Rising Threats to Life in the Beltway
If you’ve lived any length of time inside the Washington Beltway, you’ve come to expect certain things: awful commutes to/from work; an area that always overhypes and over-reacts to miniscule amounts of snow; road construction that never ends; and...
DetailsWomen in Homeland Security
Several months back, I had the opportunity to contribute two articles for a publication that Faircount Media was doing to commemorate the centennial of the first woman police officer in the United States. The publication recently came out, and...
DetailsGulf Coast Restitution – The Post's Story on BP Spill Payments
Somewhere someone said, “Money complicates things.” That’s the phrase that came to mind after reading the front page story of the Washington Post: “Six months after the spill, BP's money is changing the gulf as much as its oil.”...
DetailsAn Addendum to FEMA Private Sector Post – I forgot someone…
Whenever you write a post like the one I posted yesterday on Security Debrief, heralding the dramatic improvements that FEMA has made in its engagement of the private sector, there is always the risk of forgetting or not mentioning...
DetailsSeeking Hard Answers from Commissioner Bersin on Predator UAS for Border Patrol
Last week, speaking at the Migration Policy Institute, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Alan Bersin gave a glowing review of the successes CBP was having in meeting its mission. Whether one agrees with Bersin's overall assessment, there was...
DetailsA Shocking Place for Private Sector Engagement – FEMA
Brace yourself. I’m going to say something that many people will find astounding, if not shocking. Are you ready? OK… here goes.The center of gravity for private sector engagement at DHS is at FEMA.Five years ago, if you...
DetailsThe End of the Other Gulf Disaster: Administration Lifts Moratorium on Deepwater Drilling
If you’ve spent any time on the Gulf Coast over the past few months, it should come as no surprise the people are upset over the BP oil spill. They have every reason to be. Their shorelines, marshlands, waters...
DetailsThe Message was Loud and Clear: Senate Hears Terrorist Threat in U.S. is Growing
While I did not have the fortune of being able to watch Wednesday’s full hearing of the Senate Homeland Security & Government Affairs Committee with DHS Sec. Janet Napolitano, FBI Director Robert Mueller and NCTC Director Michael Leiter, I’ve...
DetailsResults are in (kind of): I'll Buy Olive's Lunch
As luck would have it, the question of all questions about TSA would not be the first questioned asked. It instead would be the last. As regular readers of Security Debrief know, my friend and fellow Catalyst...
DetailsLunch is Riding on Bennie Thompson’s First Question for Pistole
Like any office space, there is plenty of banter back and forth between my colleagues and me at Catalyst Partners where our corporate motto is, “if you walk into our office with an ego, you will leave without it.”...
Details