terrorism

Last month, Elevated Risk wrote about a batch of documents we’d obtained from the New York State Office of Homeland Security using open-government laws. They showed that in some cases, public safety equipment purchased with the hundreds of millions of dollars New York has received in federal homeland security grants since Sept. 11 went unused for long lengths of time.

Chautauqua County in western New York State is just a few paces – or 300 miles to be more exact – from Times Square. Flickr image by Doug Kerr

Speed detectors purchased by the city of Glendale in California with federal homeland security grants. Photo courtesy California Emergency Management Agency

Local police intelligence fusion centers created after Sept. 11 to foil terrorism plots are now being used for the most common law enforcement responsibilities despite an enormous investment from the Department of Homeland Security.

On several occasions in recent weeks, lawmakers and local officials from New York have loudly complained that the Obama administration is shortchanging them on federal preparedness funds while the Big Apple continues to face significant terrorist threats.

A leading manufacturer of full-body airport scanners in the United States is gushing to investors that its fortunes have swelled since prosecutors accused a Nigerian man of carrying explosives onto an airliner bound for Detroit last Christmas.

Armored truck purchased by police in Long Beach, Calif., with readiness grants

Police in Great Britain’s largest city of London are training thousands of private security guards to be on the lookout for individuals making sketches near buildings, taking photographs and recording video footage, even if they appear to be legitimate tourists, the country’s Guardian newspaper reports.

Since its inception, the Department of Homeland Security has promoted modern technology as a way to save the nation from terrorism, and it’s done so in part by emulating the Pentagon’s preoccupation with science and experimentation. Some of the country’s most significant achievements, in fact, were conceived by pioneering researchers the government hired to help give warfighters an advantage over their enemies.

The state of Iowa has posted intriguing videos online that depict how controversial state and local intelligence fusion centers operate. Several dozen centers have been constructed around the United States with the help of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal homeland security grants. Authorities argue the centers will help prevent another 9/11 attack by enabling police to collect and share critical intelligence about possible terrorist threats.