Archives: July, 2010

Tomorrow, August 1, is the day the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) starts 100 percent screening of air cargo on passenger airliners. That’s TSA’s Certified Cargo Screening Program CCSP). Shippers choosing not to participate in CCSP must have an alternative mode of transportation – shipping their goods by truck, rail, sea, all-cargo aircraft or working with other […]

Learning occurs when we recognize opportunities to learn. BP, Toyota, even Johnson & Johnson, haven’t seemed to learn key lessons of crisis management – first, do everything you can through sound management to avoid a crisis. Then, if one occurs anyway, have a plan to deal with it promptly and credibly. Steve Lasky, the Publisher/Editor […]

Courses on terrorism and homeland security are becoming part of college offerings across the U.S. Along with the awareness among educators and students that it’s an increasingly dangerous world, the courses are being prompted by  a dozen Centers of Excellence at universities and research centers that were established in the Homeland Security Act of 2002. […]

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has spent more than $80 million on about 500 body scanning machines and plans to install 1,000 of them at airports by the end of next year. But they’re not getting great reviews. USA Today reports that the full body scanners are being hit for slowing the movement of passengers […]

A JetBlue passenger ran off barefooted as a TSA officer spotted a gun in his carry-on bag at JFK Airport. The screening process worked, although investigators don’t think a hijacking of the plane was in view. The would-have-been passenger, Junior Almonte, 30, was charged with gun possession and possession of stolen property after he was […]

A failed New York subways bomb plot last year  has been tied to an Al Qaeda terrorist conspiracy that planned a similar attack in England, U.S. prosecutors say. Attorney General Eric Holder has called the New York subway plot  one of the most dangerous since 9/11. In an indictment unsealed earlier this month, U.S. prosecutors […]

“See Something, Say Something” has properly caught DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano’s favor and is about to become emphasized in homeland security tactics.  The public will need to be alert to suspicious packages and other signs of potential terrorism, to “Say Something” in a timely manner. There likely will be far more false alarms than actual […]

Bruce Schneier tips us to a lengthy series of articles in the Toronto  Star on how a terrorist plot four years ago to set off bombs in Toronto was uncovered and broken up. Thank you, Bruce, for this lead on the “motley crew” that comprised the Toronto 18. It’s got to be a great series, […]

The Washington Post ran a fascinating July 4 story and photo gallery on how U.S. security officials “work around the clock to protect the nation.”  Security officers anywhere will identify with the strains of the work.

Want to do some reading and thinking about security? How about the notion of creating security through a community of involvement – practitioners joining together to figure out what can make their buildings or systems safer? Philip J. Palin, a research fellow with the Pace University graduate program in Management for Public Safety and Homeland […]