Independent Agencies

The New York University Center for Catastrophe Preparedness and Response (CCPR) released a report yesterday entitled: Facial Recognition Technology: A Survey of Policy and Implementation Issues. In the report, the authors examine five broad categories of issue & concern including performance, evaluations, operation, policy concerns, and moral and ethical considerations.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Tracking and Transfers of Detainees
"This report addresses the strengths and weaknesses of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Office of Detention and Removal Operations. It is based on interviews with employees and officials of relevant agencies and institutions, direct observations, and a review of applicable documents. The recommendations herein have been developed to the best knowledge available to our office, and have been discussed in draft with those responsible for implementation. [...] We conducted an audit of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement's detainee tracking and transfer processes. Our objectives were to determine to what extent the agency has: improved its ability to track and monitor detainees, properly notified detainees of transfers, and provided detainees with timely initial medical screenings and physical examinations.

The Homeland Security Policy Institute at the George Washington University released a new report this week, The Homeland Security Council: Considerations for the Future examining the future direction of the Homeland Security Council (HSC). The report presents arguments for both maintaining an independent HSC as well as integration into the National Security Council (NSC).

Undercover Tests Reveal Significant Vulnerabilities in State's Passport Issuance Process
"GAO was asked to proactively test the effectiveness of State's passport issuance process to determine whether the process is vulnerable to fraud. To do so, GAO designed four test scenarios that simulated the actions of a malicious individual who had access to an American citizen’s personal identity information. GAO created counterfeit documents for four fictitious or deceased individuals using off-the-shelf, commercially available hardware, software, and materials. An undercover GAO investigator then applied for passports at three United States Postal Service (USPS) locations and a State-run passport office. GAO's investigation shows that terrorists or criminals could steal an American citizen’s identity, use basic counterfeiting skills to create fraudulent documentation for that identity, and obtain a genuine U.S. passport from State. GAO conducted four tests simulating this approach and was successful in obtaining a genuine U.S. passport in each case."

The United States Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has just released a report containing its recommendations for a national mass patient and evacuee movement, regulating, and tracking system.

The report can be viewed in the HTML version by chapter or as one complete complete PDF file.

"These recommendations are offered to assist in development of a system that could be used during a mass casualty or evacuation event to locate, track, and regulate patients and evacuees. The recommendations can provide decision support to persons and organizations responsible for patient and evacuee movement, health care and transportation resource allocation, and incident management."

Effectiveness of National Biosurveillance Systems: BioWatch and the Public Health System: Interim Report
"For many years, concerns about bioterrorism and emerging infectious diseases have drawn attention to the need for strong surveillance systems. Experts are working to develop new and better ways to detect these biological threats as quickly as possible. One effort in this area is the Department of Homeland Security's BioWatch program. To evaluate the effectiveness of the BioWatch program, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and National Research Council (NRC) convened the Committee on Effectiveness of National Biosurveillance Systems: BioWatch and the Public Health System. This interim report contains no findings and recommendations, but outlines the committee's initial progress."

Recently, a debate has erupted in Washington, D.C. regarding where exactly FEMA belongs in the U.S. government organizational structure. Some lawmakers feel that FEMA would function more efficiently as a stand-alone agency, while others believe that FEMA belongs where it is now: as a part of the Department of Homeland Security. The DHS Office of Inspector General has just released a report titled 'FEMA: In or Out?' in an effort to help inform the current debate regarding just exactly where FEMA belongs. In addition, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs has today issued a Press Release Supporting Keeping FEMA in DHS. They cite the support of a total of eight major first responder organizations as ample evidence that FEMA should stay where it is.

Homeland Security Watch released preliminary data on proposed spending on homeland security in the current stimulus package. The report: Homeland Security Spending in the Stimulus released on February 11, 2009 provides detailed spending in sixteen different categories.

The following is taken from the brief report: "Senate and House negotiators arrived at a compromise version of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act (”stimulus package”) tonight. I can’t get my hands on a final text, but I thought it might be useful to see where we started in this negotiation for funds going toward homeland security."

U.S. Fire Administration Health and Wellness Guide for the Volunteer Fire and Emergency Services

The United States Fire Administration has just published this updated guide on the health and wellness of volunteer fire services.

"To address the issues specific to volunteers, the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) developed this guide to health and wellness for volunteer departments and members. In 2003, the NVFC launched the ground breaking Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program specifically to address heart disease in the fire and emergency services. This awareness and prevention campaign targets all firefighters and emergency personnel-both volunteer and career."

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has released an unclassified update to its original 500 Day Plan which was released in October of 2007.

This follow-up to that report outlines the initiatives completed by the Intelligence Community (IC) and how these accomplishments have helped to initiate the transformation needed across the IC.

Part 1and Part 2 of this follow-up report are currently available here or at the ODNI website.