s homeland security business in April is the latest sign of the growing European focus on the sector. Safran is a world leader in biometric systems. Safran’s $580 million purchase of an 81 percent stake in GE Homeland Protection provides it with a significant presence in the US detection market. GE Homeland Protection has a worldwide installed base of approximately 1,600 machines, with annual sales of $260 million in 2008. The remainder will be retained by General Electric. The acquisition builds on Safran’s 2008 purchases of Motorola’s biometrics business and SDU-Identification, a Dutch manufacturer of security passports and identification documents. Safran’s interest in making a string of homeland security acquisitions is an initial step in the company’s effort to raise homeland security from the corporation’s current 8 percent of sales to 20 percent in the medium term. Safran is not alone. London-based Smiths Detection made a string of US and European acquisitions that established it as the leading transatlantic detection business, with key capabilities in the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. The Franco-German-Spanish European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) has built up a strong position in the international market for professional radio systems. In border security, EADS, Italy’s Finmeccanica and France’s Thales are major competitors in the Middle East and Europe. growth prospects than defense, particularly now that European and US defense budgets are under pressure. Security products lack the sensitivity and export restrictions of defense products so worldwide marketing networks can be established and technologies can be shared across borders. The systems integration expertise that is valued in defense also has applications in border security, communications and other major homeland security projects. BAE Systems, the largest European defense company, has established security as one of its four major growth initiatives for its worldwide business. The company is focusing on the information and intelligence sector, particularly in defense. BAE’s $1 billion purchase of UK-based Detica in September 2008 gave the company capabilities in counter-threat consulting and served to accelerate the company’s development of its homeland security work. EADS, the owner of Airbus, is making its mark in professional mobile radio, border security and integrated maritime surveillance. EADS’ largest acquisition in the past several years was the April 2008, $350 million purchase of California-based PlantCML, a provider of emergency response solutions, from Golden Gate Capital, a San Francisco-based private equity fund. PlantCML provides call management and radio dispatch products for emergency call centers. For EADS, the attraction was clear. PlantCML, which has the largest installed base of public safety answering points in the United States, can also market EADS’ professional mobile radio solutions in the American market. EADS, which is the world’s second largest systems provider of public safety communications with more than 180 public networks in more than 65 countries, will also be able to sell PlantCML’s solutions worldwide. In recent years, EADS has ranked second worldwide to Motorola in the professional mobile radio market. With a marketing presence in the United States, EADS will be able to mount a much more serious challenge to Motorola in its domestic market. EADS has built up a strong position in integrated sea and air traffic surveillance systems by purchasing French and German businesses over the past several years. EADS’ management estimates it has a2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=24http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=24HOMELAND SEC INDUSTRY NEWS INDUSTRY ROSTER Lawrence Prior III was named president and CEO of ManTech International Corp. after resigning from SAIC as chief operating officer. … Link Solutions Inc. has appointed Steve Walker executive vice president for operations. … Charles Johnson joined the sales staff of Integrated Biometrics. …Global InfoTek Inc. added Chip Block as vice president of strategic development. …IndigoVision appointed Ivo Drent as senior vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. ELSAG MPH-900 license plate recognition system in nationwide use All 50 US states have deployed the Mobile Plate Hunter-900 (MPH-900), an automatic license plate recognition system by ELSAG North America, Brewster, NY, a provider of defense and security solutions. Mounted on a police cruiser or in any fixed location, the MPH-900 is a progressive infrared camera capable of scanning the license plates of passing cars in seconds, translating the digital pictures into data and then cross-referencing that information with databases for wanted drivers and relaying the information to police personnel instantaneously. ELSAG North America’s systems are currently used by nearly 600 agencies in every state. Among other applications, the MPH-900 system has been used in the conviction of murderers, in the apprehension of sex offenders’ parole violations, recouping unpaid taxes and recovering stolen vehicles. (Source:ELSAG North America) TSA, EU pick Rapiscan for scanning, border security The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has awarded a follow-on order for approximately $3 million to Rapiscan Systems Inc., a global supplier of security inspection systems, for its Rapiscan 620DV (Dual-View) Advanced Technology (AT) X-Ray scanning systems. This order brings the total amount awarded to date to approximately $40 million since Rapiscan Systems received an indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) order from TSA in August 2007. This award is one of the first awards made by TSA that uses funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Overseas, the European Union (EU) has handed over the first of 12 Eagle M4500 series mobile X-ray systems for deployment at different crossing points between the Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Russia and EU countries. The deployment is part of an EU project to enhance border and customs controls in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine to combat arms and drug smuggling, counterfeiting, revenue fraud and other cross-border criminal activities. The multiyear EU contract, which was awarded following a global competitive tender, funds the deployment of the systems, as well as training and contininuing technical support. (Source: Rapiscan Systems) New generation of water purification technology deployed by US Army The United States Army has utilized membrane water purification technology from Mechanical Equipment Company Inc. (MECO), Sugar Land, Texas, a specialist in water purification systems, to support highly mobile military operations and humanitarian missions. MECO’s Lightweight Water Purifier (LWP) is designed to be easily transported to remote locations to produce safe drinking water from almost any available raw water, including highly turbid surface water, brackish water and seawater. Additionally, the LWP is capable of purifying water contaminated with nuclear, biological and chemical warfare agents. (Source:MECO) 22 August 2009 | Homeland Security Today Magazine This month’s issue is now available online at…2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=25http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=25URITY HOMELAN eVigilo mobile alert notification system tested in Israel Israel’s defense forces, home front command, defense ministry, police force and cellular companies successfully tested the MobileAlert by eVigilo, Tel Aviv, Israel, a developer of mass alert notification systems, on May 31 during the Turning Point 3 defense drill, the largest civil defense drill in Israeli history. MobileAlert is built on a location-based broadcasting technology connected directly to mobile network cells (antennas) of the cellular companies. The product uses assigned broadcasting channels that are not affected by the overload of the network. (Source: eVigilo) Indigo Vision sells surveillance system to Iran The Iranian Ministry of Road and Transportation has chosen a complete Internet protocol video system by Indigo Vision, Edinburgh UK, for building wide surveillance of its new headquarters in Tehran. The building is home to the minister and staff responsible for Iran’s transport infrastructure, including roads, railways, shipping and aviation. The headquarters consists of over 20 floors of office space with underground parking. Eight workstations in the main control room running the company’s “Control Center” security management software are used by operators to monitor live camera feeds and analyze recorded video. Three more workstations are located remotely in different managers’ offices. Five standalone Indigo Vision network video recorders with 2 terabytes of storage record video continuously from all of the cameras, providing a one-month archive. Ninety-six analog cameras are connected to IndigoVision 8000 transmitter/receiver modules. (Source:Indigo Vision) Green Security The October issue of Homeland Security Today will feature a special section on GREEN SECURITY SOLUTIONS that cut pollution, energy use and carbon footprint. If you have a story to share, send a press release with your company’s green solution, product or service to Business Editor Philip Leggiere at Business@HSToday.us. For advertising information contact your sales representative at sales@HSToday.us UMUC HOMELAND SECURITY PROJECTED JOB GROWTH: 23% OVER THE NEXT DEC ADE. Global uncertainty and billions of federal stimulus dollars are creating thousands of jobs in homeland security. Be ready by enrolling in an undergraduate or graduate program in homeland security from University of Maryland University College (UMUC). UMUC’s unique curriculum goes beyond the hypothetical to provide practical, cutting-edge instruction. Copyright © 2009 University of Maryland University College Enroll now. Call 800-888-UMUC or visit umuc.edu/getahead HSToday Magazine | August 2009 Register online today for exclusive online content and eNewsletters 232009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=26http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=26Unholy Trinity By A N T H O N Y K I M E R Y, S E N I O R R E P O R T E R SOUTH OF THE AMERICAN BORDER, THREE TRANSNATIONAL THREATS ARE COMING TOGETHER IN AN ALLIANCE OF CONVENIENCE AND MUTUAL SUPPORT THAT MAY PRESENT A DANGER TO THE AMERICAN HOMELAND. IN OCTOBER 1988, AN URGENT CABLE WAS DISPATCHED BY A MIDDLE EAST CIA STATION BACK TO LANGLEY. IT WARNED OF A TERRORIST SMUGGLING ENTERPRISE IN PANAMA TIED TO THE LEADER OF FATAH’S SPECIAL OPERATIONS GROUP (FSOG), THE PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION’S SECURITY WING. Three “Lebanese Palestinian … operatives” under the command of Abdallah Abd Al Hamid Labib, the former FSOG leader who headed the 15 May terrorist group, were en route to Panama “to mount operations against US interests.” The classified cable warned that the terrorists were “traveling on genuine, true name Lebanese passports” and that they “plan[ned] to travel to the US” along with a “second team of three Palestinian operatives [who had] departed Beirut for Panama in early September.” The intelligence further cautioned that, “while in Panama, the six operatives … will attempt to infiltrate other operatives into the US by stowing them away on ships headed for US ports”—a mode of smuggling that terrorists continue to rely on today. The CIA had terribly good reason to be worried. The deadly 15 May organization was the creation of Soviettrained master bomb-maker Husayn Al Umari, who controlled a network of lethal terrorists. Umari was a colleague of Khalid Duhham Al Jawary, another master bomb-maker linked to Labib and 15 May. In 1973, Al Jawary entered the United States to work on a multi-bomb attack in New York City. The plot failed, and he fled the country. He was captured in Rome in 1991 and turned over to the FBI. In 1993, he was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison. But last February he was released and deported to Sudan. Meanwhile, Al Umari, who ran his bomb-making empire out of Iraq until the March 2003 invasion, is the subject of an intense global manhunt. Twenty years ago, the CIA was concerned about the intentions of the 15 May-linked terrorists in Panama. Today, for the 24 August 2009 | Homeland Security Today Magazine This month’s issue is now available online at…2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=27http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=27El Recio (“tough” or “hard guy” in Spanish), a 29-year-old former leader of the Mara Salvatrucha or M-13 gang, photographed at Comayagua jail in Honduras where he is serving time for crimes including murder, extortion and drug trafficking. The facial tattoos indicate his rank in the gang, past deeds and commemorate lost comrades. REUTERS/EDGARD GARRIDO Register online today for exclusive online content and eNewsletters Homeland Security Today Magazine | August 2009 252009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=28http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=28U N H O LY T R I N I T Y same reasons, it is again concerned that Al Umari could be working with terrorists in Latin America. The agency’s concern in 1988 ignited a firestorm of classified communiques over the seriousness of the terrorist threat in Latin America. While CIA officers rang a legitimate alarm, other intelligence agencies and policymakers dismissed their concerns,arguing that, for a whole host of reasons, terrorists were unlikely to ever launch attacks against the United States from Latin America. Twenty years ago, the intelligence community was struggling to identify America’s post-Soviet threats. It had not yet grasped the nature of the threat posed by fundamentalist Muslims, and the latter line of thinking—that there could not be a terrorist threat from Latin America—won out. “Pre-9/11, I don’t think anyone cared about the Muslim communities along the Caribbean Rim,” an ex-CIA Latin American officer candidly offered to Homeland Security Today. It wasn’t until the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that there was a paradigm shift in understanding the jihadist peril. But even today, a paucity of resources have been devoted to tracking the incipient encroachment of terrorists south of the border. “CIA has failed—grotesquely so—to inventory Muslim radicals in South America for lack of both will and capacity,” charged 30-year intelligence veteran and Latin American specialist Robert David Steele. “Nobody I know is monitoring, or trying to monitor, the issue,” agreed Max Manwaring, a Latin American specialist who holds the General Douglas MacArthur Chair and is professor of Military Strategy at the US Army War College. There has been “a lack of will and resources,” he said in an interview. development of programs to “counter emerging and anticipated threats.” The premise of the study is similar to highly classified intelligence programs that distill “novel intelligence … not previously known to … analyst[s] or policy makers [that] gives the analyst new insight into a previously unappreciated or misunderstood threat.”While typically applied to massive information streams like computerized databases, the process also can be applied to smaller “heterogeneous” data sources, according to a MITRE Corporation report in September 2002. According to sources familiar with Operation Cazando Anguilas, the study did just that. Operation Cazando Anguilas illuminated a devilish alliance between long-entrenched terrorist organizations in Latin America, Mexico’s narco-cartels, the “Muslim businessmen” who provide the cartels and terrorist organizations with money laundering services (and who since 9/11 have worked to foment fundamentalism in the region) and radicalized members of the hemisphere’s most lethal Latino gangs. With vital support from the fundamentalist Muslim businessmen, the narco-cartels and the Central American gangs, acting as “street enforcers,” are collaborating to smuggle into the US “Persons of Interest of Islamic Origin” (PIIOs) from a variety of terrorist organizations—including Al Qaeda and Hezbollah—who “are of extreme interest to US defense and intelligence officials,” in the words of the report. The Latino gangs provide the PIIOs with “transportation security.” These PIIOs are “Muslims who are arriving in Panama and Central America via Venezuela and Colombia.” They’re described as “shooters” and “managers of some terrorist element.” Initially, they Forces for evil unite are “staged in Panama, for periods lasting from a few days to a few During the two decades since the CIA first voiced its concerns over years while in transit to destinations north.” Middle East terrorist organizations in Latin America, the spread and Operation Cazando Anguilas provided a virtual flow chart linking influence of fundamentalists in the region grew virtually unchecked. criminal and terrorist enterprises that are conspiring to smuggle Today, it has become a clear and present danger to the American PIIOs northward. Alarmingly, officials to2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=29http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=29It’s your job to protect others, so missing a beat is not an option. You’ve got to keep your agents in sync and inconspicuous, because if you don’t, things could get ugly. So while you’ve got their back, we’ve got yours. When something goes down, Nextel Direct Connect makes sure your entire team can be mobilized in under a second. And in a field like this, that second makes all the difference. Nextel Direct Connect.® Only on the Now Network.™ To see Nextel Direct Connect in action, go to sprint.com/nextel 1-800-NEXTEL-9 THE FASTEST NATIONAL PUSH-TO-TALK NETWORK. Connecting the world’s largest push-to-talk community. ì2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=30http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=30U N H O LY T R I N I T Y and that “known Al Qaeda members have journeyed to Latin Amerhands-on, intelligence officials acknowledged. As one put it: “In ica and the Caribbean, and other terrorist-inspired Islamic radicals recent years, this assistance has expanded to include the formahave been arrested in the region. tion of ‘front’ and ‘paper’ companies in [Panama’s] free trade “Our intelligence has demonstrated that pre-operational and zones and the establishment of bank accounts to hide and ‘wash’ operational activities have indeed occurred” involving “individuals these monies.” with terrorist training and experience who could support or conduct For example, according to a Panamanian government official terrorist attacks in our hemisphere,” Stavridis disclosed. involved in money laundering investigations quoted in the OperaStavridis further told lawmakers that “a robust Hezbollah finan- tion Cazando Anguilas report, “In recent years … Egyptian and Pakcial support network exists in the region,as well as an active group of istani persons linked to Al Qaeda have arrived in Panama and sympathizers and supporters of Hezbollah. Also present are Sunni received the assistance of local Muslim businessmen in creating groups, including Hamas, whose members possess operational multiple, layered companies and the opening of bank accounts.” backgrounds.” The Operation Cazando Anguilas report relates that PIIOs travel Former CIA Middle East counvia commercial airlines from the terterrorist and National CounMiddle East, Near East and North terterrorism Center WMD Africa to Guyana,Venezuela and, terrorism chief Charles Faddis to a lesser degree, the tri-border said the agency has “lots of stuff area of Argentina, Brazil and on Hezbollah in South America” Paraguay that has long been a and “Islamic extremists out of documented hotbed of Middle places like Trinidad.” East terrorist activity. Former US Ambassador to From coastal countries, PIIOs Venezuela Charles Shapiro said travel via small, general cargo during a July 2006 House Comships that normally operate in the mittee on International Relations’ commercial sea lanes of northterrorism subcommittee hearing ern South America westward to on Venezuela’s involvement with Riohacha, Colombia or directly terrorism that every Middle East to Panama. At these locations,the terrorist organization has a pres- A member of the Hidalgo County, Texas, Gang Enforcement Unit holds a PIIOs “are staged” in the homes, ence in Latin America. businesses and secret residences picture showing tattoos identifying gang members in his area. In addition to The Operation Cazando the street gang culture of violence, drugs and crime, which has spread to of cooperating Muslim businessAnguilas report reached similar American cities, intelligence indicates that the gangs may be forming men for periods of a few weeks to alliances with Mexican narco-cartels and Latin American businessmen with conclusions: “Fifteen years ago jihadist sympathies. a year. … Muslim businessmen primaThese and many other findrily laundered the drug proceeds of Colombians,” but “today they ings dovetail with the October 2006 House Committee on Homealso launder the currency of [Mexico’s] … cartels and Islamic terror- land Security majority staff report, A Line in the Sand:Confronting the ist organizations.” They “transfer funds internationally to financially Threat at the Southwest Border (http://www.house.gov/sites/ memsupport Islamic terror cells in Panama, Central America and Mex- bers/tx10_mccaul/pdf/Investigaions-Border-Report.pdf). ico.” That report stated that Immigration and Customs Enforcement Following the 9/11 attacks, though, something changed. “investigations [had] revealed aliens were smuggled from the Mid“What was startling …was the sight of Iranian Shias, Pakistani dle East to staging areas in Central and South America before being Sunnis, Hezbollah, Hamas, etc., marching side by side in Central smuggled into the United States.” Ameri2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=31http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=31Model # JD Sans Medium 55 pt, Model Discriptor JD Sans Medium 16/21pt More effective than “KEEP OUT.” What better way to declare territory off-limits? 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Theater-proven M-Gator A1 Unmanned R-Gator UGV Fast, diesel XUV 850D 957472009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=32http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=32U N H O LY T R I N I T Y Sherman continued, adding, “We do know that Colombian terrorist weapons and equipment, which could be used offensively against groups useVenezuela as a safe haven.” US and friendly nation forces.” US intelligence officials told Homeland Security Today that While historically the two gangs were sworn enemies and freknown terrorists are using easily obtainable Venezuelan passports quently required the killing of a rival gang member as a rite of initiaand other identity papers. tion, Operation Cazando Anguilas reported intercepted “Venezuelan identity documents have been distributed to foreign- communications two years ago revealing that a peace treaty ers from Middle Eastern nations, including Syria, Pakistan, Egypt and between the gangs was “negotiated” by a “Muslim businessman … Lebanon, making passports easy to obtain,” Sherman said. to create a business alliance between” them “and thereby enhance Other PIIOs transit to northern Central America, Mexico or Cuba the logistics and success of currency, drug and human smuggling via coastal cargo freighters and others travel overland from Panama operations managed by these Muslim kingpins.” to the Mexico-US border via a Central American bus line. Still others But as Manwaring explained to Homeland Security Today, “makpose as the “backup driver” of tractor-trailers transporting loaded ing agreements/treaties/pacts/and negotiating with possible partcargo containers from Panama to Mexico. ners in any political and/or commercial undertaking is what gangs “Migrating via sea and land from northern South America and do and have done for centuries.” Panama to the US,” the PIIOs are provided “transportation security” Since the “peace treaty” mentioned in Operation Cazando by “escorts” that Operation Anguilas, the two gangs “have Cazando Anguilas identified as totally taken over as the escorts members of the 18th Street (M-18) for PIIOs … traveling through and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) Central America and Mexico,” a gangs, two extraordinarily violent former CIA Latin American Latino gangs who also provide counterterrorist familiar with the “street” protection and enforcereport told Homeland Security ment for Mexico’s cartels in Latin Today. America, as well as in those parts According to US intelligence of the United States where the sources, imprisoned crewmemgangs run cartel operations, bers of seized cargo ships on according to federal counternarwhich PIIOs were smuggled and cotics officials. their jailed M-18 and MS-13 secuAccording to Manwaring, since rity escorts described their “the 1990s … the Maras” have Drug gangs are not confined to the western hemisphere. In this photo, Iranian involvement in PIIO smuggling served “as carriers, security police reveal tattoos on the back of a man arrested for producing synthetic during interrogations by local escorts, moving currency and act- drugs in his home in Tehran. The photo was taken on May 18 of this year. security services who shared ing as ‘enforcers.’” transcripts of the interrogations That MS-13 would become involved in providing security for with US authorities. PIIOs isn’t surprising—the gang’s motto is, “We’ll do any crime, any According to Operation Cazando Anguilas, the alliance “protime.” vide[s] radical Islamic supporters with access to M-18 and MS-13’s There are thousands of MS-13 and M-18 members in the United vast and capable networks throughout Central America,Mexico and States. El Paso Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Assistant the US.” Special Agent in Charge Daniel Stitt told Homeland Security Today in To facilitate PIIO smuggling security, schools have been set up by October they have “become a special problem” for DEA because of Muslim businessmen to train the PIIOs to speak Spanish and learn the “operational” support they provide to Mexican cartels in the Hispanic culture. Conversely, the gang members who escort the United States and their penchant for extreme violence. “They follow PIIOs a2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=33http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=33CELEBRATING 150 YEARS OF INNOVATION. And recognition as security systems integrator and monitoring provider of the year. As a security pioneer, the world’s leading systems integrator and North America’s top monitoring provider, Diebold delivers integrated security systems to protect your assets and optimize your operations. Recognized as Frost & Sullivan’s global physical security systems integrator of the year for a second, consecutive year and as North America’s monitoring provider of the year, Diebold offers the solutions that you need to effectively combat ever-changing security challenges. 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The purpose: To discuss coordination and logistical arrangements for transporting PIIOs from Colombia to Panama and then via land to the US border or via cargo ships to Mexican ports. “The agreement [that was reached at the meeting not only] entailed a money payment for this service, but the transiting PIIOs were to provide weapons and explosives training to gang personnel, elements of the Círculos Bolivarianos and members of pro-Chavez labor unions and university-based Communist Party in Panama,” according to Operation Cazando Anguilas. Continuing, the study determined that “the level of migration of PIIOs through the Caribbean Rim and assistance provided by Muslim businessmen in these communities continue unabated. Since 2004, human smuggling operations have evolved into a higher level of efficiency and coordination. Commercial maritime conveyances continue to play a critical role, especially in the transporting of PIIOs from ports in Guyana,Venezuela and Colombia to Panama.” glers who provide false travel documents to Special Interest Aliens.” “If you want to conduct another operation after 9/11, you don’t want people to know who you are.And the best way to be anonymous is to come across the border,” Janice Kephart, a lawyer who served as counsel to the 9/11 Commission and co-wrote the final report,told the Senate Committee on the Judiciary the following month. To make her point, Kephart said a declassified intelligence report she read while on the 9/11 Commission described meetings in Spain between members of Al Qaeda and a Colombian guerilla group about using Islamist converts in Mexico to infiltrate the United States. More recently, in March, Michael Braun, retired DEA assistant administrator and chief of operations, told The Washington Times that Hezbollah relies on “the same criminal weapons smugglers, document traffickers and transportation experts as the drug cartels. They work together. They rely on the same shadow facilitators. One way or another, they are all connected.” “They’ll leverage those relationships to their benefit to smuggle contraband and humans into the US;in fact, they already are [smuggling],” Braun confirmed. “Hamas, Hezbollah, etc. in Mexico” all “have a vested interest [in] and supply routes to assist [Mexico’s] cartels,” a federal counterterrorism specialist told Homeland Security Today. “The Muslim terrorist support elements work together, whether it is washing monies for Al Qaeda or Hamas or Hezbollah … they will work for anyone willing to pay … I think that says it all;if the price is right …” added a former CIA counterterror authority familiar with the matter. The Operation Cazando Anguilas study agreed: “Profit now indeed trumps ideals and is the singular motivation for participation in illicit activities … Traditional adversaries will form partnerships ‘for profit,’ sharing tradecraft in the process and thus obscuring the traditional signatures of activity which have been collected and analyzed over time, and which supports policy decisions.” “Ideology has indeed given way to commercial enrichment,” Manwaring said. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but as the Operation Cazando Anguilas study was beginning to be circulated, an unidentified US official told the Washington Times on March 27 that “the Mexican cartels have no loyalty to anyone. They will willingly or unknowingly aid other nefarious groups into the US through the routes they control. It has already happened. That’s why the border is such a serious national security issue.” Even the Congressional Research Service (CRS) concluded in its September 2005 report, Border Security:Apprehensions of‘Other Than Mexican’ Aliens, (www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/rl33097.pdf), that “the existence and expansion of cross-border smuggling networks specializing in illicitly bringing human beings into the United States can represent a threat to homeland security. These smuggling ne2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=35http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=35x o B K TAL ® Transmission alternatives link kit TELES TALK Box® – Taking Interoperability Further The Challenge responders and emergency managers face many challenges. Voice and data communication shouldn’t be one of them. 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Texas Homeland Security Director Steve McCraw, a former FBI assistant director for intelligence, told the North Texas Crime Commission in September 2007 that terrorists with ties to Hezbollah, Hamas and Al Qaeda have been arrested crossing the Texas border in recent years. “Has there ever been anyone linked to terrorism arrested?” he asked. “Yes, there was.” Then-director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell surprisingly told the El Paso Times in August 2007 while in Texas for a border security meeting that an unspecified number of people with known links to terrorist groups had in fact been caught crossing the border. “Coming up through the Mexican border is a path. Now, are they doing it in great numbers? No. Because we’re finding them and we’re identifying them and we’ve got watch lists and we’re keeping them at bay,” McConnell said, emphasizing that “there are numerous situations where people are alive today because we caught them.” McConnell would not elaborate on any of the captured terrorists to which he referred, saying only that “the vast majority you don’t hear about.” “McConnell wasn’t bullshitting. Quite frankly,I’m shocked he said in public what he did,” said a counterterror intelligence official, adding: “Yes, he’s right. We have caught terrorists trying to cross the border.” While unwilling to provide details, the official hinted that the terrorists were turned over to the CIA’s secret rendition program due to the need to keep secret the intelligence activities that aided in the terrorists’ apprehensions. FBI Director Mueller told a House Committee on Appropriations subcommittee in March 2006 that a Hezbollah-organized smuggling ring had been busted that had infiltrated an unspecified number of Hezbollah members into the United States from Mexico. “This was an occasion in which Hezbollah operatives were assisting others with some association with Hezbollah in coming to the United States,” Mueller said. During an early 2007 visit to San Antonio,Texas,Mueller said,“We have had indications that leaders of … terrorist groups may be contemplating . having persons come across assuming identities of others and trying to get across the border. It is intelligence that indicates there have been discussions on that.” Even the House Committee on Homeland Security majority staff report disclosed that “members of Hezbollah have already entered the United States across the southwest border.” The report cited Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data indicating “that there are hundreds of illegal aliens apprehended entering the United States each year who are from countries known to support and sponsor terrorism.” According to CBP statistics for fiscal year 1999 through June 17 of this year, 2,872 citizens of just a few Muslim nations were apprehended trying to enter the United States. The vast majority,1,179,were from Pakistan, followed by 318 from Iran, 316 from Indonesia, 295 from Egypt and 189 from Afghanistan. In 2007, however, CBP’s statistics showed that, for the most part, the numbers of “Other than Mexican” (OTM) apprehensions began to significantly decline in 2007. 2ND ANNUAL CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE CONFERENCE CYBER SECURITY FOR ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS Keynote Speakers: Conference Moderator: GREGORY GARCIA Former Assistant Secretary for Cyber Security and Communications, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. President, Garcia Strategies LLC, Board of Directors. IRA WINKLER President Internet Security Advisors Group, Author of “Spies Among Us” , “Corporate Espionage“ and “Zen2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=37http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=37www.HSToday.us Proud Recipient of the ASBPE “Journalism That Matters” 2009 National Award why we write… to provide insight and provoke discussion We started Homeland Security Today to deliver objective, non-partisan insight and analysis on the topics of critical importance to those securing our homeland. Anthony Placido, intelligence chief for the DEA, references Homeland Security Today during his testimony at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in March 2009 on the violence at the southern border. Homeland Security Today has evolved into the premier homeland security media provider, creating a forum in which government leaders and HS professionals share their knowledge. that bring about change With a first class team of editors and international correspondents, we provide award-winning journalism—in print and online—that has changed our industry. Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) read from a Homeland Security Today article about US trauma care preparedness at a Capitol Hill press conference in May 2004. for a safe and secure homeland Subscribe to magazine We put homeland security news at your fingertips through our print magazine, new digital publication, website and e-newsletters. Turn to Homeland Security Today for the information you need. Homeland Security Today is a proud recipient of multiple ASBPE Awards for editorial excellence in print and online, including the first ever National “Journalism That Matters” Award won by Editor, David Silverberg. JOURNALISM THAT MATTERS 2007 CentralSoutheast Region 2007 CentralSoutheast Region 2005 CentralSoutheast Region 2005 CentralSoutheast Region Bronze Special Section Bronze Special Supplement Silver Special Section Bronze Regular Department Visit our website View the digital publication Sign up for e-newsletters2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=38http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=38U N H O LY T R I N I T Y The CRS border security report stated, “Human smuggling networks … may be exploited by terrorists to enter the country.” While assigned to CBP headquarters in late 2005, Border Patrol Agent Salvador Zamora said, “The numbers [of OTM apprehensions] are staggering.” But last October, Zamora, now CBP El Paso Station assistant patrol agent in charge, told Homeland Security Today that US authorities are most concerned about “Special Interest Aliens” (SIAs). SIAs are illegals from countries known to support or otherwise provide material support to terrorists who have been caught crossing the US/Mexico border. According to CBP officials, upwards of 7,000 SIAs have been apprehended crossing the border since 2001. More disturbing than that, US intelligence officials said on background that “some” were “suspected” of having ties to terrorist organizations and that they’d been caught along with either MS-13 or M-18 gang members who had been paid to smuggle them into the United States. “Clearly, Islamic terrorist groups in Latin America and the Caribbean pose threats to US interests … ignoring these threats or explaining them away as US witch hunts gives those who would do harm to innocents more space to plot and plan,” SOUTHCOM’s Novakoff reiterated to Homeland Security Today after what she’d written in the Air & Space Power Journal. Operation Cazando Anguilas “merits a full scale effort by … [the Defense Department] to demand a full review and a new [regional counterterror] effort,” said Steele. Ironically, just as the Operation Cazando Anguilas study was being disseminated, its findings took on an eerie, prescient importance. At a Feb. 2 conclave carried on Al Jazeera television,Abdullah Al Nafisi, a Kuwaiti professor considered a veteran Al Qaeda recruiter and operations facilitator, told his audience that four pounds of anthrax smuggled over the Mexican border and spread in the United States could kill 330,000 people in an hour. The video of Al Nafisi’s address, authenticated by US counterterrorism officials and headlined as “Al Qaeda eyes bio attack from Mexico” by the Washington Times on June 3, set off alarms among counterterrorists already stressing over intelligence on Al Qaeda’s inclusion in the unholy alliance between Islamist terror organizations, their facilitators, gangs and narco-cartels in Latin America. Intelligence sources said it’s no fluke that the government’s 2009 National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy (http://www. whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/swb_counternarcotics_str ategy09/swb_counternarcotics_strategy09.pdf) issued in June emphasized that “terrorists have the potential to use already established smuggling pathways—such as tunnels—to move illegal contraband, personnel and money across borders,” and that it’s “essential that tunnels be viewed as a unique and growing threat to the homeland.” The new strategy acknowledged that the “vast and diverse range of environments” in Latin America as described in this report “presents opportunities for terrorists, drug traffickers and human smugglers to cross into the United States undetected. The linkages between drug trafficking organizations operating in Mexico, at or near the Southwest border, and human smuggling groups are well documented. “The routes and methods of existing smuggling organizations could potentially be utilized to transport terrorists or weapons of terror across the border,” the new border strategy concluded. The evolving alliance between jihadists, narco-cartels and street gangs personify the three greatest cross-border threats faced by the United States: terrorism, narcotics and crime. Just because their alliance may not entirely make sense from an American perspective does not mean that it is beyond the realm of possibility—or probability. All indications are that the threads are coming together. Prior to Sept. 11, 2001, the United States discounted the ravings and maneuverings of obscure terrorist groups2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=39http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=392009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=40http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=40AP PHOTO/HARRY CABLUCK Workers at an Austin, Texas emergency operations center watch the progress of Hurricane Ike on Sept. 11, 2008. 38 August 2009 | Homeland Security Today Magazine This month’s issue is now available online at…2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=41http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=41Closer to the Same By M I C K E Y M c C A R T E R , W A S H I N G T O N C O R R E S P O N D E N T He turned to Jim Walker, Alabama’s director of homeland security, and asked him to come up with a good way to provide that information. Walker contracted Google Inc. for a customized enterprise solution utilizing the company’s Google Earth application. After about a year of cooperation between the state and its counties, Virtual Alabama was launched, providing geospatial information to managers who need it in a disaster while leaving control of the information in the hands of local officials. “We are generations ahead of where we were a year or two ago when we began implementing the program,”Walker told Homeland Security Today. “The fact that a rural, relatively poor state is now geocoding photos and sending them around or getting streaming video or some of the stuff that we are doing now is mind-boggling.” But those photos and videos could be useful to other states and jurisdictions, according to David Boyd, director of the Command Control and Interoperability Division of the Science & Technology (S&T) Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). “The way I describe the function of my office is that it’s about information,” Boyd told Homeland Security Today. “We don’t care what form the information is in, whether it’s voice or data. So we focus on everything from ‘How do I identify the critical data? How do we make sense out of critical information? How do manage that? How do we analyze that?’ To how do we go about sharing it?” So when Alabama approached S&T about improving and expanding Virtual Alabama, Boyd inaugurated Virtual USA and Register online today for exclusive online content and eNewsletters GETTING FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL, TRIBAL AND TERRITORIAL RESPONDERS TO COMMUNICATE TOGETHER IS TOUGH— BUT PROGRESS IS BEING MADE. Wavelength HURRICANE KATRINA BROUGHT MASSIVE RAINS TO THE STATE OF ALABAMA IN 2005. AFTER THE STORM STAMPEDED THROUGH THE STATE, ALABAMA GOV. BOB RILEY (R) WAS UNSATISFIED WITH THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO SURVEY THE DAMAGE. HE LACKED A GOOD MECHANISM TO COMPARE IMAGERY BEFORE THE STORM AND AFTER IT. reached out to hurricane-prone Gulf Coast states to participate. Other states quickly jumped onboard, and soon everyone was collaborating to find the best ways to share the geospatial information. That did not require every state to suddenly start using Google Earth, Boyd stressed. The state ofVirginia, for example, launched a similar program based on the VIPER application offered by Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc. (ESRI) of Redlands, Calif. Boyd’s office has been helping states figure out how to exchange their information seamlessly and thus make their applications interoperable. National Emergency Communications Plan goals and timeline By 2010, 90% of all high-risk urban areas designated within the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) should be able to demonstrate response-level emergency communications within one hour for routine events involving multiple jurisdictions and agencies. By 2011, 75% of non-UASI jurisdictions should be able to demonstrate response-level emergency communications within one hour for routine events involving multiple jurisdictions and agencies. By 2013, 75% of all jurisdictions should be able to demonstrate response-level emergency communications within three hours in the event of a significant incident as outlined in national planning scenarios. Homeland Security Today Magazine | August 2009 392009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=42http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=42CLOSER TO THE SAME WAVELENGTH Boyd offered a scenario where the states have a discussion: “I’m in Texas, and if you have a hurricane in Mississippi, your folks are going to evacuate to Texas. I need to be able to find a way to look at how you are arranging your roads so I can arrange my roads in the same way so that we don’t bottleneck that. So if you are arranging your interstates outward, I need to arrange mine the same way.” “That’sVirtual USA,” he remarked. States in the northwest and states in the northeast have started separate conversations with Boyd about setting up their own regional projects that would soon fold into a nationwide Virtual USA. The evolution ofVirtual Alabama intoVirtual USA and the cooperation and discussions among states and the federal government mark a new advance in achieving the kind of interoperability and infosharing long sought by homeland security officials at all levels. “Interoperability” covers a broad range of endeavors and, while significant challenges remain, some projects are proving strikingly successful. Voice and data Virtual USA is necessary because other interoperability endeavors at DHS primarily address voice communications, explained Boyd, who has been the interoperability guru at the department since he joined it in March 2003. “But there are lots of other kinds of communications that need to be interoperable. You need to be able to exchange images, data and geographical information, along with voice data, because in today’s world of communications, you have lots of information you need to exchange quickly and efficiently,” he said. Virtual USA is one of the three major interoperability projects Boyd is working with at the S&T Directorate. The other two pieces are standards development and a compliance assessment program. S&T is working with the Association of Public Safety Communications Officers to implement the open standards the association developed for the Project 25 interoperability initiative. Industry on interoperability Federal, state and local governments are doing their part to advance interoperable communications, but so are equipment manufacturers. Indeed, manufacturers equated the goal of achieving interoperable networks for emergency communications as similar in concept to consumer cell phones that seamlessly connect to multiple networks. “When you look at interoperability and break it down into a couple of different areas, one area is the over-the-air network protocol, which you can contrast on the cellular side as CDMA [Code Division Multiple Access] versus GSM [Global System for Mobile Communications]. Prior to Project 25, all of the vendors had proprietary protocols, but P25 set a standard for over the air,” Bob Schassler a vice president at Motorola, Schaumberg, Ill., told Homeland Security Today. The DHS Office for Interoperability and Compatibility, headed by David Boyd, approved laboratories owned by Motorola, Tyco Electronics, EF Johnson Technologies and Tait Electronics—as well as two independent labs from Flom Test Lab and Timco Engineering Inc.—to certify the compliance of Project 25 technologies. The laboratories received certification under the compliance assessment program. In June, Motorola also introduced its APX 7000 multi-band radio, which permits first responders to travel between jurisdictions using different frequencies, such as 700 MHz or 800 Mhz bands, without interruptions. Beyond such devices, Project 25 is working to provide network-to-network interoperability through its standards, Schassler noted. So for example, in Texas, Harris County and the city of Houston might have two separate networks, but first responders need access to both of them. “As you drive into Harris County or into Houston or vice versa, they don’t do handoffs or they don’t have network-to-network interoperability or a grid like you would in cellular, where all of the switches are connected and you could drive across the country from network to network,” Schassler 2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=43http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=432009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=44http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=44CLOSER TO THE SAME WAVELENGTH MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS LEVERAGE IMPROVE AWARENESS On any day, at any moment, our wireless communications solutions enhance your mobile operations. We combine proven technology with existing communication infrastructure to provide secure, near-real-time blue-force-tracking, text messaging, video file transfer, and communication of time-sensitive data – anywhere, anytime. SITUATIONAL FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT, www.comtechmobile.com 240-686-3320 Your Mobile Communications Experts “They wanted to create a set of interface standards that allowed different pieces to communicate with each other,” Boyd noted. “So they will be fully interoperable if they comply with that standard. Over the last three or four years alone, we have managed to push forward most of the critical components of the standards process.” The goal of Project 25 since it started roughly 16 years ago is to permit various agencies or jurisdictions with different communications boxes to talk to each other. Rapid progress has been made in recent years in the development of a bridging system interface for hooking technologies to dispatch systems and a common air interface for enabling various devices to read the transmissions of other devices and understand them. Recent success with the inter-radio frequency subsystem interface allows pieces of various subsystems to plug into master systems from different manufacturers and then to continue to communicate successfully. “We have completed all of that which matters,” Boyd stated. “We have some standards that are not done, but those are just ones that would be nice to have. They are not necessary to consider interoperability complete.” And so the next challenge became ensuring that manufacturers who have complied with Project 25 standards actually make communications equipment that can talk to other Project 25 systems. Adoption of the standards by manufacturers sometimes can take different forms and that doesn’t necessarily mean they are completely in compliance, Boyd cautioned. DHS created a compliance assessment program (or CAP) to create a series of certification principles for laboratories to test whether equipment options actually talk to each other. Congress has mandated that federal grant funding used to purchase communications equipment must be proven interoperable through Project 25 CAP certification. “There is an even higher level of interoperability right now in the last few months than I have ever seen before. We have a level of focus from the national level that is more focused than I ever have seen before,” Boyd reported. “Things are now aligned for us to do some pretty pro- found things and move to the next level beyond just voice interoperability.” National Emergency Communications Plan In July 2008, the DHS Office of Emergency Communications presented a National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) to Congress. Congress had created the office, which now resides in the National Protection and Programs Directorate, for that express purpose several years earlier. The NECP lays out a path for the nation to follow to improve interoperable communications and supports three strategic goals and 93 individual milestones. The activities of Boyd’s division of the S&T Directorate are included within those milestones, Chris Essid, director of the DHS Office of Emergency Communications, told Homeland Security Today. “We had to work with everyone to develop this plan. It took us six months, and we used a local-driven process where the state and local folks participated and told us what they thought needed to be done. Our federal partners and private industry also participated,” he said. The national plan builds on the fact that, as of 2008, all 56 US states and territories had completed statewide communications interoperability plans. “When we developed the national plan, we rolled up the major themes and gaps from the state plans into the national plan. So when you are implementing a state p2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=45http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=452009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=46http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=46SPECIAL OCTOBER ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITY GREEN Security Deadlines: Reservations: September 10th Materials: September 15th Shine the spotlight on your company’s eco-friendly solutions With a major emphasis in government on going green and government purchasers favoring green solutions for their safety and security needs, the October issue is an outstanding opportunity to shine the spotlight on your company’s eco-friendly solutions. The October issue of Homeland Security Today will feature a special section on green security solutions that cut pollution, energy use and carbon footprint. Advertise in this issue and showcase your company’s green solution, product or service to over 40,000 homeland security decisionmakers making purchasing decisions. Contact your sales representative at 800-503-6506 or sales@hstoday.us to customize your package and ensure your company’s visibility!2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=47http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=47CLOSER TO THE SAME WAVELENGTH adoption, the United States has reached 12 of its 14 target mileEssid’s office provided training in interoperable communicastones. The two that weren’t hit required more time than originally tions to first responders in Houston, Texas, last fall prior to Hurriestimated to coordinate activities with other agencies. cane Ike’s landfall. Those first responders were able to put that But just because all of the goals of the NECP are accomplished training to prompt use, thereby speeding their response to the disand the milestones are reached does not mean every state in the aster. union will have achieved interoperable communications and the These responses provide sure indicators that the nation has job will be finished. come a long way since Sept. 11, 2001, when the lack of interopera“We think of emergency interoperable communications as a ble communications between first responder agencies and neighcore capability that our responders need,” said Essid. “They are boring cities contributed to a confused response that likely cost never going to stop training on their communications equipment. lives. In the months ahead, federal officials will be honing interopTechnology is never going to stop evolving. So we have to continue erable communications even further, leading to new forms of to coordinate. This is a core capability that these responders use cooperation and data sharing—and we may see the results immeevery day.” diately in the responses to this year’s hurricane season. HST And so just as firefighters would never dream of putting a stop to their firefighting training, so first responders should never think of putting a stop to interoperable communications training. It’s a discipline for which Essid’s office has been providing training nationwide. By the end of the year, Essid estimates his office will have trained 1,000 individDavid Clark Portable Communication ual first responders to be interoperable System for Light Armored Vehicles communications specialists across the country. Out here, you can’t Noise-attenuating headset designed to be worn under combat helmets afford to miss a word. Analysis Federal officials shared some compelling stories with Homeland Security Today about how these plans and practices helped emergency managers communicate between levels of government and potentially assisted first responders with saving lives. In Alabama, the Civil Air Patrol recently flew over tornado-damaged areas with GPS cameras, according to Boyd. Officials overlaid the photos captured by the planes onto images of the areas prior to the storm, revealing exactly what damage occurred. But then state managers were able to expedite federal applications for assistance by submitting the geospatial data, which captured property boundary information and other relevant details. “They could put together the FEMA application for disaster emergency because they had all of the tax appraisal data. They could do it in less than eight hours. They could prove the damage because you could see the ‘before’ and ‘after’ instead of the weeks it normally takes to do windshield surveys where you drive around and someone takes the data and tries to establish who owns it and what damage occurred before and after,” Boyd explained. Push-toTalk body switch adapter provides hands-free operation THE VE N All the features featurestroops troopsneed i in na a communication system. Rugged construction, reliable performance, crisp transmission and reception, vehicle-to-vehicle portability and radio compatibility. All of which makes David Clark the first line of communication systems for front line operations. C Completely Completely sealed, sealed , water-resistant water-resistant components components withstand withstand effects of moisture, wind, sand and harsh environments Magnetic-mount master station provides fast, easy portability from vehicle to vehicle Provides communication for up to three crew members per vehicle Recipient of 2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=48http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=48THE NATIONAL GUARD The ‘Always-On’ Guard Firefighters walk away from a vehicle during a joint aircraft crash and recovery exercise involving both civilian and military personnel. 46 August 2009 | Homeland Security Today Magazine This month’s issue is now available online at…2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=49http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=49WITH A NEW EMPHASIS ON THE HOMELAND SECURITY MISSION, THE NATIONAL GUARD IS ADJUSTING ACCORDINGLY—AND FACING NEW CHALLENGES. By P H I L I P L E G G I E R E , H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y T O D A Y IN 1861, MERE DAYS AFTER THE CONFEDERATE ATTACK ON FORT SUMTER, IN NEW YORK CITY “HUNDREDS OF CITIZENSOLDIERS WHO’D SPENT THE LAST TWO DAYS PREPARING THEIR KNAPSACKS AND SETTLING THEIR AFFAIRS ASSEMBLED IN FRONT OF DOWNTOWN CITY ARMORY, ALONG WITH THOUSANDS MORE MEN WISHING TO VOLUNTEER. ALL NIGHT THE REGIMENT HELD A DRILL WHILE AWAITING OTHER MEMBERS OF THE GUARD TO JOIN THEM,” WROTE ONE CONTEMPORARY WITNESS. Over a million New Yorkers cheered the following day as the full regiment marched from the armory toward the Cortland rail station, where trains awaited them. Offices and stores closed, people came out to cheer and “Everywhere the flying of national colors made Broadway a carnival scene.” Today’s National Guard deployments are much different— especially given the kind of sudden calls required as a result of homeland security events and natural disasters. “If we get a call, we’re now in place to move very quickly,” Brig. Gen. Patrick Murphy, director of the joint staff of the current New York State National Guard, told Homeland Security Today. “Traditionally, in an emergency situation, we’d start from scratch, essentially. Guardsmen would be called from their jobs and then assemble. The process of getting the nucleus of a response activated took a minimum of eight to 12 hours in the best case and, more typically, over a day or more.” He added: “The difference in our planning for the homeland security mission now versus a decade ago is that now we absolutely need to have ongoing domestic operating teams in place so that we move in warm instead of cold when we get a request for support.” CST (called the 2nd CST), based near Scotia, NY, which originated in 2001, is one of 55 CSTs nationally. Another New York CST was recently launched in Fort Hamilton, NY. Each team consists of 22 members who, unlike other National Guard groups, are considered active Guard or full-time Reserve, meaning they typically spend at least 90 to 120 days a year away from home. CST teams are trained to identify the agents used in a WMD attack and to facilitate interactions between first responders and the CERFP teams. They are, Durr said, regularly deployed ahead of large events or other venues where a high risk of terrorist activity is present. The 2nd CST has deployed elements to New York City in support of the opening of a United Nations General Assembly meeting, New Year’s Eve celebrations and other events, such as the 2001, 2002 and 2003 World Series, US Open Golf championships and the 2004 Republican National Convention. Ongoing civilian-military collaboration Another critical challenge facing the new Guard is cultivating truly ongoing collaborative partnerships with civilian agencies. A good example of this emerging collaboration, according to Murphy, is NY state’s Joint Task Force Empire Shield, which provides support to civilian law enforcement agencies in securing nuclear power plants, subways and airports in New York City, including the JFK International and LaGuardia airports, where soldiers are deployed on a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week basis, and available to civilian agencies on an on-demand basis. When Pope Benedict XVI visited New York City in April 2008, soldiers of the New York Army National Guard were on duty behind the scenes. “Members of Empire Shield based at Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, stood up a Quick Reaction Force ready to respond if state or city authorities needed help,” said Murphy. Collaboration now extends to engaging in major training exercises together, he added, something that was nonexistent in the past. “Ten years ago, our training was essentially in isolation,” explained Murphy. “There was virtually no ongoing relationship with any of the local or state civilian agencies we would eventually have to try to work with in a dom2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=50http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=50THE ‘ALWAYS-ON’ GUARD NATIONAL GUARD PHOTO BY TECH. SGT. THOMAS KIELBASA Sgt. Scott Crews of the Florida National Guard's 44th Civil Support Team prepares an incident response site at a training exercise and evaluation held at the St. Augustine Airport, Fla., on June 11. ing agreement. “In the past, had there been any emergency in the waters around Manhattan or the New York harbor or Hudson River, the National Guard would have been several steps removed in reacting to the event. Now we have an ongoing presence and daily relationships and communication with Naval Militia, the Coast Guard and even New York Police Department police boats.” To illustrate how increased collaboration between the National Guard and other agencies can enhance maritime security, Murphy cited the Trojan Horse port security exercise conducted by the State University of New York Maritime College each August in New York City. In the exercise held in August 2008, he recalled, the scenario involved saboteurs fixing limpet mines to the sides of both the USS Intrepid, the historic aircraft carrier/museum ship in New York harbor, and a cargo ship. A side-scanning CodaOctopus sonar, mounted on the patrol boat, detected both mines quickly, and the militia members called in police department divers to remove them before they detonated. New York Fire Department (FDNY) at FDNY’s fire training academy on Randall’s Island to strengthen the coordination, liaison, techniques and procedures for employing the New York National Guard’s chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives (CBRNE) response elements to assist civil authorities. The response training exercise, known as Operation Civil Support, prepared members of the New York National Guard to better support civilian authorities with hazardous material assessment, casualty extraction, decontamination and medical triage. “The exercise began with an alert and mobilization of forces from western and central New York, the Capital Region, Hudson Valley and New York City,” recalled Murphy. After Guard forces staged at the National Guard’s training site at Camp Smith, near Peekskill, NY, the response forces, along with engineering specialists, were airlifted to the training site as a supporting element to an FDNY response exercise. During the training exercise, he said, Guard participants and their FDNY brethren, along with New York City emergency medical services (EMS) units, were confronted with a realistic scenario with simulated casualties, debris and the challenges of a response in an urban area. “At the Randall’s Island training,” Murphy added, “the task force, FDNY and EMS needed to react in concert to an evolving and unscripted exercise which began with an explosion on a bus, a near-simultaneous building collapse and, shortly thereafter, an apparent accident on a rail car. As teams responded to one event, they’d be confronted with a series of other events, which complicated the scenario.” The exercise, Murphy believed, provided members of the National Guard’s response teams the chance for mutual learning between civilian and military agencies. As an additional example of what he referred to as a more “forward leaning,” proactive positioning of military assets to meet domestic challenges, Murphy cited a 44-foot-long, computerguided patrol boat dedicated in February 2008 by the NY Naval Militia. The boat, paid for with federal homeland security grant dollars, is deployed at all times by Empire Shield and the Naval Militia with fuel supplied by the US Coast Guard under an operat- Better leveraging knowledge and experience A final challenge the Guard is trying to address is more effectively tapping and leveraging the expertise and “intellectual capital” of its members in a timely manner to help first responders in crisis situations in the field. “As an operational force in the global war on terror, we’re in a unique position of being able to apply lessons learned in Iraq and Afghanistan to emergency respons2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=51http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=51WILL YOUR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS WORK NOW? PAGING ARCHITECTURE CELLULAR ARCHITECTURE In an emergency, communications must get through, no matter what the extent of damage may be. 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USAMOBILITY.COM2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=52http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=52THE ‘ALWAYS-ON’ GUARD earliest stages of a gathering crisis is a top National Guard priority, McCarter said. “For many decades in the past, the process of placing National Guard in the field went like this,” he explained. “A county in need of Guard personnel made a request to the state emergency management agency, which was reviewed and then passed along to us. By the time we were activated and ready to provide assistance, it’d be at least a day or longer. What we’ve worked on is what we call a ‘flash-to-bang’ response time for providing faster on-scene support.” During the treacherous ice storms that struck southeastern Missouri in late January 2009, the Missouri Guard demonstrated the benefits of this more proactive “flash-to-bang” approach. “In the ice storm that hit our state and surrounding states in late January, instead of reacting after the fact, as we might have done in the past, we leaned forward 24 hours ahead of the storm to have folks ready to be on the ground,” Danner recalled. “The governor called at 9:37 am. By 9:44 am, I talked to the chief of the engineering brigade, and by noon he’d already assembled a task force. By 6 pm, the armory was filled with soldiers making their way out on assigned missions.” Around 150 Guard members from around Missouri were called on by the state’s Gov. Jay Nixon (D) during that storm. Their missions included door-to-door wellness visits, transporting stranded residents to local shelters, power generation and emergency route clearance. The Guard quickly sent liaison officers to Butler, Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Ripley, Scott and Stoddard counties to assess the needs of those in the area and to request assistance where needed. In Butler County, 20 members of the Guard’s 1175th Military Police Company were sent out as transportation assets and were dispatched to shuttle those in the county who were without transportation and could not be reached by buses sent out by the county. Soldiers from the 1137th Military Police Company in Kennett, Jackson and Doniphan counties and from the headquarters unit of the 205th Military Police Battalion in Poplar Bluff were sent to assist local law enforcement in conducting door-to-door wellness visits in Ripley County. The Guard, according to McCarter, was also instrumental in providing emergency power to residents in the most heavily impacted areas of the storm. “During the ice storms, over a dozen counties had a huge problem with power outages, and affected areas over a wide zone needed water for drinking and bathrooms,” he said. “We had people on scene who took over the logistics for getting access to generators and having them distributed in a matter of hours, not days.” August 2008, then-candidate Obama said: “I think it’s also important that we return our National Guard and reserve to its traditional mission, which is primarily one of homeland security. Our National Guardsmen and reservists take enormous pride in the work they’ve done. But we have put an enormous burden on them. Our National Guards here back home are not adequately trained to meet a potential catastrophe here in the United States. We saw that during Katrina. We saw some evidence of that during the tornadoes in Kansas. There are a whole bunch of units all across the country that essentially have left all their equipment behind, back in Iraq. So there’s going to be an important reset function for the next administration.” Analysts on the political left and right have concurred with Obama’s concerns. In a report written in December 2006 titled Giving the National Guard What It Needs for the Future (http://www.heritage.org/ Research/NationalSecurity/em1016.cfm), the conservative Heritage Foundation stated, “The National Guard is tasked with missions that include the global war on terrorism, homeland defense, and disaster relief, but for years it has been slighted on resources and equipment and as a partner in decision making with the active Army and Air Force.” A2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=53http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=53It’s going to be a busy day… Go to www.HSToday.us throughout the day for breaking homeland security news and authoritative analysis by award-winning reporters and correspondents. No other homeland security website provides as much targeted, original and updated information for homeland security professionals. So, while you have your hands full, www.HSToday.us is busy bringing you the insight and analysis you need to navigate the currents that shape your world and your job. Homeland Security Insight & Analysis JOURNALISM THAT MATTERS 2007 CentralSoutheast Region 2007 CentralSoutheast Region 2005 CentralSoutheast Region 2005 CentralSoutheast Region Bronze Special Section Bronze Special Supplement Silver Special Section Bronze Regular Department2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=54http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=54AFTER ACTION After a criminal investigation by federal authorities, the Peanut Corporation of America plant in Blakely, Ga., closed when salmonella-tainted peanuts were traced to the facility. REUTERS/MATTHEW BIGG When peanuts were poison REVERBERATIONS CONTINUE FROM THIS YEAR’S PEANUT BUTTER SCARE—AND COULD RESULT IN SOME MAJOR CHANGES TO US FOOD SECURITY. BY SARA FRANCIS-FUJIMURA, PHOENIX CORRESPONDENT THE RECALL ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT SALMONELLA-TAINTED PEANUT BUTTER COULDN’T HAVE COME AT A WORSE TIME: RIGHT BEFORE GIRL SCOUT COOKIE SALES. As the leader and cookie mom for our Junior Girl Scout troop, I had already warned the girls that we were in for a tough selling year thanks to the anemic economy. Adding possible Salmonella contamination seemed like a cruel cosmic joke. To combat this latest hurdle, our girls received a crash course in Marketing 101. Along with a refresher course on how to make change and knowing your product, this year we focused on how to instill confidence in your product and repair your brand’s image, and how to save a sale if it looks like it’s going south fast. (Translation: Push the Thin Mints.) While I was debating how many boxes—if any—of the peanut butter-containing Do-si-dos and Tagalongs to buy, I received a disturbing phone call from Target. They urged me to return the box of peanut butter protein bars I had bought the month before for a prompt refund. Disturbing not because I’d already eaten half the box but because Target knew I had bought them. And while this Big Brother moment caught me off guard, it did do a good job of illustrating how this latest food safety issue in the United States was different from recent E. coli and salmonella outbreaks. Food safety issues and the recall of contaminated products isn’t a new story. It happens at least once a year, sometimes a couple of times a year. The contaminated product is vilified in the press, the public avoids it for a while and, several weeks later, it all goes away. But the peanut butterSalmonella problem proved to be different from past outbreaks, not only in timing but who was affected. I’m guessing that a large portion of American kids weren’t too upset in the fall of 2006 when told they’d have to miss out on their spinach for a while. And my kids certainly didn’t shed a tear in the summer of 2008, when I had to avoid potentially Salmonella-tainted tomatoes for a while. Peanut butter, on the other hand, is an American kid’s lunchbox staple. So imagine my friend’s concern when her 6-year-old son came home one day and asked, “Am I going to die? The kids at school said peanut butter had poison in it, 52 August 2009 | www.HSToday.us This month’s issue is now available online at…2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=55http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=55AFTER ACTION and you packed me a peanut butter sandwich today.” Even though none of the major brands of peanut butter found at local supermarkets were recalled, many people seemed to have a similar reaction to the news. Instead of avoiding only certain products on the recall list, many people avoided peanuts, peanut butter and peanut paste across the board. Was it misinformation, over-reaction or distrust in what critics have called our broken down food safety system? Perhaps all of the above. Anatomy of an outbreak 2008 Nov. 10—Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) PulseNet notices a multistate cluster of 13 Salmonella Typhimurium cases with the same DNA fingerprint. Nov. 24—CDC PulseNet identifies a second multistate cluster of Salmonella Typhimurium infections. Dec. 4—Both clusters are followed with parallel assessments. Dec. 28—Minnesota Department of Public Health traces the clusters in their state back to three institutions. 2009 Jan. 9—Minnesota Department of Public Health finds Salmonella in an opened container of King Nut peanut butter. FDA initiates an investigation into the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) facility in Blakely, Ga. Jan. 10—King Nut Company begins recall of its peanut butter. Jan. 12—Study results indicate that peanut butter consumption is the likely source of the Salmonella outbreak. Jan. 16—Connecticut Department of Health finds the same strain of Salmonella in an unopened container of King Nut peanut butter. The same day, PCA announces the recall of its peanut butter and peanut paste, and the Kellogg Company recalls its Austin and Keebler brands of peanut butter crackers. Jan. 17—CDC and FDA issue an advisory about peanut butter and peanut butter containing products. Jan. 28—PCA expands its recall of all peanuts and peanut products processed in its Blakely, Ga., facility since Jan. 1, 2007, and ceases production of all peanut products at this facility. Feb. 11—PCA President Stewart Parnell is called to testify before a US House panel. He pleads the fifth. Feb. 12—State of Texas issues an emergency order directing PCA to cease all manufacturing and distribution at its Plainview, Texas, facility. The state also issues a mandatory recall of all products manufactured at this plant. Feb. 13—PCA files a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia, saying the effect of the recalls on their business had been “extremely devastating.” A toxin of a different color Salmonella Typhimurium Outbreak 2009 was a new challenge for health officials, too. Usually, as happened during 2006’s E. coli-contaminated spinach, the problem has a relatively short lifespan. Even if you somehow missed all the media reports about contaminated spinach, eventually your spinach would rot, and you would chuck it. Peanut butter and peanut paste, however, have a long shelf life. Also, peanuts are frequently used as a flavoring or a subingredient in other products. It wasn’t just the PB&J sandwiches in our kids’ lunches under fire, but the snack crackers, cookies and granola bars in there, as well. Even the US Army worried about possible contamination. Further inspection cleared service personnel’s meals-ready-to-eat, but the Army removed some of their Unitized Group Rations-A, which provides a complete meal for 50 people, from warehouses in Europe. Not even Fido was safe, since several brands of dog biscuits and treats also made it onto the recall list. The recall list of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continued to grow exponentially until there were more than 2,100 products in 17 categories being voluntarily recalled by more than 200 companies. To combat misinformation, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and FDA tried a 21st century approach to disseminating information. Along with the usual media outlets, the agencies used social media tools to reach younger audiences, who tend not to rely on news2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=56http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=56AFTER ACTION abdominal cramps that usually last four to seven days. For most healthy adults, a Salmonella infection is nothing more than an uncomfortable nuisance. For the elderly, infants and those in frail health, it can be fatal if the bacteria spread from the intestines into the blood stream. Patients with severe infections require immediate antibiotic treatment. As Homeland Security Today went to press, there were nine fatalities believed related to Salmonellacontaminated peanut butter. “Mr. Chairman and members of this committee, on the advice of my counsel, I respectfully decline to answer your question based on the protection afforded to me by the US Constitution,” Mr. Parnell gave this response repeatedly, including after a challenge by Rep. Greg Walden (ROre.) to eat some peanut butter made from PCA peanuts. What FDA inspectors discovered, though, spoke volumes. Reports showed that PCA’s products had tested positive for Salmonella 12 times in 2007 and 2008. The FDA has said that PCA knowingly shipped tainted ingredients. They pointed to deficiencies in PCA’s manufacturing process, including reports of cockroaches and dripping water in the plants. The subpoenaed records, including e-mails written by Parnell, increased the ire of lawmakers. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) called the documents “disturbing” and said, “They seem to show a company that was more concerned with its bottom line than the safety of its customers.” Angry lawmakers also pointed their fingers at the FDA. There was bipartisan agreement that the FDA needs more funding and more authority to order recalls. Even America’s First Father was concerned about what was in his daughters’ lunch boxes. On March 14, 2009, President Obama announced the formation of a Food Safety Working Group to coordinate food safety laws and to advise him on the changes that need to be made, especially some of the laws which have been around since Teddy Roosevelt was in office. Calling the country’s food safety system a “hazard to public health,” Obama named bioterrorism expert and former New York City health commissioner Margaret Hamburg the new FDA commissioner. Hamburg served as an assistant health secretary under President Clinton and helped lay the foundation for the government’s bioterrorism and flu pandemic preparations. Obama isn’t the only one taking the FDA to task. Two major bills are circulating—unfortunately, with very similar short titles—which would make significant changes to the FDA. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduced the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, or HR 875. The bill seeks to establish a Food Safety Litigation and legislation Along with a criminal investigation, more than a dozen civil lawsuits have already been filed against PCA. It’s not surprising that litigation lawyers specializing in “peanut butter lawsuits” suddenly popped up—especially after it was revealed that this wasn’t PCA’s first batch of Salmonellacontaminated peanut butter, data about which PCA wasn’t forthcoming. In fact, the FDA had to invoke a bioterrorism law to force PCA to turn over its records. PCA President Stewart Parnell was equally tight-lipped when called to testify before a US House panel on Feb. 11, 2009. CLEAN GULF is Port Security. It is Disaster Response. It is Oil & Hazmat Spill. It is the Gulf Coast’s Premier Conference and Exhibition for the offshore and inland oil & hazmat spill, emergency planning & response, port & security, marine fire & salvage and environmental markets. 19th Annual November 17-19, 2009 New Orleans, LA Morial Convention Center For more information, visit www.cleangulf.org or call 832-242-1969. 54 August 2009 | www.HSToday.us This month’s issue is now available online at…2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=57http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=57Administration within HHS. The current FDA would be divided in half. Food safety issues and the enforcement of food safety laws would go under the new Food Safety Administration’s umbrella. Medical safety issues would go under the then-renamed Federal Drug and Device Administration. A similarly named bill, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, or S 510, was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). This new legislation would amend the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act with respect to the safety of the food supply. The FDA would no longer have to invoke a bioterrorism act to get uncooperative companies, like PCA, to turn over lab results and other incriminating documents. Instead, the secretary of HHS would be granted access to a company’s food safety records and could order a mandatory recall of dangerous food products if a company refused to initiate a voluntary recall. This bill would link into Department of Homeland Security (DHS) by requiring the secretary of DHS to make an annual report on the security status of the agriculture and food system. The report would also include preparedness and response plans for agriculture and food defense at the federal, state, local and private sector levels. Durbin’s bill also targets imported foods. Food from a foreign facility that has refused US inspectors or that lacks the proper certification would be denied entry into the United States. All foods would also have to be in compliance with American standards and could not be adulterated. Though many legislators on both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill agree that changes need to be made, the hefty price tags that would come with either of these bills may slow down their passage and increase the likelihood of them getting shot down. DeLauro’s Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 would also create more government, another hard sell. Even if one of these bills gets through Congress in a timely fashion, Obama has other more pressing matters on his plate. The plan to update the FDA would have to take a number. Restoring public confidence While Congress debated the new bills, back in Arizona, I was still trying to decide how many boxes of Girl Scout cookies to buy for our upcoming cookie booths. Even armed with an official press release from Little Brownie Bakers, our region’s supplier of Girl Scout cookies, clearly stating that they did not use peanut butter from PCA in their cookies, I worried. And I ordered very conservatively: one-third the amount of Do-si-dos and Tagalongs I usually buy. So, of course, we sold out of both at our first booth. Did the CDC-FDA media blitz work? Did Arizonans think it was just an East Coast problem? Or did they just totally disregard the info, deciding to indulge their sweet tooth instead? Out of all the hours we worked during the sale, I only had two customers ask about our peanut butter’s source. As the girls jumped in with their set speech, I watched the customer. One nodded and added a few boxes of Tagalongs to her pile. The other nodded, but put the Tagalongs back. That’s okay. My daughter, Katie, 11, immediately piped up: “Did you see we have a new cookie this year? And, of course, we have all the old favorites, including Thin Mints. How many boxes would you like?” HST presents a training conference: Register Early SURVEILLANCE LATIN AMERICA Creating Partnerships in Latin American Maritime Domain Awareness TM MARITIME & SAVE! DON’T MISS YOUR BEST OPPORTUNITY OF THE YEAR TO: • Receive detailed updates on October 26 – 28, 2009 Miami, FL requirements and challenges from Latin American naval decision makers • Gain first-hand insight into Featuring an exclusive site tour of the Port of Miami showcasing best practices for the creation of the Virtual Regional Maritime Traffic Center - Americas (VRMTC-A) • Engage in the collaborative maritime ISR and port security! public-private joint efforts to improve Latin America Domain Awareness WWW. MARITIMELATAM .COM Register online today for exclus2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=58http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=58TOOLS&TECHNOLOGY Segway introduces new patroller models Segway Inc., Bedford, NH, a developer of personal transporters, has announced the availability of two new Patroller models, designed with direct input from existing customers. The Patroller models are identifiable by their highly reflective surfaces and an integrated lighting system. Additional product enhancements include a newly designed LeanSteer frame, a front bag specifically designed to carry users’ cargo and an upper shield for affixing the organization’s insignia. The models come in either an i2 or x2 version. The i2 is for demanding patrol applications requiring the rider to transition from indoor to outdoor settings while getting the most out of battery range on a single charge, which is up to 24 miles or 39 km. The x2 features rugged tires for off-road environments. Built-in lift handles on the x2 and included cargo frames on the i2 make for a sturdy lift position and attach point for optional additional side cargo. (Source:Segway Inc.) Smiths Detection launches series of new detection solutions Smiths Detection, London, UK, a provider of integrated security solutions for civil and military markets, has introduced a group of new explosive detection products: the HazMatID Ranger hand-held chemical identifier; the Bio-Seeq PLUS, a next-generation handheld biological testing unit; and the LCD 3.3, an individual hazardous vapor warning device. Specifically designed for diverse field applications requiring broad portability, the HazMatID Ranger can identify over 32,000 unknown solids or liquids, including white powders, WMDs, explosives and common and toxic industrial chemicals. Bio-Seeq PLUS provides onsite detection and identification of trace amounts of biological warfare agents such as anthrax, tularemia, plague and pan orthopox, and the LCD 3.3 offers real time nerve, blood, blister and choking agent detection at, or immediately below, dangerous concentration levels, enabling troops and emergency responders to mitigate chemical incidents in military and civilian attacks more quickly. (Source: Smiths Detection) T2 Tango Tactical Armor offers new choices for law enforcement officers MSA, Pittsburg, Pa., a manufacturer of safety products, has introduced T2 Tango Tactical Armor, geared especially for the needs of law enforcement officers. T2 Tango Tactical Armor is designed to combine reliable ballistic protection with flexibility, comfort and practicality for law enforcement applications. The armor integrates Paraclete Armor’s established Tango cut and styling with a new drop-down front flap for easy cummerbund access. It also includes new front-load plate pockets, anti-skid shoulder weapon stabilization and a choice of sizes and plates. The product meets the National Institute of Justice Standard NIJ0101.06 (Ballistic Resistance of Body Armor) when paired with MSA Templar Ballistic Packages. (Source: MSA) 56 August 2009 | Homeland Security Today Magazine This month’s issue is now available online at…2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=59http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=59Smarter Security Systems reveals biometric authentication solution Smarter Security Systems,Austin,Texas, a provider of intelligent entrance control and outdoor security solutions, has announced the availability of its FastScan Vascular Reader (VR), a biometric reader for access control. FastScan VR uses passive infrared technology to scan the vascular data in the blood vessels on the back of a hand. Hand vascular patterns are highly unique and are the only biometric that is inside the body and can’t be duplicated. For additional certainty, the system requires a live vein pattern with a flowing vascular stream.This results in a low false acceptance rate of 0.0001 percent. In live authentication, hand scans are compared to vascular pattern templates stored on a smart card or on the network, which the user accesses with either a personal identification number or a proximity card. (Source: Smarter Security Systems) BPSI announces real time toxin detection system for buildings Building Protection Systems Inc. (BPSI), San Francisco, Calif., a developer of automated toxin protection systems, has unveiled Building Sentry One, a system to protect building occupants from exposure to airborne toxins resulting from an accidental toxic spill or a targeted terrorist attack. The system quickly and automatically shuts down a facility’s air and ventilation system as soon as a contaminant is detected. The company claims that the system is the first of its kind and does not produce false positives. It was recently granted 20-year patent protection from the US Patent Office and a full Qualified AntiTerrorist Technology designation from the Department of Homeland Security. (Source: BPSI) Videx unveils the iBR9000 iButton data collector Videx Inc., Corvallis, Ore., a designer and manufacturer of portable, handheld data collectors, has added the iBR9000 to its product line. Small and lightweight, the iBR9000 portable, handheld data collector is a miniaturesized reader of iButtons. The data collector measures 2 and 3/4 inches in length, weighs less than 2 ounces and easily fits on a key ring or in the user’s pocket. The collector provides an audible tone, and its light emitting diode flashes when it reads an iButton successfully.When it touches an iButton, the button’s identification is stored in its memory, along with the date and time of contact. The collected data is downloaded to a computer by making an infrared connection to the infrared port on a personal computer or Mac, or to a cellular personal digital assistant in the field. The software provides a detailed report for management review. (Source:Videx Inc.) 8th Annual In Association with: • • • • • • • • • The U.S. Maritime Administration The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy The California Maritime Academy The Propeller Club of Los Angeles-Long Beach The Foreign Trade Association of Southern California Naval Postgraduate School The Harbor Association of Industry & Commerce The Los Angeles Customs, Brokers, & Freight Forwarders Association The Long Beach Container Terminal Maritime Security Expo Co-sited w 2009 All ith the Ha Forum & zards Expo. October 20-21, 2009 • Long Beach Convention Center • Long Beach, CA Weathering the Perfect Storm: Maritime Terrorism, Faltering Economies, and Piracy For information on Maritime Security Expo exhibiting or sponsorship opportunities, please contact Peter Cappiello at 301-493-5500. Co-Hosted by: Organized by: www.maritimesecurityexpo.com Register online today for exclusive online content and eNewsletters Homeland Security Today Magazine | August 2009 572009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=60http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=60HSToday HOMELAND SECURITY INSIGHT & ANALYSIS ™ ADVERTISER INDEX 34 2nd Annual Critical Infrastruction Conference www.rebootconference.com 17 ADT www.adt.com/government 37 AeroVironment www.avinc.com 12 Border Management Summit www.bordermanagementsummit. com 54 Clean Gulf www.cleangulf.org 42 Comtech Mobile www.comtechmobile.com 45 David Clark Company www.davidclark.com 6 DHS Technologies, LLC www.reevesems.com/pandemic 8 GEICO www.YoungFeds.org 5 Panasonic www.panasonic.com/toughbook/ federal 10 Harris RF Communications www.harrispublicsafety.com/HST 16 Hitachi www.hitachikokusai.com/IVST 36 Homeland Security Defense Business Council www.homelandcouncil.org 20 ICX Technologies www.icxt.com 29 John Deere www.johndeere.com 14 L-1 Identity Solutions www.l1id.com/HIIDE 57 Maritime Security Expo www.maritimesecurityexpo.com 55 Maritime Surveillance Latin America www.maritimelatam.com 43 National Homeland Defense Foundation www.nhdf.org Publisher Kimberley S. Hanson-Brown khanson@HSToday.US Associate Publisher/Sales Director Linda Andersen landersen@HSToday.US Sales Assistant Shannon Webb 1-800-503-6506 swebb@HSToday.US Public Relations & Marketing Director Sue Stott 1-800-503-6506 suestott@HSToday.US Tradeshow Manager Lynn Perciasepe PHONE: 772-708-4649 FAX: 772-334-4271 lynnp@HSToday.US ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES National Accounts Linda Andersen PHONE: 978-448-3932 FAX: 978-448-5745 landersen@HSToday.US Southern US Karen Gaconnier PHONE: 631-793-0182 FAX: 866-503-5758 kgaconnier@HSToday.US Northern US Lisa Pavlock PHONE: 540-349-9794 FAX: 540-349-9791 lpavlock@HSToday.US Israel Dan Erlich PHONE: 972-9-9586 245 FAX: 972-9-9585 685 d_erlich@netvision.net.il C3 Raytheon www.raytheon.com 2 SAIC www.saic.com/diseasecontrol 27 Sprint www.sprint.com/nextel 41 Tascet Identity Network www.tascet.com C4 Technical Communities www.technicalcommunities.com 33 TELES USA www.telesusa.com 23 UMUC www.umuc.edu/getahead 49 USAMobility www.usamobility.com/whitepaper 13 U.S. General Services Administration www.gsa.gov/securitysolutions 18 Verizon www.verizonwireless.com/gov 31 Diebold www.diebold.com/secure C2 DRS Technologies www.drs.com TRADESHOW CIRCUIT August 3-5 The Computer Forensics Show San Jose, CA www.computerforensicsshow.com Find more events and details online at www.HSToday.us 303rd Annual Emergency Sept. 2 Management Association of Texas (EMAT) Symposium Corpus Christi, TX www.emat-tx.org October 5-6 The Computer Forensic Show Santa Clara, CA www.computerforensicshow.com 9-12 2009 NCCP Conference Arlington, VA www.iaem.com/NCCP2009.htm September 8-12 First Responders Congress Las Vegas, NV www.firstresponders.cc 13-14 World Security Congress New York City www.scworldcongress.com MEDIA PARTNER 11-12 Midwest Security & Police Conference/Expo Rosemont, IL www.mspce.com MEDIA PARTNER 20-21 15 Partners in Preparedness & The CEO Summit 2009 Washington, DC www.homelandcouncil.org CO-SPONSOR 8th Annual Maritime Security Expo Long Beach, CA www.ejkevents.com Account Executive Michelle Flynn PHONE: 1-800-503-6506 FAX: 1-866-503-5758 mflynn@hstoday.us © Copyright 2009 HSToday All rights reserved 16-20 APCO 75th Annual Conference & Expo Las Vegas, Nevada www.apco2009.org MEDIA PARTNER 21-23 Indesec Expo 2009 New Dehli, India www.indesec-expo.com 21-23 2009 ASIS Anaheim, CA www.asisonline.org 26-28 Maritime Surveillance Latin America Miami, FL www.idga.org MEDIA PARTNER 17-19 2009 Land & Marine Supply Chains Business Conference Columbus, OH www.ndia.org 21-23 Anti-Piracy Summit Washington, DC www.idga.org/us/pirate MEDIA PARTNER 26-29 17-19 JOURNALISM THAT MATTERS 4th Annual Gulf Coast Terrorism Prevention Conference Sarasota, FL www.homelandsecurityssi.com 24 Fall 2009 Telework Exchange Town Hall Meeting Ronald Reagan Building, Washington, DC www.teleworkexchange.com/ townhallmeeting 5th Border Management Summit Washingtion, DC www.bordermanagementsummit. com MEDIA PARTNER 2007 CentralSoutheast Region 2007 CentralSoutheast Region 2005 CentralSout2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=61http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=61COMING IN SEPTEMBER The 2009 Homeland Security Report Card Are we safer? Have we made progress? Is homeland security better, worse or the same in the first year of the Obama administration? We take our annual, award-winning, comprehensive look at the state of homeland security and the progress—or lack of it— since last September. New this year! The Business View Dealing with DHS acquisition has always been a challenge. In this first-time feature, business executives grade DHS on its responsiveness, efficiency and transparency in purchasing and procurement. The State View DHS has been touting a new relationship between the federal department and state and local authorities. Is it true? State homeland security directors speak out on whether it’s really happening and grade DHS on its relations with its state partners. INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION AwardWinning COMING IN OCTOBER… SPECIAL FEATURE The Beers Factor For nearly 40 years Rand Beers has been a national security player. Now this pragmatic, sometimes irritatingly candid, take-no-guff official is in charge of US critical infrastructure protection. What should the nation expect? Also… Responders Today: Pittsburgh, Pa. Agency Spotlight: Treasury Green Security The solutions that cut energy use and pollution— while still providing safety. Green Surveillance New technology that sees more while consuming less. Also… Detection in the New Administration How the new administration is handling the threat of WMD and IEDs. Responders Today: Shelters and mobile response Agency Spotlight: Justice To advertise in this issue, call 1-800-503-6506 or email dyoung@HSToday.us2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=62http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=62LEADERSHIP PROFILE BY DAVID SILVERBERG IT WAS A SIMPLE DEVICE—A THERMOSTAT THAT AUTOMATICALLY ALLOWED MORE AIR INTO A FIRE IF THE TEMPERATURE DROPPED BELOW A PREDETERMINED LEVEL. THE INVENTOR, ALBERT BUTZ, PATENTED THE DEVICE AND FOUNDED THE BUTZ THERMO-ELECTRIC REGULATOR CO. IN MINNEAPOLIS, ON APRIL 23, 1886. BUT IT WAS A YOUNG ENGINEER NAMED MARK HONEYWELL WHO, IN 1904 IN WABASH, IND., PERFECTED A HEAT GENERATOR AS PART OF HIS PLUMBING BUSINESS THAT WOULD GIVE THE COMPANY ITS ULTIMATE NAME WHEN THE TWO COMPANIES MERGED IN 1927. From that simple beginning came a company that today is known as Honeywell International Inc., with $37 billion in revenues, employing 125,000 people in over 100 countries around the world. Honeywell has always been committed to providing people with comfort and safety through its technology, and now its devices do so in ways that enhance homeland security, as well. From fire alarms Honeywell has evolved its technology into what it calls safety systems that incorporate fire, smoke and gas detection with mass notification and video systems. tems usually apply to individual buildings and facilities, they can also be networked into a true mass notification solution that can mitigate disaster—or at least provide warning for large numbers of people in the event of a catastrophic disaster. Protecting life Plummer did not begin his career in anything close to fire or public safety; his first job was for Coca-Cola. However, in the early 1980s, he went to work for a Tyco company, Pyrotector, that made smoke detectors, and then he went to Fire-Lite Alarms, which today is a Honeywell company. Plummer found that he enjoyed the work and the atmosphere at Fire-Lite, and he has continued his career within Honeywell, receiving a certification from the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies and joining the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, the Automatic Fire Alarm Association and the National Fire Protection Association. Going forward, Plummer sees the Internet protocol (IP) revolution continuing to make changes in the alarm, detection and notification field, increasing the speed and bandwidth of communication. Already, he said some US government agencies are requiring IP paging within fire alarm systems that will allow them to send a message anywhere in the world within a quarter-second—and do it with encryption, complete management supervision and no down time. Plummer said he gets satisfaction from the knowledge that Honeywell systems are daily saving lives and enhancing the safety of everyone touched by them. “Whether we sell a system that has two smoke detectors or 10,000, the satisfaction is the same, because at the end of the day, it’s always protecting assets, people, the occupants of a building,” he reflected. “We as a company don’t draw a distinction, whether it’s a simple system or a complex system, whether it’s going into a Burger King or a McDonald’s that sits on a Navy base or we’re protecting the Pentagon. The size of the system is not what makes the difference. We view every system the same way: An individual’s life cascades down into all the people they know and are related to and we’re protecting that life. The satisfaction is the same, whether we’re selling a simple system or a complex system.” HST KEN PLUMMER Vice President National Accounts & Fire System Group Services Honeywell International Inc. More than a system Advancing Honeywell’s mission is Ken Plummer, the vice president for national accounts and fire system group services. “We’re not just a manufacturer of a system,” Plummer pointed out. “We manufacture, design and control behind all the components that go in a system.” As an example, he noted that “Honeywell’s technology is so respected that almost all our competitors in some way, shape or form buy something from us.” With 450,000 domestic buildings to protect, the US federal market is a very large one for Honeywell, and Plummer views it as consisting of a 2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=63http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=63Infrastructure Protection Different Battlefield. Proven Technology. Developing and deploying technology to assess the situation. Identifying the threat. Getting crisp information to where it needs to go, so that timely action can be taken. Raytheon has been doing exactly that for decades on more conventional battlefields. But now the front is here at home. And Raytheon is providing the same kind of NoDoubt solutions to protect our critical infrastructures.our way of life.our people. ® www.raytheon.com © 2009 Raytheon Company. All rights reserved. “Customer Success Is Our Mission” is a registered trademark of Raytheon Company.2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=64http://ipaperus.ipaperus.com/HomelandSecurityToday/August2009/?Page=64When it comes to GSA sales, don’t let your technology products get lost in the shuffle. Experience Channel-Friendly. With Technical Communities, you can be sure we won’t cut special sales deals with your competitors and promote them instead of you to GSA buyers. We will always help you successfully grow your GSA sales in a channel-friendly environment. Is he selling your product today or someone else's? Increase Government Sales. We have over a decade of experience growing government sales for our partners. Our proven record includes successful management of multiple GSA schedules and exceptional trusted relationships with more than 100 companies and thousands of government buying centers. Let Us Help. If you are looking for a channel-friendly GSA sales and contract partner, join the hundreds of companies that rely on Technical Communities for proven go-tomarket solutions to grow sales, lower costs and reduce risks. Call us at 1-888-665-3454 or learn more: www.technicalcommunities.com Increase sales. Lower costs. Channel-friendly.2009-08-02T14:36:05+02:00