People on the streets of midtown Manhattan – and into the city’s uptown and downtown districts as well – are going to be routinely “on camera” in this age of security-centered anti-terrorist measures. New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told the Association for a Better New York this week that about 450 of a planned […]
We don’t normally call attention to something that happened 25 years ago, but the Canadian public inquiry report on the bombing of Air India flight 182 in 1985 deserves the attention of security officers everywhere. The plane’s explosion off the Irish coast killed 329 people, making it “the largest case of mass murder in Canadian […]
We’ve noted the spreading application of social media tools to emergency preparedness and response. But here’s an example that makes the point strongly. Louisiana’s Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOSHEP) is using Twitter both to deliver and collect information/insights into situations like hurricanes and the Gulf oil spill. GOSHEP is both collecting […]
It’s nice to know that folks are still keeping tabs on Osama bin Laden. We would assume that somebody would be doing that, but we hadn’t heard much for awhile on bin Laden’s whereabouts. Now Debka File, a web security site, reports that bin Laden’s “hiding place was pinned down for the first time on […]
Instilling habits of alertness and awareness are important to maintaining security in public facilities like stores and office buildings. Everyone employed at such facilities can be taught alertness pointers. Here’s an example of a training video that can help – The Department of Homeland Security’s “What’s in Store: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Events.” It’s on YouTube. […]
The complexity of getting counterterrorism and security information where it needs to be in a timely manner – in short, sharing stuff on threats – is indicated in this Washington Post story, “Setting impossible standards on intelligence.” The National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) was created in 2004 “to serve as the primary organization in the U.S. […]
The spreading pertinence of social media to crisis and security incidents is shown in a post on the In Case of Emergency, Read Blog blog – “10 Reasons Social Media Is Important In A Real Crisis.” Social media channels can reach people who wouldn’t be tuned in otherwise, especially younger ones. One of the biggest […]