The Department of Justice announced that six men have been arrested and charged federally with conspiring to kidnap the Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer. According to a complaint, this group used operational security measures, including communicating by encrypted messaging platforms and used code words and phrases in an attempt to avoid detection by law enforcement.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao announced the launch of this year’s Stop. Trains Can’t. public education campaign, which will run through November 8. This national $6.6 million safety campaign will run on radio, digital, and social media, educating drivers not to gamble with their lives at rail grade crossings. The campaign will also target high-risk highway-railway crossings in Alabama, Arizona, California, Georgia, Indiana, Tennessee, and Texas.
Skyfire Consulting, a public safety UAS consulting group, announced the appointment of Michael Briant as Chief Security Officer (CSO) and Michael Rogers as Director of Public Safety. Both will team up and bring their experience to the Skyfire Academy, as they lead a robust training programs in the industry.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has launched a crowdsourcing challenge to spur new methods to ensure that important public safety data sets can be de-identified to protect individual privacy. The Differential Privacy Temporal Map Challenge includes a series of contests that will award a total of up to $276,000 for differential privacy solutions for complex data sets that include information on both time and location.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) joined with public and private-sector partners to conduct an interagency Tabletop Exercise (TTX) called “National Harbor 2020 – Recovery Phase Exercise,” September 29 – 30, to test the processes and plans required by regional government and business partners following a notional catastrophic incident at National Harbor outside of Washington, D.C.
On September 1 and 2, DHS Policy’s Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention program (TVTP) hosted the 5th Digital Forum on Terrorism Prevention for approximately 60 mostly Atlanta-based civil society leaders. This year’s Forum gave these leaders an opportunity to learn directly from technology and marketing experts on how to combat terrorist use of the internet. Community leaders attended multiple sessions over the two-day Forum, including: “The Threat—Narratives & Recruitment in the Online Space;” “Responses to Terrorism;” “Research, Trends & Data;” “Tech Talk & Toolkit;” and “Online to Offline Interventions & Referrals.”
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) presented its prestigious Baseline Assessment for Security Enhancement (BASE) Gold Standard Award to the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC) for its ongoing efforts to provide a safe transit experience for its riders throughout the system.
Now more than ever, government policy makers need to focus resources; allowing law enforcement to focus on the core duties and responsibilities of law enforcement officers. And industries like ours, need to be creative in developing solutions to support them in this effort. The physical security industry supports law enforcement and when private security works in partnership with law enforcement, police officers have more time to focus on preventing and solving crimes.
Sandi J. Davies, executive director of the International Foundation for Protection Officers, recently announced the appointment of Charles “Chuck” Andrews, CPP as Chief Strategic Officer for the IFPO.
