• Wake Tech uses grant funding to expand law enforcement education

    North Carolina-based Wake Tech Community College received grants of more than $2.5 million in the 2010-2011 fiscal year; the money was used, among other things, to develop training programs in the latest cybercrime and latent evidence technologies and to add a new, state-of-the-art crime lab to its public safety training facility

  • New training facility features simulated bus, air, and rail stations

    On Tuesday DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano was in Brunswick, Georgia for the grand opening of a sophisticated new $5.3 million counter-terrorism training center for law enforcement officials; the 22,000 square-foot facility features several simulation areas including a mock bus terminal, subway station, and an airport terminal

  • New coatings show promise as flame retardants

    Ignition of soft furnishings account for about 5 percent of residential fires, and the consequences are disproportionately high; these fires are responsible for a third of fire-caused deaths of civilians and 11 percent of property losses due to fires in homes; NIST and Texas A&M researchers developed novel carbon nanofiber-filled coatings which outperformed conventional flame retardants by at least 160 percent and perhaps by as much as 1,130 percent

  • California universities prepare homeland security leaders of tomorrow

    Fresno State University in California is readying itself for the launch of a new bachelor’s degree program that prepares students for careers in homeland security and emergency management; the program is part of a broader effort by California State University (CSU) leaders as well as local and state officials to boost the state’s security by training more professionals to enter a field that is facing shortages of qualified workers

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  • Online university announces Master’s in homeland security program

    An online university recently announced that students can now enroll in its online degree program to obtain a Master’s of Science in Homeland Security; the online degree can be earned through Capella University, an accredited online university with nearly 40,000 students currently enrolled; courses will focus on topics like emergency preparedness, management, infrastructure protection, threat analysis, media communications, and cyber security

  • Local Beaumont, CA officers attend special FBI training course

    Officers from the local police department in Beaumont, California have been selected to attend a special law enforcement training course at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia; located on a Marine base, the FBI Academy is highly selective, only choosing an estimated 1 percent of law enforcement officials in the United States to attend the special training; the ten week program consists of rigorous physical training as well as thorough lessons in the classroom; courses include Computer Environments for Law Enforcement, Investigative Interviewing, and Labor Law Issues for Law Enforcement Administrators; law enforcement officials train and live together in close quarters in an isolated, heavily wooded facility to help forge networks

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  • Jersey community college first to offer homeland security degree

    Ocean County College is the first community college in New Jersey to begin offering students an associate’s degree in homeland security studies; as police departments across the United States have seen their budgets slashed, it has become increasingly difficult for recent graduates hoping to find jobs as police officers; the program encourages students to pursue law enforcement opportunities with DHS; currently there is a need in the private and public sector for qualified personnel, but a shortage of talented individuals; the program will introduce homeland security to students and if they are interested in a position with the government must receive a bachelor’s degree from a four year college

  • CAL U prepares its students for careers in homeland security

    California University of Pennsylvania (CAL U), an institute of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, offers various courses, certificates, and degrees in Homeland Security; a recent survey found that CAL U offers the nation’s best Internet-based degree programs; the acting dean of the college of liberal arts says: “the quality, education, experience, and student-centered attitude of our faculty, along with our connections with real world professional organizations makes us one of the top education institutes in our country”

  • University offers unmanned drone program to students

    Indiana State University (ISU) has announced that it is offering an “unmanned systems” program to its students; the program is one of the few in the nation that trains students in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS); ISU hopes to expand the program to include local and state agencies; ISU is already working with the local police department to conduct search and rescue exercises; other uses include civilian agricultural mapping

  • LEMV surveillance airship taking shape

    The persistent-surveillance long-endurance multi-intelligence vehicle (LEMV) is designed to have an endurance when operating unmanned for 21 days at 20,000 ft. carrying a 2,500-lb. payload of sensors and communications equipment; the critical design review was completed at the end of November, final assembly is to begin in February, and first flight is planned for the end of July 2011

  • FedEx loses -- then finds -- radioactive rods

    The shipment of radioactive rods sent from Fargo, North Dakota, to Knoxville, Tennessee, posed little threat, but its misplacement underscores the need to track low-hazard materials that could be used in small-scale terrorist attacks, experts say; as al Qaeda has shifted its tactics from 9/11-scale attacks to smaller attacks which aim to create fear and do economic damage, there is growing concern about low-radiation materials which are widely used in research, medical facilities, and industry; such materials may not be suitable for a nuclear bomb, but could be used to create “dirty bombs,” which cause fewer casualties but can release hazardous materials when they explode

  • American Military University: meeting the needs of the security community

    AMU promises a learning community of like-minded adult professionals with established careers in law enforcement, emergency services, national security, and intelligence; the current student body of 70,000 students worldwide is divided between 60 percent military and 40 percent non-military; in terms of program satisfaction, 98 percent of the 3,631 students surveyed between January 2010 and September 2010 reported that they were either satisfied or very satisfied with their overall experience at AMU

  • U.S. students trail students from most industrialized nations in math

    The United States ranks 31st out of 56 countries in mathematics skills, falling behind most industrialized nations; most states in the United States rank closer to developing countries than to developed countries in math education; thirteen developed countries have more than twice the percentage of advanced math students as does the United States, including Germany, Canada, the Czech Republic, Japan, Finland, and Austria

  • Best 300 U.S. student hackers compete for cybersecurity scholarships, prizes

    The seventh Annual Cyber Security Awareness Week competition at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University; 120 teams from high schools across the country — consisting of 300 of the U.S. best student hackers — competed under the watchful eyes of representatives from the CIA, NSA, DHS, and NSA; the students compete for scholarships and prizes by solving simulated security crises likely to emerge in an increasingly wired world

  • Raytheon, Cisco support Wounded Warrior Project's IT skills training

    Raytheon provides the WWP’s largest-ever financial grant — $2.5 million over five years; Cisco extends long-standing commitment with technology for new virtual training program; the effort will include the expansion of current, multi-tiered information technology training programs with an added focus on developing new cybersecurity training opportunities