Homeland Security Leader

HSLEADER recently traveled to Russia and France. Here are some images of their police and security professionals as well as some local landmarks. The visit to Russia was especially eye opening and I came away with a much better understanding of the country, its politics and people.

Any homeland security professional could benefit from a trip to Russia to observe their security standards and practices. Frankly, most American professional would consider the standards somewhat lax. I found visitors could come and go from most major areas and landmarks with no direct scrutiny or security searches. However, there is certainly the sense that if you did cause trouble, you would be pounced on rather quickly by stern looking officers.

Throughout the trip I noticed numerous soldiers, police and security guards. However, most were either unarmed or armed with only a nightstick. There were very few guns to be seen in general.

The gravest security issue I observed was that access to many landmarks, including the St. Basil’s Cathedral (one of the world’s historical treasures), required no magnetometer or hand search. And, while I have no information on the religious, political or financial concerns impacting this decision, it certainly stuck out to me as a serious concern.

On the other hand, security procedures at the airports were solid and efficient. Travelers go through a variety of checks and screenings that provide confidence in their aviation security efforts.

I am delighted to put in a plug for Aeroflot, the Russian airline. Their flight from Moscow to Paris was conducted on a modern plane with a spotless comfortable cabin. The in-flight meal was delicious and provided about three times the food of a comparable American flight. It is sad to say that American airlines could learn a lesson in terms of service and comfort from their Russian counterpart.

Finally, a few notes on the threat of crime, pick-pockets and street thugs while traveling in Russia. In preparing for my trip, I was warned by numerous sources, including several Russians, about safety concerns related to traveling in Russia. Apparently, Moscow has the highest murder rate of any city in the world. I, consequently, took solid measures to protect myself and my valuable, including having a loca escort during most of my trip. However, throughout the trip, including trips on planes, trains, subways, trolleys and buses, while travelling day, night and overnight, I never encountered a single problem or concerning situation. Frankly, I felt as safe in Moscow than I would in any major city in the United States. As is usually the case, everyone creates their own personal security posture by managing how they conduct themselves in public, remaining situationally aware and choosing their environments carefully.

Naturally, I urge any American traveling overseas to take all necessary precautions to fit into their international environment, understand the current risks and to avoid dangerous areas or situations. I just wanted to be clear that at no time during my entire trip did I encounter any negative or threatening situation.

Again, I believe a trip to Russia that includes a trip to an area outside of metropolitan Moscow can be an informative and valuable research and training exercise for any American homeland security professional.

Here are some pictures from the trip…

From Military.com

WASHINGTON - Military leaders have suspended some activities at biological research laboratories to review safety rules for some of the world’s deadliest germs and toxins, including how they are shipped through FedEx and other civilian carriers.

Defense officials said the action is part of a larger review ordered when a researcher at an Army lab committed suicide last month after being told he would be charged in the 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people.

Navy and Air Force officials told The Associated Press on Thursday that they are temporarily halting shipments of dangerous biological agents to and from their medical and research labs.

They also said that during the review, they won’t allow any employees to handle such materials inside their labs unless the employee is enrolled in a special program to do so - or monitored by someone who is enrolled.

The Army also said for the first time Thursday that it had halted it shipments from Aug. 8-14 for a similar review of procedures - and then tightened some.

Full Story

From NY Times

By ERIC LICHTBLAU

WASHINGTON — A Justice Department plan would loosen restrictions on the Federal Bureau of Investigation to allow agents to open a national security or criminal investigation against someone without any clear basis for suspicion, Democratic lawmakers briefed on the details said Wednesday.

The plan, which could be made public next month, has already generated intense interest and speculation. Little is known about its precise language, but civil liberties advocates say they fear it could give the government even broader license to open terrorism investigations.

Congressional staff members got a glimpse of some of the details in closed briefings this month, and four Democratic senators told Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey in a letter on Wednesday that they were troubled by what they heard.

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From Washintgon Post  By Walter Pincus

The Defense Intelligence Agency’s newly created Defense Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Center is going to have an office authorized for the first time to carry out “strategic offensive counterintelligence operations,” according to Mike Pick, who will direct the program.

Such covert offensive operations are carried out at home and abroad against people known or suspected to be foreign intelligence officers or connected to foreign intelligence or international terrorist activities — but not against U.S. citizens, said Toby Sullivan, director of counterintelligence for James R. Clapper Jr., the undersecretary of defense for intelligence.

Sullivan and Pick, who is chief of the agency’s Counterintelligence Human Intelligence Enterprise Management Office, spoke to reporters during a Pentagon briefing this month.

These sensitive, clandestine operations are “tightly controlled departmental activities run by a small group of specially selected people” within the Defense Department, said Sullivan, who exercises authority over all Pentagon counterintelligence activities. The investigative branches of the three services — the Army’s Counterintelligence Corps, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service — have done secret offensive counterintelligence operations for years, and now DIA has been given the authority.

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From Department of Homeland Security

Release Date: July 31, 2008

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010

Fact Sheet
National Emergency Communications Plan
(PDF, 83 pages - 4.09 MB)

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released today the National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) to address gaps and determine solutions so that emergency response personnel at all levels of government and across all disciplines can communicate as needed, on demand, and as authorized. The NECP is the nation’s first strategic plan to improve emergency response communications, and complements overarching homeland security and emergency communications legislation, strategies and initiatives.

“This is a comprehensive plan designed to drive measurable and sustainable improvements to operable and interoperable emergency communications nationwide over the next three years. It emphasizes the human element and cross-jurisdictional cooperation, going beyond simply buying new equipment,” said Homeland Security Under Secretary Robert Jamison. “We have recently approved Statewide Communication Interoperability Plans for all 56 states and territories. Aligning these plans with the NECP will move emergency communications forward and further promote a coordinated nationwide strategy.”

The NECP defines three goals that establish a minimum level of interoperable communications and a deadline for federal, state, local and tribal authorities:

1. By 2010, 90 percent of all high-risk urban areas designated within the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) can demonstrate response-level emergency communications within one hour for routine events involving multiple jurisdictions and agencies.
2. By 2011, 75 percent of non-UASI jurisdictions can demonstrate response-level emergency communications within one hour for routine events involving multiple jurisdictions and agencies.
3. By 2013, 75 percent of all jurisdictions can demonstrate response-level emergency communications within three hours of a significant event, as outlined in the department’s national planning scenario

Full Press Release

From Military.com

LOS ANGELES - Here’s a mind-bending idea: The U.S. military is paying scientists to study ways to read people’s thoughts. The hope is that the research could someday lead to a gadget capable of translating the thoughts of Soldiers who suffered brain injuries in combat or even stroke patients in hospitals.

But the research also raises concerns that such mind-reading technology could be used to interrogate the enemy.

Armed with a $4 million grant from the Army, scientists are studying brain signals to try to decipher what a person is thinking and to whom the person wants to direct the message.

The project is a collaboration among researchers at the University of California, Irvine; Carnegie Mellon University; and the University of Maryland.

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