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Security Debrief

Secretary Napolitano Issues Action Directives on FEMA State and Local Integration and National Planning

The Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Napolitano released two additional action directives related to the administration of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its coordination with state and local partners.

Opportunity Knocking

Here’s a statement that should be obvious by now: Our economic stability and national security are conjoined twins – one can’t exist without the other. As this administration focuses on economic stimulus packages to respond to our country’s economic crisis, it is easy to lose sight of Homeland Security priorities.

Secretary Napolitano: The First Week, Seven Directives

Several DHS principals flew out to Arizona the week after Christmas to provide briefings on a number of key programs. Perhaps those briefings raised more questions than they answered? Or maybe the Secretary is building a case for dismantling or otherwise restructuring portions of the Department right out of the gate. Due to legislative bars, Napolitano is unable to reorganize her new charge absent congressional approval. In some instances, however, it’s unlikely that congress would need much convincing for a restructuring or reassignment.

The unsung heroes of Inauguration Day

There were plenty of skeptics prior to Inauguration Day about the amount of security being implemented by the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies. And there are still some grumblers. However, the fact that that such a record-setting event went off without a security hitch is testament to the security plans put into place.

Jane Holl Lute picked for deputy secretary of the Homeland Security Department

President Barack Obama’s nomination of Jane Holl Lute, a retired Army major who worked on the NSC under President Bill Clinton, was announced Friday by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

New RAND Report on the Lessons of Mumbai

New RAND Report on the Lessons of Mumbai The Lessons of Mumbai “This study of the Mumbai terrorist attack of November 2008 is part of the RAND Corporation Occasional Papers series. The research for this report was completed in December 2008 and updated as of January 9, 2009. Much of the information available for this […]

Oscar Grant Shooting – Was the Failure in Personnel Selection, General Training or the Taser Training

There will either be a political whitewash that sends Merserle down the river, or a responsible reaction to this incident. That the District Attorney is already openly talking about murder charges suggests that a full-blown internal investigation will heap the blame on Merserle, as the trials of the NYPD officers who shot Sean Bell did, rather than openly accept that there may have been systemic problems, engage with those problems and resolve them.

There Is Still Much Work To Be Done

New DHS officials, incoming National Security Council staff, and citizens interested in the perennial tensions between freedom and security should carefully read The Closing of the American Border and keep it near their desks. This book provides critical strategic lessons gleaned from seven years of hindsight for Americans and their leaders.

Can the government compete in today's underworld of terror and criminal finance?

When I managed the El Dorado Task Force, the top money laundering task force in the nation, I had a nagging belief that some of the criminal and terrorist organizations we were up against were conducting sophisticated money laundering schemes that the federal government lacked the capacity to identify, investigate and neutralize. Simply put, the government lacked the necessary resources and expertise to compete with the criminal minds set on exploiting the ever-evolving complexities of the financial world.