Security Briefs
The Latest Headlines:
- Consumers Stockpiling Items After DHS Suggestion
- U.S. Terror Threat Level Raised to 'Orange'
- Inspector General Criticizes TSA Budget Overrun
- U.S. Terror Threat Level Raised to 'Orange'
Consumers Stockpiling Items After DHS Suggestion
A suggestion Monday by the Department of Homeland Security that Americans stockpile food, water and other emergency supplies touched off buying sprees across the country, but particularly in major cities that could be likely targets of a terrorist strike, news services reported.USA Today said that citizens were purchasing non-perishable food items, water, duct tape and plastic sheeting – all items that the DHS said people should have on hand in case of a bioterrorist attack.
Last week, the federal government raised the terror alert index to condition orange, which indicates a high risk of attack.
Law enforcement officials have been inspecting vehicles at airports and monitoring bridges closely, USA Today said. Early Tuesday morning, a tugboat reported seeing a man in a wet suit near the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, but after an intense search, neither the man nor any weapons were found near the bridge, the paper said. Transport Topics
U.S. Terror Threat Level Raised to 'Orange'
In announcement by Secretary Tom Ridge and Attorney General John Ashcroft Feb. 7, the United States raised the level of security alert to “orange” or high, the Associated Press reported.Ashcroft said that U.S. intelligence indicated that Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda network may seek to attack Americans during the annual Muslim hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, AP said.
Possible targets according to Ridge and Ashcroft are “soft” targets like apartment buildings or hotels or targets in the transportation or energy sector, AP said.
In response to the upgraded alert, U.S. border guards increased their inspections at border crossings and security around government facilities in the U.S. and overseas was beefed up. Transport Topics
Inspector General Criticizes TSA Budget Overrun
The Transportation Department’s inspector general said that the Transportation Security Administration spent wastefully in building up a $3.3 billion budget shortfall in its first year of operation, the Washington Post reported.Kenneth M. Mead said that the TSA had poor spending controls and loosely monitored contracts with private companies worth millions of dollars, the Post reported.
Mead made his comments to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee’s aviation subcommittee on Feb. 5, the Post said.
As an example, Mead pointed to the $107 million estimate to hire thousands of federal airport security workers, a process that eventually cost $700 million, the Post said.
For the current fiscal year, the TSA has requested a $5.3 billion budget, but it has only collected $1.7 million from a security tax added to airline tickets and just $300 million security fees paid by U.S. airlines, the Post reported. Transport Topics
