Future of homeland security

The Future

OF HOMELAND SECURITY

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 "Homeland security is a shared responsibility and
every citizen plays a critical role in identifying and
reporting suspicious activities and threats," said
Napolitano today. "The new 'If You See
Something, Say Something™" Spanish-language
public service announcements encourage citizens
across the county to work together to build a strong
foundation for a more secure and resilient
homeland."

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 Alec Baldwin, who was kicked off an American Airlines
flight Tuesday at Los Angeles International Airport after
a dispute with the airline crew, blamed the incident in
part on post-9/11 security measures.
 Baldwin, writing in a blog about the incident, noted that
airlines have struggled in recent years with bankruptcy
and declining service.
 "One of the big changes, in my time, is in the increase of
the post-9/11, paramilitary bearing of much of the air
travel business," he wrote in the blog post. "September
11th was a horrific day in the airline industry, yet in the
wake of that event, I believe carriers and airports have
used that as an excuse to make the air travel experience
as inelegant as possible."


 American Airlines said in a statement that Baldwin was
"extremely rude" and called the flight crew inappropriate
names that led to his being kicked off a flight in Los
Angeles.
 The airline said it would provide the "actual facts" of the
matter after "an extremely vocal customer" publicly
identified himself.
 On a plane about to leave Los Angeles International for
New York on Tuesday, Baldwin declined to turn off his
cellphone at the appropriate time, then stood up, took his
phone into the restroom and slammed the door, the
airline said.


 "He slammed the lavatory door so hard, the cockpit
crew heard it and became alarmed, even with the
cockpit door closed and locked," the statement said.
"They immediately contacted the cabin crew to check
on the situation. The passenger was extremely rude
to the crew, calling them inappropriate names and
using offensive language. Given the facts above, the
passenger was removed from the flight and denied
boarding."


 Two New York politicians urged the Transportation
Security Administration on Dec 11, 2011 to provide
passenger advocates on site at airport screenings
after four elderly women complained of intrusive
searches by security agents in recent months.
 Senator Charles Schumer and State Senator Michael
Gianaris told Homeland Security Director Janet
Napolitano and TSA Administrator John Pistole in a
letter that an on-site passenger advocate would help
strike the right balance between security and
protecting vulnerable travelers.


 "I appreciate the TSA's work to keep air passengers
safe, but passengers should not be humiliated and
degraded during their travels," Gianaris said in a
statement accompanying the letter.
 The call came after several elderly women came
forward in the busy travel weeks around
Thanksgiving to complain they were "strip searched
by TSA agents", including three at New York's John
F. Kennedy International Airport, the letter said.
 On Dec 11.2011, the TSA denied on its blog that the
women had been strip searched.

Future Homeland Security

 "TSA does not and has never conducted strip
searches, and no strip searches occurred in any of these
incidents," the official statement posted by TSA blogger
Bob Burns said.
 The same day, Ruth Sherman, 88, of
Sunrise, Florida, was asked about a visible protrusion
from her waist band, which she identified as her
colostomy bag.
 She was "escorted to another room where two female
agents made her lower her pants for an inspection.
Sherman raised concerns that the agents would disrupt
her colostomy bag, causing pain and potential damage,"
the letter said.


 A third woman, Linda Kallish, of
Boynton, Florida, said that after she revealed she was
a diabetic with an insulin pump in her leg, she was
escorted to a separate room where she was told to
remove her pants so the agents could check the
pump, the letter said, without saying when that
incident took place.
 The TSA blamed some of the problems on "a bit of
miscommunication" and noted that JFK officers
were receiving refresher training on "how to
respectfully and safely screen passengers with
disabilities or medical conditions."


 Armed with a search warrant, Nelson County Sheriff
Kelly Janke went looking for six missing cows on the
Brossart family farm in the early evening of June 23.
Three men brandishing rifles chased him off, he said.
 Janke knew the gunmen could be anywhere on the
3,000-acre spread in eastern North Dakota. Fearful
of an armed standoff, he called in reinforcements
from the state Highway Patrol, a regional SWAT
team, a bomb squad, ambulances and deputy sheriffs
from three other counties.
 He also called in a Predator B drone.


 As the unmanned aircraft circled 2 miles overhead the
next morning, sophisticated sensors under the nose
helped pinpoint the three suspects and showed they were
unarmed. Police rushed in and made the first known
arrests of U.S. citizens with help from a Predator, the spy
drone that has helped revolutionize modern warfare.
 But that was just the start. Local police say they have
used two unarmed Predators based at Grand Forks Air
Force Base to fly at least two dozen surveillance flights
since June. The FBI and Drug Enforcement
Administration have used Predators for other domestic
investigations, officials said.


 "We don't use [drones] on every call out," said Bill
Macki, head of the police SWAT team in Grand
Forks. "If we have something in town like an
apartment complex, we don't call them.
 "The drones belong to U.S. Customs and Border
Protection, which operates eight Predators on the
country's northern and southwestern borders to
search for illegal immigrants and smugglers. The
previously unreported use of its drones to assist
local, state and federal law enforcement has occurred
without any public acknowledgment or debate.


 Congress first authorized Customs and Border Protection
to buy unarmed Predators in 2005. Officials in charge of
the fleet cite broad authority to work with police from
budget requests to Congress that cite "interior law
enforcement support" as part of their mission.
 In an interview, Michael C. Kostelnik, a retired Air Force
general who heads the office that supervises the
drones, said Predators are flown "in many areas around
the country, not only for federal operators, but also for
state and local law enforcement and emergency
responders in times of crisis."

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 But former Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice), who sat on
the House homeland security intelligence subcommittee
at the time and served as its chairwoman from 2007 until
early this year, said no one ever discussed using
Predators to help local police serve warrants or do other
basic work.
 Using Predators for routine law enforcement without
public debate or clear legal authority is a
mistake, Harman said.
 "There is no question that this could become something
that people will regret," said Harman, who resigned from
the House in February and now heads the Woodrow
Wilson International Center for Scholars, a Washington
think tank.


 Proponents say the high-resolution cameras, heat
sensors and sophisticated radar on the border
protection drones can help track criminal activity in
the United States, just as the CIA uses Predators and
other drones to spy on militants in Pakistan, nuclear
sites in Iran and other targets around the globe.
 Advocates say Predators are simply more effective
than other planes. Flying out of earshot and out of
sight, a Predator B can watch a target for 20 hours
nonstop, far longer than any police helicopter or
manned aircraft.


 A shoulder-mounted laser that emits a blinding wall of
light capable of repelling rioters is to be trialled by police
under preparations to prevent a repeat of this summer's
looting and arson.
 The laser, resembling a rifle and known as an SMU
100, can dazzle and incapacitate targets up to 500m away
with a wall of light up to three metres squared. It costs
£25,000 and has an infrared scope to spot looters in poor
visibility.
 Looking at the intense beam causes a short-lived effect
similar to staring at the sun, forcing the target to turn
away.


 The Home Office has been considering new forms of
non-lethal equipment since the August riots, with
the limited range of tasers and CS gas leaving a
"capability gap".
 Other technology being studied includes 'wireless
electronic interceptors' that can be fired a greater
distance than Tasers, and long-range chemical
irritant projectiles, the newspaper said.


 In just two months of existence, OWS had scored
plenty of victories: spreading from New York to more
than 900 cities worldwide; introducing to the
vernacular a potent catchphrase, “We are the 99
percent”; injecting into the national conversation the
topic of income inequality.
 Among Occupy’s organizers, there is fervid talk
about occupying both the Democratic and
Republican conventions. About occupying the
National Mall in Washington, D.C. About, in
effect, transforming 2012 into 1968 redux.


 In 1967, the Yippie movement had already begun
planning a youth festival in Chicago to coincide with
the Democratic National Convention. They were not
alone; other groups, such as Students For a
Democratic Society and the National Mobilization
Committee to End the War in Vietnam, also made
their presence known.
 When asked about anti-war demonstrators, Daley
kept repeating to reporters that “No thousands will
come to our city and take over our streets, or
city, our convention.”


 In the end, 10,000 demonstrators gathered in Chicago
for the convention where they were met by 23,000 police
and National Guardsmen.
 Daley also thought that one way to prevent
demonstrators from coming to Chicago was to refuse to
grant permits which would allow for people to protest
legally.
 After the violence which took place at the Chicago
convention, Daley claimed his primary reason for calling
in so many Guardsmen and police was reports he
received indicating the existence of plots to assassinate
many of the leaders, including himself.

Future of homeland security

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