Center of Excellence

Ylan Q. Mui,
Washington Post Staff Writer
The job of a shopping mall security guard normally involves controlling rowdy teenagers, finding lost children and patrolling parking lots. But starting this month, malls across the country will begin training guards for another task: fighting terrorism.

The 14-hour program is being developed by the International Council of Shopping Centers, a trade group, and the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University at a cost of $2 million. It is the first standardized anti-terrorism curriculum written for the nation’s estimated 20,000 mall security guards. (more…)

US DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY PRESS OFFICE
The Department of Homeland Security announced that the state funeral for former President Gerald Ford will be designated a National Special Security Event (NSSE).

When an event is designated a NSSE, the U.S. Secret Service assumes its mandated role as the lead federal agency for the design and implementation of the operational security plan and Federal resources are deployed to maintain the level of security needed for the event and the area. The goal of such an operation is to prevent terrorist attacks and criminal acts.
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WASHINGTON
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today released scorecard assessments of interoperable communications capabilities in 75 urban and metropolitan areas nationwide. Interoperable communications involve policies, technology and training that enable law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services from multiple jurisdictions in a common community to effectively communicate within one hour of an incident.
More @ Homeland Security Online
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OFFICE OF THE PRESS SECRETARY
Secretary Chertoff: Good morning, everybody, on a warm, but rainy, morning. As you know, I’m joined here by Undersecretary George Foresman. We’re going to start the new year by issuing the first part of our fiscal year 2007 homeland security grant guidance. This year we’re making available $1.7 billion in grants under the Homeland Security Grant Program; there will be an additional set of grants, including the Infrastructure Protection Program grants that we will announce early next week.
More @ Homeland Security Online
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OFFICE OF THE PRESS SECRETARY
WASHINGTON
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released today fiscal year 2007 grant guidance and application kits for five grant programs that will total roughly $445 million in funding for state, local and private industry infrastructure protection initiatives. These five programs comprise the Infrastructure Protection Program (IPP), which to date have provided more than $1.5 billion in grants to strengthen security at critical facilities ranging from chemical plants to mass transit systems and seaports.
More @ Homeland Security Online
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Sewell Chan
WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 — Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg criticized the way federal antiterrorism money is distributed, testifying today at a crowded Senate hearing that New York City had been shortchanged compared with other cities, given too little money for bioterrorism preparedness and denied financing to upgrade its communication systems.
More @ The New York Times
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STEPHEN MAJORS,
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ORLANDO, Fla. — While thousands of travelers queued up daily at Orlando International Airport, yanking off their shoes and shoving them through X-ray machines, a select few got to avoid the hassle during the latter part of 2006 — and passengers at four other airports nationally will soon join them.
More @ Seattle PI
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