SEC-CON 1

 

September 29th, 2011 | Author: Dr. Ross Riggs
 

For those with any military background or those who grew up during the ‘Cold War’ you are probably familiar with the term DEFCON – It has since been taken on for the names of video games and computer hackers conferences, but throughout the Cold War the DEFCON - or Defense Conditions - were 5:

DEFCON 5 - Normal peacetime readiness
DEFCON 4 - Normal, increased intelligence and strengthened security measures
DEFCON 3 - Increase in force readiness above normal readiness
DEFCON 2 - Further Increase in force readiness, but less than maximum readiness
DEFCON 1 - Maximum force readiness.

I introduce to you through this new blog, (which will remain linked with our Homeland Security News Network HSN Police Blotter blog) a new acronym which stands, in part, for Security Consulting, but it also brings with it a mental image of Maximum Security Readiness, and that is what we should be all of the time without going into overload. (We’ll discuss that soon about how to maintain that needed balance.) 

So… here is SECCON 1, a ‘nickname’, if you will, for this site and its HSN link. You will find an RSS link on this site, so, please, follow us, tweet us, LIKE us on Facebook, use our search engine to find blog topics we have addressed since moving to this new site, AND check out SCI’s NEW website at www.security-consulting.us.

Gunfire and IEDs in Assault Against Smalltown USA Fire Department

September 29th, 2011 | Author: Dr. Ross Riggs

Toledo Fire Dept Under Assault

All of the First Responders who read this, I want you to remember something very clearly, the next time some brilliant citizen, councilman or even co-worker says to you… “It will never happen here in this small town” I implore you to take the necessary affirmative action to help him or her understand the folly...no, rather, the almost criminal negligence of that statement!

This week the Homeland Security Network reported in their Actionable Intelligence Report that not one, but three times in as many days three different fire stations in the City of Toledo Ohio were either fired upon by an unknown gunman or, in one case, an IED was left in front of the building and was made safe by the local bomb squad before anyone was killed or injured. Please allow that to sink in.

Unless you are from Ohio you probably have never heard of Toledo unless through some comedians disparaging remarks about Ohio overall, or Toledo specifically, or unless you are a fan of MASH, the hit TV series of the 1970′s. Corporal Klinger, the cross-dressing draft dodger, hailed from Toledo, loved his “Mudhens", and even got Col. Potter to wear a Toledo Mudhen baseball hat in certain episodes. One would think it doubtful that buried in the back hills of Pakistan, Osama bin Laden had a master plan for taking out Toledo Ohio. Toledo is not far from Detroit Michigan that had, at one time, the largest single population of Muslims in the U.S. - but does that make this terrorist attack one by Islāmic extremists?

Many years ago I led a serial arson investigation, one fire after another in a different small town in Ohio. Those were the work of wanna-be firefighters who didn’t have what it takes to be a real hero. Maybe that is what is going on in Toledo, we won’t know until the facts are all in. But, First Responders, you have to understand situational awareness. apparently these firefighters are either lucky or someone has their head on straight. When gunfire sounded and bullets ripped through the apparatus bay windows, no one was hurt. Someone knew enough when they saw this suspicious item in front of the station to not touch it and instead call the bomb squad to check it. So, was it luck or awareness? I don’t know. I know this… luck cannot be counted on. It is never there when you need it. If your department doesn’t talk about things like risk assessments, analysis, contingency planning, or training for tactical emergency medical care then, as an informed reader, you must get them to listen. That is my biggest obstacle in doing the work that I do. Fighting the ‘it won’t happen here’ mentality and finding ways to get people to listen.

On October 29th, a Saturday, SCI is hosting an 8am to 4pm seminar on Tactical Emergency Medical Response for all First Responders, police, fire, EMS (private and public) through the Stark State College in North Canton, Ohio, just off IS77. I hope the room is filled to overflowing. Be safe, be aware, stay alive…  As Colonel Potter said once in MASH, “Someback home loves you, don’t ask me why.”

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY REPORT

 

 September 25th, 2011 | Author: Dr. Ross Riggs

(Originally posted 4 April 2011)

US Dept of Homeland Security Announces New “National Terrorism Alert System” to replace the color coded system in place previously. For information, go to: http://blog.dhs.gov/2011/04/new-national-terrorism-advisory-system.html    Effective April 26, 2011  

“Analysis: US still lacks border strategy ~ The  U.S. government has spent nearly $4 billion on various approaches, including a $2.4 billion border fence effort, two deployments of National Guard troops to temporarily bolster the Border Patrol, and now-defunct $1 billion virtual fence.  ( Alicia A. Caldwell, Associated Press)" 

In a recent report by the AP, “The federal government hasn't come up with a comprehensive strategy to secure the United States -Mexico border, even as an all-out war between Mexico and its violent drug gangs has claimed 5,000 lives and pushed hundreds of thousands of immigrants into the United States.”  

One of the key issues that has become apparent since the Obama administration has instituted the Southwest Border Initiative (SBI) where billions of dollars have been poured into a ten foot high fence that has been catapulted over, tunneled under, and driven down; a massive plan for putting video and audio surveillance systems all across the border, most of which will not be installed until 2021, or even 2026, and the hiring of thousands of newly hired Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection agents, is the lack of a clear goal. But why is there not a goal in place? 

There has been no accurate threat assessment made by which to construct a goal. If we do not know the number of persons infiltrating the border nor the actual size the drug trafficking problem, then we cannot know the efficacy of the efforts that have been put in place nor what additional measures might more effectively impact the problem. According to the report, over 35,000 persons have been killed including dozens of Americans. What is not clear is how the ongoing war against the cartels by Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s will continue to inflame the already extreme difficulties of maintaining a secure southern border for the U.S. particularly in view of a lack of a solid threat assessment.

 

SECURITY ALERT

 September 25th, 2011 | Author: Dr. Ross Riggs

The following alert was issued by the United States 30 June 2011:

Terror threat — U.S. churches in danger 
Becky Yeh – OneNewsNow California correspondent - 3:55:00 AM

With the recent airing of an al-Qaeda video that encourages Muslims to attack religious institutions, Christian churches are being warned. In a video released by al-Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn, the American-born Muslim asks jihadists to quickly obtain guns and carry out terrorist attacks against the West.

He states that Muslims are placed in the region to “do major damage to the enemies of Islam, waging war on their religion, sacred places, and things and brethren.”  “That’s very troubling,” admits Steve Amundson of the Florida Security Council. “Adam Gadhan lived here in Southern California for a number of years. He studied under Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi at the Islamic Center of Orange County, which is in Garden Grove.”  Gadahn’s statements to U.S. Muslims follow the death of Osama bin Laden.

In response, the Christian Emergency Network has issued a warning for churches in the United States, and Amundson advises Christians to stay alert.  ”Churches, just like everybody, I tell them to be vigilant; be aware of your surroundings,” he urges. “Don’t walk around like everything’s okay, because we’re in different times now, and it’s time for Americans to be vigilant, be aware, [and] be alert because something could happen.” 

Churches are also advised to have an emergency team ready and to regularly conduct emergency drills.