GSN June/July 2014 Digital Edition

Government Security News June/July Digital Edition

Children in Danger: A Guide to the Humanitarian Challenge of the Border By the American Immigration Council

Will the National Guard Matter in Texas? It Depends More on Authority than Numbers

By Janice Kephart

Across the Timeline: Solutions From Before the Boom to the Final Cleanup

By FLIR Systems

Table of Contents Children in Danger: A Guide to the Humanitarian Challenge at the Border The American Immigration Council has prepared this guide in order to provide policymakers, the media, and the public with basic information surrounding the current humanitarian challenge the U.S. is facing as thousands of young migrants show up at our southern border. This guide seeks to explain the basics. Who are the unaccompanied children and why are they coming? What basic protections are they entitled to by law? What happens to unaccompanied children once they are in U.S. custody? What has the government done so far? What additional responses have been proposed to address this issue?

Editor’s Note:This Background excerpt of “Children in Danger” represents the first of three sections of the “Guide to the Humanitarian Challenge at the Border,” produced in July of 2014 by the American Immigration Council may be read or downloaded at: Link

Airservices Australia extends Exelis C4i voice communications contract to additional airports Exelis C4i, a business unit of Exelis Inc. (NYSE: XLS), has been awarded a contract extension by Airservices Australia to provide its voice communications system to six additional airports. This extension brings the number of Australian airports served

by Exelis C4i to 27, with presence at all Australian capital city airports and 19 regional airports. C4i, which was acquired by Exelis in January, 2013, was Winner in GSN’s 2012 Homeland Security Awards Program in the category of “Best Interoperable First Responder Communications”

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Whether the National Guard Matters in Texas Depends on More on Authority than Numbers Guest Commentary by Janice Kephart Editor’s note: On July 28, 2014, Kephart did a national radio ‘tour’ for FOX affiliates on the subject of this article, and much of the contents of the article reflects her comments on the air. She is also the founder and CEO of the Secure Identity and Biometrics Association Last week Texas Governor Rick Perry called up of 1,000 of his own Texas National Guard to support the Texas Department of Public Safety to fight the increase in crime by drug cartels and gangs and help support rescue needs of migrants seeking help, including children. Governor Perry’s unilateral action indicates he learned his lesson from a 2010 request to the President for 1,000 National Guard to help control a surge in drug cartel violence from south of the border that had spilled into Texas, and months later was only provided 250 troops for the entire 1,200 Texas border miles. What is left from that 2010 deployment are a handful of helicopters for the southwest border.

Across the Timeline: Solutions from Before the Boom to Final Cleanup Protecting people and property from the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and other acts of terror requires a broad spectrum, systems-based approach to secure the homeland. The primary mission varies from the needs of the front line operator to the central command station. From deterrence and detection in a checkpoint to incident response, intelligence and clean-up, each event across the timeline requires a specific set of capabilities to result in a specific actionable outcome. These variable requirements, from before the boom to final cleanup, drive the need for a whole system approach that takes into account not only the type of threat (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives “CBRNE”, or Drugs), but also the capability needed based on the time allotted for an operator to complete their mission. This article demonstrates parts of an innovative systems-based approach from FLIR Systems, designed to help secure the homeland across the timeline.

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Stricter Rules Proposed for Safer Crude Oil Transportation By: Lorrie Barclay The Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) detailing a comprehensive proposal to improve railway safety while transporting large quantities of flammable materials, such as crude oil and ethanol. The proposal is based on responses from more than 152,000 commenters. The proposal focuses on enhanced tank car standards, a classification program for mined gases and liquids, and new operational requirements for high-hazard flammable trains (HHFT).

NOAA: “Nuisance Flooding” an Increasing Problem as Coastal Sea Levels Rise Eight of the top 10 U.S. cities that have seen an increase in so-called “nuisance flooding” -- which causes such public inconveniences as frequent road closures, overwhelmed storm drains and compromised infrastructure -- are on the East Coast, according to a new NOAA technical report. This nuisance flooding, caused by rising sea levels, has increased on all three U.S. coasts, between 300 and 925 percent since the 1960s. The report, Sea Level Rise and Nuisance Flood Frequency Changes around the United States, also finds Annapolis and Baltimore, MD, lead the list with an increase in number of flood days of more than 920 percent since 1960.

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Port of Baltimore Wins GSN 2014 Award for Most NotableSeaport for Multiple Development and Security Initiatives The Port of Baltimore, nominated by Marianne Molchan of Molchan Marine Service, was recently named winner for a number of very good reasons in the Most Notable Seaport Initiatives category in GSN’s 2014 Airport, Seaport, Border Security Awards Program. It’s one of only two Eastern U.S. ports where the main shipping channel reaches a depth of 50 feet (15.2 meters). The port’s public terminals gave increased their cargo exports 22.6 percent in the last four years, and overall export from the public terminals is 52.2% higher than it was since 2007. In the U.S. Coast Guard’s 2013 annual security inspection of the Maryland Port Authority (MPA) earned a perfect evaluation; overall, the MPA has received six straight “Excellent” evaluations by the U.S. Coast Guard. There’s a lot more, including information about the Port’s Remote Control Submersible Vehicle.

Baltimore/Washington Thurgood Marshall (BWI) Airport Gets the Gold in Two Important Categories of GSN’s 2014 Airport, Seaport, Border Security Awards With an annual passenger count of 21 million, BWI handles more than 70,000 annual calls for service though its Consolidated Dispatch Center (CDC), the Intergraph Public Safety and Security PSIM. The system’s primary mission was to receive alerts and emergency calls for service and dispatching for all police, security, fire and emergency medical services. But its features and benefits go far beyond the primary mission to include, just to name a few examples, combining PSIM with CAD for comprehensive and cohesive common operating picture; full situation awareness from the moment a sensor is triggered all the way to response through dispatching and resolution of an incident. Public safety and security interfaces include Automated Vehicle Locater, Enhanced 911 call processing, 911 database management, Access Control systems, Video Management systems, FLEX and AED alarms and more.

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Children in Danger:

Why are these children and families leaving their home countries?

A Guide to the Humanitarian Challenge at the Border

Researchers consistently cite increased Northern Triangle violence as the primary recent motivation for migration, while identifying multiple causes including poverty and family reunification. A report by the Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS), citing 2012 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) data, highlighted that Honduras had a homicide rate of 90.4 per 100,000 people. El Salvador and Guatemala had homicide rates of 41.2 and 39.9, respectively. In comparison, the war-torn country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from which nearly half a million refugees have fled, has a homicide rate of 28.3 per 100,000 people.

Furthermore, in a recent report Tom Wong took the UNDOC data and compared it to the data on unaccompanied children provided by CBP. Wong found a positive relationship between violence and the flow of children: “meaning that higher rates of homicide in countries such as Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala are related to greater numbers of children fleeing to the United States.”

Where are these children coming from?

The vast majority of unaccompanied children come from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, although unaccompanied children may arrive from any country. The recent increase in arrivals is due to the migration of children from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador—a region of Central America known as the “Northern Triangle.” According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), 52,193 unaccompanied children were apprehended at the southwest border between October 1, 2013, and June 15, 2014.

The largest number of children (29 percent of the total) came from Honduras, followed by Guatemala (24 percent), Mexico (23 percent), and El Salvador (22 percent).

Source: CBP. *FY 2014 through June 31, 2014.

While there can be multiple reasons that a child leaves his or her country, children from the Northern Triangle consistently cite gang or cartel violence as a prime motivation for migrating.

Research conducted in El Salvador on child migrants who were returned from Mexico found that 61 percent listed crime, gang threats, and

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Are they coming because of President Obama’s enforcement policy?

insecurity as a reason for leaving. The report, Children on the Run, by the United Nation’s High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) found that 48 percent of the 404 children UNHCR interviewed “shared experiences of how they had been personally affected by the…violence in the region by organized armed criminal actors, including drug cartels and gangs or by State actors.” Furthermore, the youth are frequently the target of the violence. Recruitment for the gangs begins in adolescence—or younger—and there are incidents of youth being beaten by police who suspected them of gang membership

Recent U.S. immigration enforcement policy does not appear to be a primary cause of the migration, although the reasons behind so many unaccompanied children making their way to the United States are not simple. For instance, the rise in violence and corresponding increase in unaccompanied child arrivals precedes both the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and Senate passage of S.744—positive

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developments that are sometimes cited as pull factors by Obama administration critics. In their 2012 report, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) stated that “in a five month period between March and July 2012, the UAC program received almost 7,200 referrals – surpassing FY2011’s total annual referrals.” As previously discussed, countries in the Northern Triangle of Central America face soaring murder rates and escalating gang violence. Research conducted by Elizabeth Kennedy, a Fulbright scholar in El Salvador, indicates that violence is the primary cause, even among those who also cite poverty or family reunification as reasons for their departure. This influx is not limited to the United States, as growing numbers of adults and children from those countries are also seeking refuge in Mexico, Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Belize. Conditions in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala have reached a

tipping point, and more people are reaching the conclusion that they can no longer stay safely in their homes.

Would more Border Patrol resources deter border crossers?

There is little evidence to support the proposition that the border must be further fortified to deter an influx of children and families. The flow of undocumented immigrants into the United States is tied more to economic factors than to increased enforcement. In this case, fear of violence is motivating the influx. In addition, CBP’s resources along the southwest border are already significant. There were 18,611 Border Patrol agents stationed along the southwest border as of Fiscal Year (FY) 2013. The annual Border Patrol budget now stands at $3.5 billion. The Border Patrol

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Do Central American children qualify for international protection obligations?

has at its command a wide array of surveillance technologies: ground radar, cameras, motion detectors, thermal imaging sensors, stadium lighting, helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Treating the current situation as simply another wave of illegal immigration misses the broader policy and humanitarian concerns that are driving it. In fact, many children are turning themselves over to Border Patrol agents upon arrival and are not seeking to evade apprehension.

Many of the children fleeing to the United States have international protection needs and could be eligible for humanitarian relief. According to UNHCR’s survey of 404 unaccompanied children from Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, 58 percent “were forcibly displaced because they suffered or faced harms that indicated a potential or actual need for international

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protection.” Notably, of those surveyed, UNHCR thought 72 percent of the children from El Salvador, 57 percent from Honduras and 38 percent from Guatemala merited protection. While international protection standards are in some cases broader than current U.S. laws, the fact that over 50 percent of the children UNHCR surveyed might qualify as refugees suggests that a thorough and fair review of these children’s claims is necessary to prevent them from being returned to danger.

Moreover, children may also qualify for particular U.S. forms of humanitarian relief, based on laws that recognize children as victims of trafficking and crime, or as children who have been abused or abandoned by their parents. A 2010 survey conducted by the Vera Institute of Justice indicated that 40 percent of children screened while in ORR custody could be eligible for relief from removal under U.S. laws. Given their age,

the complexity of their claims, and the trauma that generally accompanies their journey, determining whether these children qualify for some form of protection can be a time-consuming process—one that is not easily completed in a short period of time.

What is the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA)?

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act was signed into law in 2000 to address human trafficking concerns. It was subsequently reauthorized during both the Bush and Obama administrations in 2003, 2005, 2008, and 2013, and subsequently referred to as the TVPRA. Under provisions added in 2008, the TVPRA re-

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quires that all unaccompanied alien children be screened as potential victims of human trafficking. However, as described further below, procedural protections for children are different for children from contiguous countries (i.e. Mexico and Canada) and non-contiguous countries (all others). While children from non-contiguous countries are transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for trafficking screening, and placed into formal immigration court removal proceedings, Mexican and Canadian children are screened by CBP for trafficking

and, if no signs are reported, summarily returned pursuant to negotiated repatriation agreements.

The TVPRA in 2008 also ensured that unaccompanied alien children are exempt from certain limitations on asylum (i.e. a one-year filing deadline, and the standard safe third country limitation). It also required HHS to ensure “to the greatest extent practicable” that unaccompanied children in HHS custody have counsel, as described further below—not only “to represent them in legal proceedings,” but “protect them from mistreatment, exploitation, and trafficking.”

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What types of relief do unaccompanied children potentially qualify for?

dependency orders issued by a juvenile court.

• U visas: A U visa is available to victims of certain crimes. To be eligible, the person must have suffered substantial physical or mental abuse and have cooperated with law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of the crime.

• T visas: T visas are available to individuals who have been victims of a severe form of trafficking. To be eligible, the person must demonstrate that he or she would suffer extreme hardship involving unusual or severe harm if ris emoved from the United States.

The most common types of relief for which children potentially are eligible include: • Asylum: Asylum is a form of international protection granted to refugees who are present in the United States. In order to qualify for asylum, a person must demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution based on one of five grounds: race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.

• Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS): SIJS is a humanitarian form of relief available to noncitizen minors who enter the child welfare system due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment by one or both parents.

To be eligible for SIJS, a child must be under 21, unmarried, and the subject of certain

Editor’s Note: This Background excerpt of “Children in Danger” represents the first of three sections of the “Guide to the Humanitarian Challenge at the Border” produced in July of 2014 by the American Immigration Council.

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The second section, called “Procedures and Policies”, deals with the procedures and basis for these procedures being administered, and the legal rights of both the immigrant children and the government agencies. The final section of the Guide, “The U.S. Government, and Other Proposed Responses,” describes the government actions and policies that have been instituted; funding for the government’s

handling of the situation; and additional solutions that have been proposed.

The entire Guide may be viewed and downloaded at the website of the American Immigration Council at http://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/. 

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Airservices Australia extends Exelis C4i voice communications contract to additional airports

The Exelis C4i system, called SwitchplusIP® Alarmon®, integrates all airport voice communications for the Aviation Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) services and alarm and telemetry monitoring.

The system also automates processes and procedures for responding to critical events faced by the ARFF at the airport. Providing this integrated emergency response coordination system reflects the Exelis commitment to extend leadership in the strategic growth area of critical networks.

Exelis C4i, a business unit of Exelis Inc. (NYSE: XLS), has been awarded a contract extension by Airservices Australia to provide its voice communications system to six additional airports. This extension brings the number of Australian airports served by Exelis C4i to 27, with presence at all Australian capital city airports and 19 regional airports.

“The system, when connected to the Airservices national network, provides a system of systems solution,” said Peter Harrison, managing director for Exelis C4i. “The benefit of such application allows for resources at airports to enhance command and control capability which assists skilled personnel at the airports during an incident.”

C4i, which was acquired by Exelis in January, 2013, was Winner in GSN’s 2012 Homeland Security Awards Program in the category of “Best Interoperable First Responder Communications.”

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The Alarmon product at each airport provides an integrated console, and the system has the capability for remote operators to log on as local operators. This enables all of the communications assets, local procedures, numbers and contact personnel to be available through the touch screen-based application as though the operators were physically at the remote location.

Information available includes radios, public address systems, telephony, mobile phones, and building fire alarms. The console enables monitoring of aircraft communications, ARFF communications for personnel and vehicles, monitoring of building fire alarms, control facilities, and true command and control capability to manage realtime emergency response events at airports.

homeland security. C4i Pty. Ltd. was acquired by Exelis in January 2013.

About Exelis Exelis is a diversified, top-tier global aerospace, defense, information and services company that leverages a 50-year legacy of deep customer knowledge and technical expertise to deliver affordable, mission-critical solutions for global customers. We are a leader in timing and navigation, sensors, air traffic solutions, image processing and distribution, communications and information systems, logistics and technical services; and we are focused on strategic growth in the areas of critical networks, ISR and analytics, electronic warfare and composite aerostructures. Headquartered in McLean, Va., Exelis employs about 19,000 people and generated 2012 sales of $5.5 billion. For more information, visit our website at www.exelisinc.com or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. 

Airservices Australia and Exelis C4i won the “Technical Achievement” award for Alarmon and its contribution to efficiency and safety at airports by the Aircraft Rescue & Fire Fighting Working Group (ARFFWG) in 2010. ARFFWG is a nonprofit international organization dedicated to the sharing of ARFF information among airport firefighters, municipal fire departments, and all others concerned with aircraft fire fighting.

Exelis C4i is based in Melbourne, Australia, and provides advanced communications software that supports mission-critical communications for a range of applications including air traffic management, defense, public safety, mining and

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Secure Identity & Biometrics Association. On July 28, 2014, Kephart did a national radio ‘tour’ for FOX affiliates on the subject of this article, and much of the content of this article reflects her comments on the air.

Washington, D.C. - Last week Texas Governor Rick Perry called up of 1,000 of his own Texas National Guard to support the Texas Department of Public Safety to fight the increase in crime by drug cartels and gangs and help support rescue needs of migrants seeking help, including children. Governor Perry’s unilateral action indicates he learned his lesson from a 2010 request to the President for 1,000 National Guard to help control a surge in drug cartel violence from south of the border that had spilled into Texas, and months later was only provided 250 troops for the entire 1,200 Texas border miles. What is left from that 2010 deployment are a handful of helicopters for the southwest border.

Guest Commentary: Whether the National Guard Matters in Texas Depends on More on Authority than Numbers

Why would the governor request National Guard?

Because National Guard troops have a solid and honed working relationship with the Border Patrol to work interdictions, infrastructure support, technology deployments, and rescues. In addition, National Guard is trained to deal with civilians in stressful environments, whether it be war or disasters.

by Janice Kephart Janice is a national recognized border and identity security expert who has served as counsel to the 9/11 Commission, national security director at a DC think tank for five years, hosted “The Homeland Security Show with Janice Kephart,” regularly testifies before Congress, and is founder and CEO of the

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Background

schools, social services and health systems largely funded by the states.” They also complained of the administration’s admission that HHS “that the federal government is not inquiring whether these undocumented children are being placed with sponsors or relatives who are undocumented themselves.” Of course, that makes sense, as HHS has no authority to carry out or make immigration determinations.

To place the border crisis in perspective, the Department of Homeland Security has referred over 50,000 children to the Department of Health and Human Services in the past ten months, tasked with caring for these children. Over 85 percent of these children - so far over 43,000 - have already been released from federal custody, with 96 percent of these children released to those claiming to be relatives residing in the U.S. A small percent of these children and teens given humanitarian aid are also known gang members, and some, according to Border Patrol, have admitted to killing and torture.

How can the National Guard help?

A recent model is provided by Custom and Border Protection’s Yuma Sector, the western sand dunes of Arizona known primarily for the filming of Star Wars films. However, the Yuma Sector is also a success story for Border Patrol and National Guard synergy where the number of boots on the ground combined with proper authorities helped solve a problem with bigger numbers than what we are seeing now with unaccompanied minors.

The federal government will not bear the brunt of meeting these the needs of the children caught in this surge of illegal activity, the states will. That also means that Governor Perry is not alone is his lament. States are complaining, including letters to the President from at least 32 Governors so far complaining about the border crisis. One of these letters to the President was penned by the Republican governors of Alabama, Kansas, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Utah and Wisconsin stating their concern that a failure to return the children “will send a message that will encourage a much larger movement towards our southern border,” endangering more children on that treacherous journey. Moreover, the governors expressed concern “that there will be significant numbers who will end up using the public

In January 2004 the Yuma sector border lands experienced a huge surge in illegal entries. There was no fence. Agents were assaulted with rocks and weapons daily and outnumbered 50 to 1. In 2005, more than 2,700 load trucks full of aliens and drugs illegally breached that sector. Smugglers were leading masses through the desert, leaving the sick and wounded to die. The smugglers did not stop for agents when in hot pur-

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suit of vehicles. There were many crashes and deaths. By 2005, 138,500 illegal aliens were apprehended, and the numbers were still increasing. Today, the Yuma sector is clean relative to its past, and the Border Patrol can do its job. Apprehensions are down 94 percent to 8,500 in 2008.

port Operation Jump Start in coordination with US Department of Homeland Security and the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). The Arizona National Guard is supporting CBP with up to 2,400 Guardsmen to gain operational control of the border. Since July 2006, the Arizona Army National Guard has provided over 5,489 Guardsmen to support missions along the 389 miles of international border with Mexico.

According to the Border Patrol, in the first six months of Operation Jumpstart, Guard members provided surveillance, border infrastructure, and aviation support, and also helped the Border Patrol save lives of those left to die by smugglers, deal with crash sites where there were high speed chases of smugglers, as well as interdict illegal drugs.

Why and how?

In May 2006, President Bush announced Operation Jumpstart, deploying more than 5,000 National Guard Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen to assist the Border Patrol in securing the boundary with Mexico. For the first time in three years, the numbers of illegal entries began to decrease.

Then Governor Napolitano’s (and later Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security) 2006 Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs Annual Report describes the National Guard’s contribution to the operation as follows.

With administration support in Washington and the National Guard’s help on the ground, between 2007 and 2008, unprecedented amounts of tactical infrastructure arrived as well, including: seven miles of ‘floating fence’ in Yuma sand dunes; 13 miles of access and vehicular fencing along the Colorado River; nine miles of secondary fencing along the San Luis POE; and 68 miles of pedestrian and vehicular fence along the Sonoran desert. By the time the operations were complete, all of Yuma’s 126 miles of border had natural or manmade barriers of some kind. Environmental assessments were conducted to as-

Operation JUMP START, JTF-AZ Border: The Arizona National Guard, as well as the other Southwest Border States, was tasked to sup-

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sure preservation. In addition, there are two new Border Patrol stations in Yuma, and mobile surveillance sensors with ground radar as well. All of this personnel and tactical infrastructure were backed up by criminal prosecutions of illegal entrants known as Operation Streamline.

Conclusion The most critical strategy to curtail illegal entry across our borders, especially in the southwest, requires an “all hands on deckâ€? approach to border security that does not relent until the surge is under control and the border secured. A multilayered approach such as was done in the Yuma Sector assuring strong Border Patrol presence on the border (not processing illegal entrants); sufficient authorities to the National Guard to support the Border Patrol and in this case, the Texas Department of Public Safety as well; a legal system to prosecute illegal entry; and support for localities supporting a federal enforcement approach, can together discourage brazen alien and drug smuggling and reverse recidivism and criminal activity that threatens our states economic security and public safety. 

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Across the Timeline: Solutions from Before the Boom to Final Cleanup

By FLIR Systems Introduction

fense in securing a scene and safeguarding lives against explosives, narcotics, and radiological threats. They play a central role in the mission to interdict and deter unwanted events in public transit, correctional facilities, military installations, private institutions, event venues and other commercial buildings. This mission demands products that have these technical attributes:

Protecting people and property from the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and other acts of terror requires a broad spectrum, systems-based approach to secure the homeland.

The primary mission varies from the needs of the front line operator to the central command station. From deterrence and detection in a checkpoint to incident response, intelligence and clean-up, each eventacross the timelinerequires a specific set of capabilitiesto result in a specific actionable outcome. These variable requirements, from before the boom to final cleanup, drive the need for a whole system approach that takes into account not only the type of threat (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives “CBRNE”, or Drugs), but also the capability needed based on the time allotted for an operator to complete their mission. This article demonstratesparts of an innovative systemsbased approach from FLIR Systems, designed to help secure the homeland across the timeline.

• Sensitive (i.e. detects trace levels) • Accurate (i.e. low false alarm rate) • Fast (i.e. high throughput) • Flexible (i.e. expandable library) To further complicate the mission, the products must also be built to these specifications: • Compact (i.e. small footprint) • Rugged (i.e. operate out of a lab environment) • User-Friendly (i.e. minimal interaction required) • Affordable (i.e. low lifetime operational costs) Indoor and outdoor security screening checkpoints currently incorporate a variety of orthogonal explosives and narcotics detection technologies (i.e. mechanical sniffers, canines, ion mobility spectrometers (IMS), x-ray systems, etc)

Before the Boom Prior to an event, apremium is placed on prevention. Security personnel are the first line of de-

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to screen items for target threat materials that may indicate illegal or prohibited activity. Unfortunately, some of the existing trace detectors are plagued with false alarms, lengthy clear-down times (time required for a system to become operable following an alarm), and limited target libraries. Not only do these deficiencies negatively impact throughput, they can render technologies inoperable, which weakens operator confidence and puts facilities at risk.

When confirmatory analysis is not required and only presumptive screening is needed, a handheld Explosive Trace Detector (ETD) can complete the security checkpoint toolkit. Thousands of Fido X series detectors from FLIR are deployed around the world for the detection of military, traditional, homemade and liquid explosive threats on surfaces and in the air. Fido X3(Figure 2) is the most sensitive handheld ETD device available andis the only handheld liquid explosive detection system (LEDS) certified by European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) for bottled liquid screening (BLS).

One way FLIR is enhancing screening operations is through the use of confirmatory Mass Spectrometry (MS) based trace detection. MS is the obvious candidate to replace existing Ion-Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) based sensors for confirming the presence of explosives and narcotics in high consequence checkpoint applications. The Griffin 824 (Figure 1) trace detection MSfrom FLIR is designed to meet the challenging operational requirements presented in checkpoints and is the first desktop trace detector of its kind.

It combines next-generation MS technology with expandable target libraries to eliminate false alarms and assert operator confidence.

Figure 2: Portable Explosive Trace Detector

Whether at an army base or nuclear power plant, at a major sporting event or other critical facility, handheld devices such as the FLIR identiFINDER R-series (Figure 3) can be used to detect, locate and identify smuggled nuclear materials or radiological waste that might be utilized to build aRadiological Dispersal Device (RDD) or Improvised Nuclear Device (IND). Screening large volumes of pedestrians in close proximity can pres-

Figure 1: Desktop Mass SpectrometerBased Trace Detector

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Incident Response

ent many challenges (i.e. passenger boarding or event crowd management situations). Detectors used in wide spacing throughout a queue can provide an approximate location and, most importantly, a pre-alarm or warning to intercept material before passing through the checkpoint (Figure 4). This passive scanning scenario appears frequently in everyday security applications and is designed to monitor individuals without throughput interference.

It is difficult to detect a chemical or biological warfare device prior to use. The missionduring incident response is to deploy an early warning system that alerts security personnel within the first few minutes of something happening. The ability to detect trace levels of hazards quickly can protect people from low-level, long-term exposure and save lives. It is imperative that the first indicators do not result in false alarms and cause unnecessary panic. These initial presumptive results typically drive a confirmatory measurement that focuses on making sure that a real event has occurred prior to taking high regret actions.

FLIR has deployed two of the most sensitive and accurate continuous air monitors available, the Fido B2 and Fido C3. These sensors provide early detection and warning against Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents (CWAs and BWAs).

They guaranteerapid countermeasure deployment and evacuation before human harm or loss of life can occur. Both sensors expand the mission space with on-site alarm reporting, integrated GPS and remote monitoring via wireless communication features. Integrated GPS and wireless communication features allow a central command post to participate in remote decision making with the on-site user.

Figure 3: Spectroscopic Personal Radiation Detector (SPRD) Figure 4: Passive Scanning ScenarioDuring Security Checkpoint

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Security personnel employ the Fido C3 (Figure 5) to protect people from low-level, long-term exposure to chemical hazards during incident response activities and to secure high profile buildings, event venues, and public transportation facilities. It aids military officers and first responders in isolating and mapping the boundaries of hot-zones and decontamination areas following a CWA attack. A well-defined perimeter enables effective quarantine of impacted zones for subsequent remediation efforts.

lations to short, mission-based tactical applications, the Fido B2 offers a flexible, field-ready solution for bio-aerosol monitoring.When integrated in an HVAC system, the Fido B2 acts as a detect-to-warn sensor. Itprovides early warning of biological aerosol threats so emergency managers can contain them quickly, treat them effectively, and decontaminate effected areas rapidly.

Figure 5: Portable Continuous Air Monitor - Chemical

Figure 6: Portable Continuous Air Monitor - Biological

Clean-Up After an attack has been confirmed, the mission focuseson effective response measures. Operations such as contamination mapping (both people and property), treatment of casualties and expeditious decontamination are swiftly undertaken to reduce potential loss of life. Providing for an understanding of where the threat actually went is a difficult operation, but is absolutely imperative in providing for an effective response.

Decontamination efforts can be costly when the

Fido B2 (Figure 6) is a fully automated biological agent detector that alarms in less than 60 seconds when an airborne bio-threat is present. It combines both real-time monitoring and triggered sample collection features into one integrated system. From long-term, fixed instal-

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specific areas of contamination are hard to locate on a surface. Out of an abundance of caution, users must apply decontaminant where it is not needed. The Fido C2 product from FLIR is sprayed directly onto a surface to reveal specific CWA contamination (Figure 7). Within 5 minutes, the product application lets you know when you’ve found an area that has been exposed to chemical contamination or is in need of further decontamination. Fido C2 enablesusers to focus their application and reduce the amount of decontaminant and water used,decreasing costs by three to five-fold.

the “gold standard” analytical technique for labbased chemical analysis. This powerful technology is used to detect, analyze, and confirm the identity of chemicals in an unknown sample.

FLIR’s Griffin 460 is a field-proven capabilityfor on-site forensic analysis. Within minutes,field operators are presented with lab-quality,GC/MS confirmation of drug, chemical andexplosives threats via simple color-coded“go/no-go” alarms.

Military sensitive site exploitation teams, law enforcement officers, incident response teams and accredited crime laboratories can take their lab to the sample for on-site confirmatory analysis.

Conclusion Across the timeline, security personnel, first responders, emergency managers and military officers need the right tools for the job. Securing the homeland requires lab-quality, fieldproven capabilities from detection to decon and everything in between.

The implementation of a systemsbased approach will instill confidence no matter where the mission is.  Figure 7: Decontamination Line

During the recovery phase, forensic analysis is often needed to positively identify the threat used in the attack. Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) is widely regarded as

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Stricter Rules Proposed for Safer Crude Oil Transportation By: Lorrie Barclay The Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) detailing a comprehensive proposal to improve railway safety while transporting large quantities of flammable materials, such as crude oil and ethanol. The proposal is based on an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published by the Pipeline and Hazardous

Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) in September 2013, reflecting responses from more than 152,000 commenters.

The proposal focuses on enhanced tank car standards, a classification program for mined gases and liquids, and new operational requirements for high-hazard flammable trains (HHFT). New operating

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rules would restrict HHFT containing 20 or more tank cars to 65 km/h in “high risk” urban areas, or 80 km/h if they are composed only of wagons conforming with higher design standards. HHFT would need to be equipped with enhanced braking, using alternative brake signal propagation systems.

These could include ElectronicControlled Pneumatic brakes, use of a two-way End-of-Train device, or distributed power operation.

According to the NPRM, older DOT 111 tank cars must be phased out within two years, unless the tank cars are retrofitted to comply with new tank car design standards. DOT 111 tank cars are for shipment of flammable liquids, including crude oil from the Bakkan oil fields in North Dakota.

“Safety is our top priority, which is why I’ve worked aggressively to improve the safe transport of crude oil and other hazardous materials since my first

week in office,” said DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx. “While we have made unprecedented progress through voluntary agreements and emergency orders, [the] proposal represents our most significant progress yet in developing and enforcing new rules to ensure that all flammable liquids, including Bakken crude and ethanol, are transported safely.”

In recent years, there has been a major increase in the amount of crude oil transported by train. This year 8.5 million barrels of crude oil will be shipped per day by train, up from 5 million barrels per day in 2008.

Much of the increase is due to fracking in the Bakken oil fields, according to the DOT. Fracking is the process of injecting highpressured liquid into rock to

extract oil. Most oil shipped by rail across the U.S. and Canada now comes from the Bakken oil fields. According to a report published by PHMSA, crude oil from the Bakken region in North Dakota tends to be more volatile and flammable than other crude oils.

Many of these trains travel through small towns and big cities sometimes carrying more than 100 cars of crude oil; official accident investigators have described such trains as “moving pipelines.” Emergency responders have complained that they often have no information on the contents or schedules of freight trains moving through communities.

In May, two separate trains derailed within 24 hours in Virgin-

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ia and Maryland. In Virginia, a train carrying crude oil derailed sending 17 oil-filled tanker cars off the tracks, including three into the James River. At least one tanker car caught fire releasing an estimated 20,000 gallons of crude oil into the river. In Maryland, less than 24 hours later, a second train carrying about 8,000 tons of coal derailed sending ten railcars off the tracks resulting in one car overturning, spilling its load of coal.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, there have been at least eight significant accidents in the U.S. and Canada within the past year involving trains carrying crude oil, many causing damage and deaths. 

“Nuisance Flooding” An Increasing Problem as Coastal Sea Levels Rise

storm or a hurricane to cause flooding,” said William Sweet, Ph.D., oceanographer at NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) and the report’s lead author. “Flooding now occurs with high tides in many locations due to climate-related sea level rise, land subsidence and the loss of natural barriers. The effects of rising sea levels along most of the continental U.S. coastline are only going to become more noticeable and much more severe in the coming decades, probably more so than any other climate-change related factor.”

Eight of the top 10 U.S. cities that have seen an increase in so-called “nuisance flooding” -- which causes such public inconveniences as frequent road closures, overwhelmed storm drains and compromised infrastructure -- are on the East Coast, according to a new NOAA technical report.

The study was conducted by scientists at CO-OPS, who looked at data from 45 NOAA water level gauges with long data records around the country and compared that to reports of number of days of nuisance floods.

This nuisance flooding, caused by rising sea levels, has increased on all three U.S. coasts, between 300 and 925 percent since the 1960s.

The extent of nuisance flooding depends on multiple factors, including topography and land cover. The study defines nuisance flooding as a daily rise in water level above the minor flooding threshold set locally by NOAA’s National Weather Service, and focused on coastal areas at or below these levels that are especially susceptible to flooding.

The report, Sea Level Rise and Nuisance Flood Frequency Changes around the United States, also finds Annapolis and Baltimore, MD, lead the list with an increase in number of flood days of more than 920 percent since 1960.

Port Isabel, TX, along the Gulf coast, showed an increase of 547 percent, and nuisance flood days in San Francisco, CA increased 364 percent.

The report concludes that any acceleration in sea level rise that is predicted to occur this century will further intensify nuisance flooding impacts over time, and will further reduce the time between flood events.

The report provides critical NOAA environmental data that can help coastal communities assess flooding risk, develop ways to mitigate and adapt to the effects of sea level rise, and improve coastal resiliency in the face of climate- and weather-induced changes.

“Achieving resilience requires understanding environmental threats and vulnerabilities to combat issues like sea level rise,” says Holly Bamford, Ph.D., NOAA assistant administrator of the National Ocean Service. “The nuisance flood study provides the kind of actionable environmental intelligence that can guide coastal resilience efforts.”

NOAA’s mission, it says, is to understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage America’s coastal and marine resources. 

“As relative sea level increases, it no longer takes a strong

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Port of Baltimore Wins GSN 2014 Award for Most NotableSeaport for Multiple Development and Security Initiatives

Why this Entry deserves to win: Baltimore is one of only two Eastern U.S. ports where the main shipping channel reaches a depth of 50 feet (15.2 meters). This fact paves the way for the port to receive post panamax ships at a time where post panamax ships are on the rise. 2013 was a particularly productive year for Port of Baltimore. Port of Baltimore public terminals have increased their cargo exports by 22.6 percent in the past four years and overall export tonnage from the public terminals is 52.2% higher than it was since 2007. The POB was tenth in the nation and fifth on the U.S. East Coast for the number of cruise passengers or embarks in 2012. The U.S. Coast Guard’s 2013 annual security inspection of the Maryland Port Authority (MPA) earned a perfect evaluation; overall, the MPA has received six straight “Excellent” evalua-

Name of Organization:

Port of Baltimore - 2014 Winner Category: Most Notable Seaport Security Program, Project or Iniative (Port Initiative)

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tions by the U.S. Coast Guard. Port of Baltimore lead a number of significant port security initiatives focusing on both landside and waterside security. Selected security improvements in 2013 include:

cargo is incorporated at both Dundalk and Seagirt Marine Terminals. This system requires all companies and drivers transporting cargo to pre-register in the system prior to coming to the terminals.

• A Remote Control Submersible Vehicle introduced as a means to further secure the berths of MP A terminals. This technology also has the capability to detect Improvised Explosive Devices (lED) on vessels.

• Active Shooter Response Training The resources and attention dedicated to maritime security within the Port of Baltimore is worthy of the GSN Seaport Security Award for 2014.

• An Underwater Intrusion Detection System installed in an effort to detect underwater/sub-surface attempts to attack vessels, negatively impact the flow of commerce and/or injure or kill human life.

• Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) systems of all MPA terminals were significantly enhanced.

Link to Web Page of Nominated Organization: www.mpa.maryland.gov

• Annual credentials issued for all MPA Terminal employees.

Link to additional information on product, service or program, with brief description: www.mpa.maryland.gov

• The MPA visitor access system, known as mVisitor, continues to be refined and improved.

Name and organization of nominating contact for this entry, including name, title, organization:

• The use of eModal Trucker Check for all

Marianne Molchan, CEO Molchan Marine Services

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 Editor’s Note: It was a good year for Baltimore, MD in the GSN 2014 Airport, Seaport, Border Security Awards Program, as Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall (BWI) Airport and the Port of Baltimore were Winners in three different categories. This is one of them. 

Why this Entry deserves to win:

Baltimore/Washington Thurgood Marshall (BWI) Airport Gets the Gold in Two Important Categories of GSN’s 2014 Airport, Seaport, Border Security Awards

The Maryland Aviation Administration’s Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall (BWI) Airport, located in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, is a leader in airport safety and security. With an annual passenger count of more than 21 million, BWI handles more than 70,000 annual calls for service through its Consolidated Dispatch Center (CDC). The CDC’s primary mission is to receive and manage alerts and emergency calls for service and dispatching for all airport police, security, fire and emergency medical services. Built on Intergraph’s public safety and security solution, our PSIM+ improves the airport’s emergency management and response capabilities by combining a PSIM with CAD for a comprehensive and cohesive common operating picture. Intergraph’s consolidated solution allows the CDC to obtain full situational awareness from the time a sensor is triggered (detection) all the way to response through dispatching and resolution of an incident. BWI has a fully integrated command and control system, including all necessary software, hardware and integration services for multi-system and multi-agency coordination. Utilizing the integrated platform,

Name of Organization:

Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall (BWI) Airport – 2014 Winner Category: Best Physical Security Information Management (PSIM)

Name of Product, Service or System: Intergraph Public Safety and Security PSIM

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the Consolidated Dispatch Center monitors and responds to several thousand alarms generated from campus-wide safety and security systems, providing service processing and dispatching for all airport law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical services. The solution includes a multitude of public safety and security interfaces including:

achieve not only its near-term goal of enhancing emergency response processes at BWI, but also its long-term goal of statewide public safety communications interoperability. The global leader in computer-aided dispatch, Intergraph provides integrated solutions for public safety, security and emergency planning and response.

Our solutions help protect critical infrastructure, provide unified transportation safety and security and protect prominent airport and transit customers including Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority system in New York.

• Automatic vehicle locator (AVL) and mobile computing technologies • Enhanced 911 call processing with instant recall/ recorder functionality • 911 database management • National Emergency Number Association standard master clock

Link to Web Page of Nominated Organization: http://www.bwiairport.com/en

• Computer Telephony Integration • Access Control Systems

Link to additional information on product, service or program, with brief description: http://www.intergraph.com/transportation/airport-transit-security.aspx

• Video Management Systems • FLEX and AED alarms • Fire alarms • Fire station alerting

Name and organization of nominating contact for this entry, including name, title, organization: Stephanie Deemer, Senior Manager Public Relations, Intergraph

• Notification systems

Through the CDC project, BWI deployed its first Command and Control system, creating the foundation for improved safety and security moving forward. With Intergraph’s products and experience, the Maryland Aviation Administration can

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Government Security News (ISSN 1548-940X and UPS 022-845) is published in six print editions (Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Nov) and six digital editions (Feb, Apr, Jun, Aug, Oct, Dec) per year by World Business Media, LLC, P.O. Box 7608, Greenwich, CT , 06836, Telephone (212) 344-0759. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to GSN: Government Security News, Subscription Department, P.O. Box 316, Congers, NY 109200316. For Government decision makers and business executives involved with security products, Systems and series.

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