12May/100
Portland Mayor Sam Adams Fires Police Chief Rosie Sizer
Just two days after Portland Police Chief, Rosie Sizer, publicly criticized the Mayor's proposed budget she has been removed from the Chief's job and replaced by former East Precinct Commander, Mike Reese. In addition to removing the Chief, Mayor Adams also transferred authority for the police bureau from City Commissioner, Dan Saltzman, directly to the Mayor's office.The Portland Police Bureau received negative national attention recently after several unarmed people were killed by police. The oldest incident in recent memory resulted in a $1.6 million wrongful death settlement between the city and the family of James Chasse.
According the Oregonian, Mayor Adams said that he wishes to take the Police Bureau in "a new and different direction." Read the Oregonian article here: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/05/sam_adams_calls_noon_news_conf.html Reliant Security is based in Portland, OR and provides security solutions for clients throughout the western United States. Sincerely, Matthew Cooper, CPP VP Reliant Security
5Apr/100
TSA Announces Move to Intelligence Based Screening
Following the failed attempt to blow up a Detroit bound jetliner on Christmas day 2009, the TSA imposed tighter security on passengers from 14 specific countries. This policy was controversial as it subjected many innocent people to increased scrutiny solely because they were born or resided in a county on this list. In addition, a large amount of time and resources were being expended to screen people who posed no risk. On April 2nd, 2009, TSA announced that it was moving to a new screening policy based on "intelligence." Now, according to an article at chameleonassociates.com, rather than just looking at a person's country of origin, additional passenger information will be considered such as, "their travel patterns, whether their ticket was paid for in cash, what stops they may be making in their journey, if they are traveling alone, and other behavioral data." Intelligence based screening is widely considered to be the most efficient, non-biased, common-sense screening policy. The difficulty comes in constantly training, monitoring and re-training TSA Officers to maintain the skill set needed to identify and address passengers who pose a potential threat. The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) Government Liaison, Alejandro Beutel, hailed the new policy as, "a significant leap in the right direction."The policy shift has been widely praised. Only time will tell whether TSA can implement it effectively.
You can see further articles on the topic here: http://www.chameleonassociates.com/blog/2010/04/intelligence-based-screening-and-intelligent-screening/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/02/AR2010040204131.html http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/02/us/02terror.html?hp Reliant Security provides security and screening services to clients throughout the western United States. Sincerely, Matthew Cooper, CPP VP Reliant Security