First Responders
U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Nogales Port Director Michael Humphries was recently sworn into office during a formal ceremony held at the Mariposa crossing in Arizona.
Humphries will ensure customs and agriculture inspections are in-line with U.S. laws and regulations and will... Read More »
A bill that promotes the use of dogs to detect explosives was included in the Federal Aviation Administration’s Reauthorization that passed in the U.S. House of Representatives last week.
The legislation, called the Domestic Explosive Detection Canine Capacity Building Act (H.R. 4577), ensures... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) introduced new technology designed to protect first responders at incident scenes by alerting them to potentially hazardous motorists.
The Automated Driver and Responder Alert System (ADRAS) has two main components... Read More »
A senior leader panel discussed Tuesday the Air Force integration of Guard and Reserve personnel into missions during the Air Force Association Air, Space, and Cyber Conference in National Harbor.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, part-time forces heavily have been relied upon to meet manpower... Read More »
The nation-spanning public safety communications platform known as FirstNet is now used by more than 2,500 public safety agencies in the United States.
This system was built to upgrade public safety information technology, and was developed through the joint efforts of AT&T and the First... Read More »
A team of U.S. Border Patrol Grand Forks (North Dakota) Sector agents recently were deployed along the East Coast in the areas impacted by Hurricane Florence to assist with support, response, and recovery.
The Border Patrol Search Trauma and Rescue team (BORSTAR) is part of the team. BORSTAR is... Read More »
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations and the New Orleans Air and Marine Branch recently announced they would be participating in Hurricane Florence relief efforts in the Carolinas.
They will be joined by the Jacksonville office and will support the Atlanta... Read More »
Twenty-seven Massachusetts fire departments recently were awarded nearly $4.5 million in grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Twenty-four fire departments received funding through the Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) program and two received funding through the... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) are asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) along with leading mobile providers to guarantee service to first responders during emergencies.
The California senators also asked the mobile service providers – specifically... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) recently participated in a demonstration of the New York Police Department’s FIDO X-3 Explosive Trace Detection (ETD) system.
The demonstration was part of an event, funded by the National Institute of... Read More »
A ceremony at mission headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan, recently commemorated the change in command from General John ''Mick'' Nicholson to General Austin Scott Miller.
Miller will oversee NATO’s and its operational partners’ efforts to develop effective and sustainable Afghan security... Read More »
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) showed off a host of new technologies deployed to the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) this week, from computed tomographic (CT) scanners to photo ID scan verifications.
The technologies are being tested at the airport’s Terminal 1... Read More »
The Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) produced a new video for first responders to help them protect themselves from the presence of fentanyl on the job.
The video, called “Fentanyl: The Real Deal” is a companion training video to its Fentanyl Safety... Read More »
Protect the Force, Inc. was awarded $199,260 this week by the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), for their efforts to create energy harvesting fabrics.
The photovoltaic (PV) materials generate electricity through exposure to light, taking it... Read More »
An Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) survey has determined active shooter training and simulations are essential to ensuring staff is equipped to respond effectively during an act of violence.
Findings published online in the Journal of Emergency Nursing showed out of 202 emergency nurses and... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced it has allocated $345 million for six fiscal year 2018 competitive preparedness grant programs. In June, more than $1.3 billion in noncompetitive grant funding was announced.
Preparedness grants are used to support the National... Read More »
As San Antonio, Texas law enforcement returned or sought new homes for dogs from a shuttered dog training operation, one found a place with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
“It was a most unusual circumstance, and we were notified that there might be some dogs that met the... Read More »
The Providence Fire Department in Rhode Island recently received a nearly $1 million federal grant award earmarked for the department’s safety and training, according to an announcement made by state and federal lawmakers last week.
Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) joined... Read More »
AT&T has been actively deploying Band 14 spectrum as part of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) build, bringing a much-needed technology upgrade to the public safety network.
Band 14 is nationwide, high-quality spectrum set aside by the federal government for FirstNet that will... Read More »
Funding from the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance in Firefighters Grant (AFG) program is bringing more than $100,000 to fire departments in two New York counties.
The Richville Volunteer Fire Department in St. Lawrence County and the Whitesboro Fire Department in Oneida County... Read More »
The First Responder Network Authority’s board of directors, an independent authority within the U.S. Department of Commerce, recently approved an $81 million budget for operations in fiscal year 2019.
The budget will be used for the focus on the deployment of the nationwide public safety... Read More »
The Gary/Chicago International Airport recently held a ribbon cutting ceremony for its $1.5 million state-of-the-art U.S. Customs and Border Protection general aviation facility.
The facility will allow general aviation aircraft to arrive directly at the Gary airport without having to clear U.S.... Read More »
Warning of the potential danger presented by attackers targeting hazardous chemical facilities, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is urging the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to share more information with first responders who may need to respond to security incidents.... Read More »
The Air Force has crafted a Light Attack Aircraft plan, which they said is the first step toward working with industry to generate the final RFP expected at the end of the year.
A draft request for proposal was shared with Sierra Nevada /Embraer and Textron Aviation following the conclusion of... Read More »
Marine Corps units from Air Station Beaufort joined members of the U.S. Navy, Naval Hospital Beaufort, Savannah Coast Guard and local responders on a first-ever search and rescue exercise with F-35 fighters July 27.
The exercise, which took place on the Beaufort River, paired pilots and first... Read More »
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently provided counterterrorism training at the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Roswell, N.M. to law enforcement delegations from six African nations.
The participants were judges, prosecutors, and police officers from Angola,... Read More »
The Reliance Fire Company No. 1 in Berwick, Pa., recently received a $119,610 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) program.
Established in 2001, the AFG program provides firefighters and... Read More »
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is hosting a summit in Washington, D.C. this week to gather together technology innovators for the first responder industry.
The summit will take place on Thursday, Aug. 9, and represents the second... Read More »
The Rhode Island fire departments recently received $106,668 through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program for the purchase of needed equipment and gear.
The Central Falls Fire Department was awarded $59,048. It will use the funds to... Read More »
The U.S. Air Force recently released its Next Generation Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Dominance Flight Plan, which is a strategy for maintaining and enhancing competitive advantage in the rapidly changing digital era through 2028.
“We need to balance our ISR portfolio... Read More »
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials announced this week that Operation Guardian Support is expanding at Arizona’s ports of entry as the National Guard continues to improve border security.
The operation began in April. It has 491 volunteer National Guard members at the... Read More »
Global security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin will helm a U.S. Army project to develop an unmanned convoy system in combat environments over the next three years.
"We are leveraging 15 years of experience in developing autonomous capabilities for our customers," said Gaylia Campbell,... Read More »
Marines and Illinois response units recently joined forces to share training techniques designed to enhance chemical and biological emergency preparedness.
Marines and sailors with the Chemical Biological Incident Response Force (CBRIF) participated in Exercise Chicago Response in Chicago,... Read More »
Eighteen Massachusetts fire departments are slated to receive $4.8 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants.
Officials said 17 of the departments received funding through FEMA's Assistance to Firefighter Grants (AFG) program, which provides resources for firefighters and... Read More »
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Services (ICE) has been utilizing a data analytics platform called Igloo to quickly sift through large volumes of data to track the movements of human traffickers and transnational criminal organizations, the agency announced on Monday.
Developed by the U.S.... Read More »
