Morning Security Brief: Police Training, Standardized Travel Advisories, Denied Records Requests, and More
01/12/2012 –
?The International Law Enforcement Trainers and Educators Association is calling for revised standards and training in the wake of a number of raids that have resulted in deadly ambushes, USA Today reports. Last week, while serving a warrant in Ogden, Utah, a narcotics strike force was met at the door by a man who open fire, killing one and wounding five others. The deadly confrontation underscores a need for police to rethink their tactics, said police adviser Pat McCarthy. "The days of knocking down doors in drug cases should be over. Given what’s going on now, you have to consider other options,” said McCarthy. Law enforcement should think of a way to lure suspects into the open or wait them out, he said.
?To standardize warnings and alerts across the state, Indiana has established a statewide uniform travel warning policy and implemented a color-coded warning system. The new system, designed by the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, is to help keep the roads clear during emergencies or inclement weather. Three warning levels are coded Yellow (routine travel restricted in some areas), Orange (essential travel only), and Red (travel restricted to emergency personnel only). Police will have the authority to ticket anyone caught driving during a red warning, Eagle Country reports.
?The Canadian Defence Department (DND) has denied records requests from lawyers seeking the release of information and photos of captured Taliban members. The lawyers asked for photos to test Canada’s access to information law. “To see how far DND would go to prevent the release of information about captured Afghan insurgents, Attaran requested copies of photographs the military took of such individuals, but asked that the faces of the prisoners be completely blacked out and that only the hairdos of the detainees shown,” the Ottawa Citizen reports. The Defence Department denied the request, saying it wanted to protect the privacy of the captured fighters and that releasing photos of the hairdos would cause injury to national security.
?Federal prosecutors want a judge to order a woman to provide the password to decrypt her laptop. The computer was seized with a warrant in 2010 during a financial fraud investigation. “With backup from digital rights groups, the woman is fighting the feds, arguing that being forced to provide her password violates the Fifth Amendment’s protection against forced self-incrimination,” Wired reports.♦ For the first time since 1965, homicide is not one of the top 15 causes of death in the United States. ♦ And the International Wireless Communications Expo is asking for public-safety radio system operators and users to complete a cybersecurity survey aimed at learning existing concerns so that they can be discussed and addressed.
