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ON LAND, IN THE AIR AND ON THE SEA SSI MEANS SECURITY.
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October 2008 |
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Your bi-monthly update on Homeland Security
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Space limited for November 14 - 22, 2008 and February 20th - 28th, 2009!
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A Hunt in Garbage Helps Solve Eco-Terrorism Spree
 By Ed White
A business owner checking a trash container for scrap cardboard was alarmed by something else: gas masks, maps, an M-80 explosive, arson photos and anti-government writings.
"It was kinda scary," Andy Wishaw recalled. "Some of my employees said it's nothing. I thought, 'What's it going to hurt to call the police?'"
The discovery turned out to be a big break for the FBI.
Agents on the trail of eco-terrorism used the contents to help solve more than a dozen acts of arson and tree spikings in Michigan and Indiana committed in the name of a radical group, the Earth Liberation Front, known as ELF, from 1999 through 2003.
Details on the trash and other evidence against two key figures are in search warrants in federal court in western Michigan. The warrants and affidavits are sealed, but they've landed on the Internet, offering a look at
how the FBI closed in on Frank Ambrose and Marie Mason.
Read on...
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The scope of this training is to teach SWAT team members how to conduct an operation with the special characteristics peculiar to terrorist incidents and accomplish the mission, whether there are hostages involved, IED's, booby traps, or suicide terrorists with maximum safety for: citizens, team members and surrounding assets. By nature, the operation may become more similar to a military operation because, as mentioned above, this is a criminal act with a strategic goal. It is part of an ideological struggle against a state or population and may be carried out by a professional team of well equipped terrorist subjects.
Included in the scope are the goals of integrating Bomb technicians/ EOD personnel and K9 units effectively into the operational planning and training for such an incident. Medical, and other support personnel are required to respond to a terrorist incident and should be integrated for training also.
Another important feature in mitigating risk is ensuring each and every team member gains an awareness of: Improvised Explosive Devices, and terrorist methods of operation. It is essential to understand the danger posed by the terrorist methodologies: the prolific use of explosives, networked use of heavy weapons (firearms), concurrent operational acts and motivational factors that make a terrorist incident unique from other criminal acts.
This course showcases tactics, techniques and procedures that have been used successfully throughout the world to resolve terrorist incidents. US, Israeli and many other units have utilized these techniques. This material is not exhaustive. Terrorist techniques evolve and as such Counter-Terrorism Operations must evolve. This course provides proven concepts and ideas. Each agency trained will gain tremendous incite and a platform from which to begin an effective Counter-Terrorism program. Each agency must evaluate and adapt the techniques presented for use within their use-of-force policies and departmental SOPs.
CLICK HERE for more information!
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Terrorism Scenario Shared By Fire Commissioner
Boston Fire Department chiefs have been alerted to a chilling terrorism scenario involving LNG storage tanks in Everett, Mass., by Commissioner Roderick Fraser. The threat was immediately discounted by the company that owns the facility.
The scenario has a small private plane packed with explosives diving into an LNG tanker offloading natural gas at the Distrigas depot across the Mystic River from Boston's North End.
"An explosion with the power of more than 50 Hiroshima bombs destroys the entire storage depot. Boston's North End simply ceases to exist, along with parts of Chelsea, Everett, and Somerville," according to the post on the Web site newsmax.com.
Fraser confirmed that he sent the e-mail, which was forwarded by the Boston Firefighter's Union to Boston news organizations, to his staff.
Read on...
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High-Tech Devices Detect Radiation at Border Checkpoints
 By Barbara Grijalva
Border Patrol agents are using specialized tools to look for dirty bombs, explosive devices that can spread radioactive contamination.
Twenty-six miles north of the border and NOgales checkpoint, the Border Patrol has what it calls "another layer of protection" against dirty bombs and the components that can make them.
"Since October 1 to the end of August we've been thankful that we haven't had a dirty bomb come through, but we have had these radiation devices go off over 25 different times," Border Patrol spokesman Mike Scioli said.
Read on...
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"TRIPwire, the Technical Resource for Incident Prevention (www.tripwire-dhs.net), is DHS's online, collaborative, information-sharing network for bomb squad, law enforcement, first responders and other emergency services personnel to learn about current terrorist improvised explosive device (IED) tactics, techniques, and procedures, including design and emplacement considerations. By combining expert analyses and reports with relevant documents, images, and videos gathered directly from terrorist sources, TRIPwire helps law enforcement anticipate, identify, and prevent IED incidents. TRIPwire integrates information gathered directly from terrorist groups with analysis and collaboration tools to help first responders and law enforcement anticipate, identify, and prevent bombing incidents."
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FBI Investigates Break-in at ID Card Contractor
 By John Christofferson
Two laptop computers and other equipment were taken from a federal center in New Haven that processes applications for a program that provides identification cards to workers with access to seaports, federal officials said Wednesday.
Authorities say the computers, a camera and biometrics collection equipment were taken from the Grand Avenue site over the weekend.
The FBI is assessing whether there was a threat to national security, said spokesman Edward Garlick.
Christopher White, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, said the stolen laptops do not pose a security risk. He says data is wiped clean daily and is encrypted, so it's not accessible to thieves.
Read on...
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BOEING TO HOST SSI'S ACCLAIMED
PROTECTING AVIATION
in Tukwila, WA - November 10-11 2008
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Terrorism and Emergencies Field Guide for Media
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) created this guide to provide the most important information that media professionals might need in the field while covering a terrorist attack or other public health emergency. This guide was developed by HHS' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs as a compact companion to a more comprehensive guide on these topics, called "Terrorism and Other Public Health Emergencies: A Reference Guide for Media." This field guide is mainly aimed towards individual reporters, but may also be useful for newsroom managers and other media professionals.
These guides were created specifically to fill the void of expert-reviewed and approved information about terrorist agents and the public health system focusing on the unique needs posed by extreme public health emergencies. Resources dealing with natural disasters and related issues already exist in many forums. Just the same, many of the new programs and resources described in this field guide-and more fully in the media reference guide-are relevant to all public health emergencies including natural disasters. So, we hope this guide will be useful to you in a wide variety of emergencies. Read on...
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Al-Qaeda Targets Lethal Disease Research Facility on NY Island
By Annie Jacobsen
Until her arrest in Afghanistan this summer, Aafia Siddiqui was the FBI's most wanted woman in the world. Now the U.S.-educated, Pakistani mother of three is being held in New York's Metropolitan Detention Center facing attempted murder charges.
Aafia Siddiqui holds biology and neuroscience degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) and Brandeis University. In 2003, she vanished from Pakistan and reappeared on July 17, 2008, outside the governor's compound in Ghazni, Afghanistan. According to the FBI indictment against her, Siddiqui was carrying "various documents, various chemicals, and a computer thumb drive."
Aafia Siddiqui is believed to be an al-Qaeda operative. Among the documents in her possession were handwritten notes referring to a "mass-casualty attack" listing locations commonly known to be targets: Wall Street, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, and the Empire State Building. But one target, Plum Island, remains virtually unknown to the American public. If Siddiqui really is an al-Qaeda operative, the consideration that this government facility (officially known as the Plum Island Animal Disease Research Center) is a target is unnerving.
Read on... |
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Homeland Security Authorization Bill Falls by the Wayside
For another year, Congress will adjourn without passing legislation directing the sprawling Homeland Security Department's operations and spending, according to lawmakers and aides.
For months, House and Senate Democrats said they hoped Congress would complete an annual authorization bill for the department, which has grown in size and budget every year since its inception in 2003.
But any chance that a fiscal 2009 Homeland Security authorization bill would pass before Congress adjourns for the year has faded because Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., will not bring such a bill before his committee, his spokeswoman said.
Read on...
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US Mom Admits Helping Son Build Weapons Cache
NORRISTOWN, Pennsylvania - A woman admitted she helped her troubled, bullied 14-year-old son build a cache of weapons by buying him a rifle and gunpowder, but investigators still don't know if she was aware her son was planning a deadly school attack.
Michele Cossey, 46, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of child endangerment. She admitted that she bought him a rifle with a laser scope and gunpowder, which investigators said he was using to build grenades.
Prosecutors said her son, Dillon, came to idolize the Columbine High School shooters, who killed 12 classmates and a teacher before committing suicide in 1999 in Colorado, and was planning an attack last year on Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, which some former schoolmates attended.
Read on...
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An Exercise in Security at 150 Railroad Stations
 By Mathew L. Ward
Amtrak and the Transportation Security Administration deployed officers from about 100 local police departments to 150 train stations in 13 states and the District of Columbia during the morning rush on Tuesday in a drill to familiarize law enforcement personnel with the rail system and to practice working together. An Amtrak spokesman said some travelers were asked for identification and some were told to open their bags for inspection.
In many cases, the exercise meant mostly that more police officers were present in Amtrak and commuter rail stations, although some commuters may not have noticed. In some stations, police dogs were present.
Officials said the drill, along the Northeast corridor from Virginia to Vermont, was not in response to any threat, but was meant to demonstrate how the authorities could respond to one, or to an actual attack. Participating agencies included police departments from small jurisdictions, like Kingston, R.I., and Old Saybrook, Conn., Linden and Metuchen, N.J., Lower Merion, Pa., and Harpers Ferry, W.Va., as well as from big cities, including Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington.
Read on...
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Sincerely,
Security Solutions International |
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Security Solutions International, Kendall Tamiami Executive Airport, 14300 S.W. 129th Street, Suite 204, Miami, Fl. 33186
786-573-3999 Office, 786-573-2090 Fax
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