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Napolitano: Sequestration already impacting airport security

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Monday, March 4, 2013

Passengers at the nation’s largest airports experienced long lines at some security checkpoints over the weekend, and it’s only likely to get worse, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said in a news report from Reuters.

Mandatory spending cuts that went into effect Friday because of the federal government’s sequestration immediately led to the elimination of overtime for Transportation Security Administration officers and customs agents. Upcoming furloughs will only make the situation worse, Napolitano told the news service.

Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport had long lines—between 150 percent and 200 percent delays—Napolitano said, and advised passengers to get to their airports earlier than usual. The TSA website did not show any major delays at any U.S. airport on Monday morning, Reuters said.

Some lawmakers have accused Napolitano and other administration officials of “fear-mongering and exaggerating the impact that would be seen from the deep spending reductions known as the sequester,” which cut a total of $85 billion from government agencies between March 1 and October 1, Reuters said.

But Napolitano said the problems were real.

"Look, people, I don't mean to scare, I mean to inform. If you're traveling, get to the airport earlier than you otherwise would," she said in the Reuters report.

She said TSA would begin sending out furlough notices to employees on Monday and Customs and Border Protection will send them out later this week.

 

'Gallon Smashing' and 'Breaking Bad(ly)'

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Friday, March 1, 2013

As we head into the weekend, here's some "Security Director News Lite," focused on pop culture.

First up, the now famous Gallon Smashing. Three young males in Virginia concocted what they describe as an innocent prank. They go into supermarkets, and, with a gallon of milk or juice in each hand, elaborately smash them onto the floor, slip and fall in the spillage and then struggle to get up, mostly unsuccessfully. Their goal is to dupe onlookers. Their video on You Tube—because they taped their exploits, of course—had more than 3 million hits in a week. It also has spurred copycat Gallon Smashings. In Utah, for instance, 10 juveniles were charged with disorderly conduct for perpetrating the same "prank." I saw one video where a copycat Gallon Smasher performed his antics while roller-blading. The fad, if that's what it's called, has even spread to the U.K.

Dana Cole, a legal analyst, told ABC News that there's a fine line between a prank and a crime in this case. Someone has to clean up the mess, he said. And, onlookers and employees could be injured.

On another note, and this isn't nearly as "innocent," two females were arrested this past week by the Nogales Border Patrol. Seems they might have been watching too many back episodes of the blockbuster AMC TV series, "Breaking Bad."

The pair allegedly tried to smuggle six bags of methamphetamine into the United States by concealing them in two buckets of chicken.

Those of you who are "Breaking Bad" fans—and I am among the hugest—know all about Los Pollos Hermanos (translation: The Chicken Brothers), the fictional New Mexico-based fast-food restaurant chain. Thing is, in the show the restaurant is used as a front to assist in the owner's supply and distribution of meth.

Apparently the two women weren't as savvy as the owner of Los Pollos Hermanos. Both face federal prosecution after being caught with 6 pounds of meth—in the chicken buckets— valued at $58,700. Their arrest was among a number of others this week for attempting to smuggle meth into the country.

 

More airports offer expedited security screening

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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

The Transportation Security Administration has announced that five more airports will offer TSA PreCheck by April 1, bringing the total number of airports participating to 40.

Eligible passengers flying on participating airlines out of Austin-Bergstrom International, Cleveland Hopkins International, Memphis International, Nashville International and Raleigh-Durham International airports may receive TSA PreCheck benefits.

“Offering TSA PreCheck at five additional airports is a key step to including more low-risk travelers in the expedited screening process,” TSA Administrator John S. Pistole said in a prepared statement. “This pre-screening initiative helps TSA focus its resources on those individuals we know less about, and strengthens our capabilities to ensure security for travelers when they fly.”

Eligible passengers include U.S. citizens who have opted-in through Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and US Airways as well as those who are members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Trusted Traveler programs, including Global Entry, SENTRI and NEXUS. Canadian citizens traveling domestically in the United States who are members of NEXUS are also qualified.

Mass shootings since 2006 claim 934 lives

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Monday, February 25, 2013

More than 900 people died in mass shootings in the past six years, the majority killed by people they knew, according to a report in USA Today. The 934 deaths account for less than 1 percent of gun-related homicides, and nearly half involve a suspect slaying his or her family members.

USA Today examined FBI records and news accounts to identify 146 mass shootings since 2006 that matched the FBI definition of mass shooting, where four or more people are killed.

A separate analysis of 56 mass shootings since 2009 from a group of mayors promoting gun control reaches similar conclusions.

Fifty-seven percent of cases reported by Mayors Against Illegal Guns involved domestic violence. The group, co-founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is made up of more than 850 U.S. mayors.

Have some security with your waffles—for an extra cost

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Friday, February 22, 2013

Would you be willing to pay 20 percent more at your favorite restaurant to feel safer while dining there?

A Waffle House in downtown Atlanta has added a 20 percent surcharge to its menu prices to pay for an off-duty police officer to be present, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The restaurant in the downtown shopping district known as Underground Atlanta is believed to be the only Waffle House in the country to do so. Underground Atlanta is a high-crime area and the restaurant is open 24 hours a day.

It has posted a notice of the surcharge on its door as well as on placards on its tables.

I’m guessing if I didn’t have the option of another Waffle House nearby, and if I really had a craving for a Bacon Texas Cheesesteak Melt, and it was the middle of the night, I’d be willing to shell out the extra cash.

 

 

 

Awards shows kick up security a few—or more—notches

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Thursday, February 21, 2013

The Academy Awards ceremony Feb. 24 in Hollywood will have the tightest security ever in place for the event, officials say.

Oscars producer Laura Ziskin told ABC News: "It will be presidential, as if the president were there--presidential-level security. Security is, of course, a big issue, as it has been for every big event since 9/11, and I think is something that's going to be with us for the foreseeable future. There are tremendous measures in place, some of which you'll see and some of which you won't."

Those measures include shutting down streets around the Kodak Theater, and all those attending the ceremony, down to each and every glamorous star, will pass through metal detectors. There also will be as many police officers on the ground in the area at the time as normally patrol the entire city of Los Angeles, the ABC news report says.

Security at the Staples Center in L.A., where the Grammy Awards were held Feb. 10, was even more intense than that. That's because former L.A.P.D. Officer Christopher Dorner was still on the loose, according to a report from Robert Penfold, news correspondent for the Nine Network in Australia. Dorner had already killed three people and would kill one more before his suicide two days later. Police were concerned that he would use the high-publicity music awards event to get publicity for himself.

Grammy organizers brought in ballistic-rated Archer 1200 rapid deployment barriers to barricade a key entrance to the Staples Center, Penfold wrote. "The Archer 1200 is unique in that it can be quickly dropped into place by one person without the need for heavy lifting equipment. At the Grammys the Archer system was successfully used to block a main entrance street. Eight barriers, each with the capability of stopping a vehicle at top speed, were set side by side, but leaving enough room for pedestrians to move comfortably through while providing protection from vehicle traffic. In several cases where a truck or car needed to get into the secured area, one or more barriers could be quickly moved to one side and then returned, to once again secure the zone."

The portable vehicle barriers have been used to protect ports, dams, water treatment facilities and oil and gas operations, Penfold said.

Penfold's son, Alex Penfold, works for Meridian Rapid Defense Group, which produces the Archer barriers.

 

Sequestration and security

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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Heard enough about sequestration and its potential impact?

Well, here's some more, pertaining to security if the automatic, across-the-board budget cuts totaling $85 billion for fiscal year 2013 go into effect March 1.

I've read numerous news reports over the past few days dealing with everything from the Department of Homeland Security saying it would be forced to shut down its research and development lab, to the TSA stating it will need to furlough employees—resulting in longer lines at airport security checkpoints. The Pentagon says is would have to furlough civilian workers as soon as April. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol says its ranks would be cut. Port security could be threatened by sequestration as well, according to a report in the U-T San Diego.

Meanwhile, some nuclear arms sites would need to put employees on unpaid leave for weeks or months. Remember the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee? It would have to furlough 700 to 1,000 personnel for as much as six months, reports said.

"Clearly, these layoffs will adversely impact efforts to improve security" at Y-12, where three elderly peace activists, including an 82-year-old nun, last July reached a secured area that houses weapon-grade uranium, the Knoxville News Sentinel quoted an analysis from Democratic House Appropriations Committee members as saying.

And that's just the short list. But Y-12? Oh, my.

Update:

I just read a USA Today article on the sequestration's impact on FBI background checks for gun purchases. You can read it here.

 

Mechanical locks, keys still norm for BOMA members

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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

A focus group made up of 17 members of the Building Owners and Managers Association said that 90 percent of BOMA members still use mechanical locks and keys in their offices and workplaces, but more than 70 percent of them use access control and card credentials on their property perimeters, according to Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies.

Ingersoll Rand hosted the focus group at the BOMA Winter Business Meeting last month in Waikiki, Hawaii. The company's goal was to better understand BOMA members' security views, needs and concerns and the impact the group's decisions have on innovations to support commercial building applications, the company said in prepared statement.

Focus group members said they perceive complexity, cost and ease of use to be barriers to access control within commercial buildings. Nonetheless, property managers, owners and clients continue to search for ways to improve security and intelligence in their buildings, Ingersoll Rand said.

As a result of the meeting and others with BOMA constituents, Ingersoll Rand will be offering an exclusive innovation reveal to BOMA members at the Every Building Conference and Expo in San Diego June 23-25, it said. Stay tuned.

SIA takes on school security

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Thursday, February 14, 2013

Kudos to SIA for its initiatives to help lead the industry's efforts in school safety and security in the wake of the Sandy Hook mass shooting.

Chairman Jay Hauhn recently wrote to President Obama expressing SIA's support for specific, holistic school security measures, including funding for security assessments, investment in technology such as digital video cameras and access control systems and training for education and law enforcement personnel. Hauhn noted in his letter that those strategies and others can be quickly implemented if the Department of Justice's Secure Our Schools program is fully funded and if the president's Comprehensive School Safety Grant program is successful.

SIA board members Ron Zivney and Sandy Jones are working with CEO Donald Erickson to develop "Industry Groups" that will allow members to address common topics, including education and school security.

A new SIA LinkedIn group page, "SIA Safe Schools," has been created so that stakeholders can exchange ideas and concerns.

In addition, SIA will offer a four-session School Safety Series at ISC West in April that will cover monitoring remote areas, using smart phones as campus credentials, intelligent response to critical incidents and a case study on IP video surveillance in a campus setting.

Man behind 'Argo' to speak at CSO Roundtable

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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Have you seen the award-winning film Argo, the dramatization of the rescue of six U.S. diplomats during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis?

The movie was directed by Ben Affleck, who also stars in it, playing CIA operative Tony Mendez, who led the rescue.

Mendez will be the keynote speaker at the 6th Annual CSO Roundtable Spring Conference, "Lessons Learned. Problem Solved."

Mendez worked undercover for 25 years and was a master of disguise.

At the conference he will talk about how he engineered and conducted the hostage rescue plan, which involved having the hostages pose as Canadian filmmakers and included creating a phony Hollywood film production company. For his work, Mendez was awarded the Intelligence Star for Valor.

Sounds like a great a talk. The conference will be held March 4-5 in Chicago. For more information, go to www.asisonline.org.

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