The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cyber security, and disaster prevention and management.
The U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. Its responsibilities include U.S. security legislation and oversight of the Department of Homeland Security.
An explosives trace-detection portal machine, also known as a trace portal machine and commonly known as a puffer machine, is a security device that seeks to detect explosives and illegal drugs at airports and other sensitive facilities as a part of airport security screening. The machines are intended as a secondary screening device, used as a complement to, rather than a substitute for, traditional X-ray machines.
The Border and Maritime Security Division (BMD) is a division of the Science and Technology Directorate of the United States Department of Homeland Security. Within the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency, BMD develops tools and technologies that improve the security of the United States's land borders and waterways.
BioWatch is a United States federal government program to detect the release of pathogens into the air as part of a terrorist attack on major American cities. Reportedly operating in Philadelphia, New York City, Washington, DC, San Diego, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, St. Louis, Houston, Los Angeles and 21 other cities, the BioWatch program was created in 2001 in response to the increased threat of bioterrorism sparked by the 2001 anthrax attacks, and was announced in President George W. Bush's State of the Union Address of 2003.
The Explosives Division (EXD) is a division of the Science and Technology Directorate of the United States Department of Homeland Security. Within the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency, EXD develops technologies needed to detect, interdict, and lessen the effect of non-nuclear explosives used by terrorists against mass transit, civil aviation, and critical infrastructure.
The Chemical and Biological Defense Division (CBD) is a division of the Science and Technology Directorate of the United States Department of Homeland Security. Within the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency, CBD develops technologies to increase the United States's preparedness and protect key national infrastructure against chemical, biological, and agricultural threats and disasters through improved threat awareness and advanced surveillance, detection, and protective countermeasures.
The Human Factors and Behavioral Sciences Division (HFD) is a division of the Science and Technology Directorate of the United States Department of Homeland Security. Within the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency, HFD applies social and behavioral sciences to improve detection, analysis, and understanding and response to homeland security threats.
The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) is a jointly staffed office established on April 15, 2005 by the United States to improve the nation’s capability to detect and report unauthorized attempts to import, possess, store, develop, or transport nuclear or radiological material for use against the nation, and to further enhance this capability over time.
MALINTENT is a technological system that was developed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to be implemented for detection of potential terrorist suspects.
The concept of border security in the United States shares a complex relationship with the persistent threat of terrorism. Border security includes the protection of land borders, ports, and airports. The relationship is unique in the sense that the federal government must constantly reevaluate and tweak its border security policy to address the perceived threats posed to the United States through the form of human terrorism or the smuggling and detonation of a weapon of mass destruction.
Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST) is a program created by the Department of Homeland Security. It was originally titled Project Hostile Intent. The purpose is to detect "Mal Intent" by screening people for "psychological and physiological indicators" in a "Mobile Screening Laboratory".
The Command, Control and Interoperability Division is a bureau of the United States Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate, run by Dr. David Boyd. This division is responsible for creating informative resources(including standards, frameworks, tools, and technologies) that strengthen communications interoperability, improve Internet security, and integrity and accelerate the development of automated capabilities to help identify potential threats to the U.S.
A Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response team, sometimes Visible Intermodal Protection and Response (VIPR) is a Transportation Security Administration program. Various government sources have differing descriptions of VIPR's exact mission. It is specifically authorized by 6 U.S.C. § 1112 which says that the program is to "augment the security of any mode of transportation at any location within the United States". Authority for the program is under the Secretary of Homeland Security. The program falls under TSA's Office of Law Enforcement/Federal Air Marshal Service. TSA OLE/FAMS shares responsibility for the program with the Office of Security Operations and Transportation Sector Network Management.
National Urban Security Technology Laboratory is a United States government-owned, government-operated laboratory, part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate. It is located in the Federal Office Building at 201 Varick Street in the Hudson Square neighborhood, Manhattan, New York.
The Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2014 is an appropriations bill that was introduced into the United States House of Representatives during the 113th United States Congress. The bill would appropriate money to various government agencies related to the United States Department of Homeland Security. This funding would be used during fiscal year 2014, which ends September 30, 2014. The United States House Committee on Appropriations recommended "$38,993,000,000 in discretionary funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for fiscal year 2014, $34,885,000, or .09 percent, below the amount requested and $613,205,000, or 1.55 percent, below fiscal year 2013 enacted levels."
Mark G. Frank is a communication professor and department chair, and an internationally recognized expert on human nonverbal communication, emotion, and deception. Dr. Frank conducts research and does training on micro expressions of emotion and of the face. His research studies include other nonverbal indicators of deception throughout the rest of the body. He is the Director of the Communication Science Center research laboratory that is located on the North Campus of the University at Buffalo. Under his guidance, a team of graduate researchers conduct experiments and studies for private and government entities. Frank uses his expertise in communication and psychology to assist law enforcement agencies in monitoring both verbal and nonverbal communication.
The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program Authorization and Accountability Act of 2014 is a bill that would make permanent the United States Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) authority to regulate security at certain chemical facilities in the United States. Under the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program, DHS collects and reviews information from chemical facilities in the United States to determine which facilities present security risks and then requires them to write and enact security plans.
Human sensing encompasses a range of technologies for detecting the presence of a human body in an area of space, typically without the intentional participation of the detected person. Common applications include search and rescue, surveillance, and customer analytics.
BDA, until 2016 called SPOT, is a program launched in the United States by the Transportation Security Administration to identify potential terrorists among people at an airport by a set of 94 objective criteria, all of which are signs for either stress, fear, or deception. Passengers meeting enough of the criteria are, under the program, referred for a patdown and additional screening. The criteria were initially secret, but in March 2015, The Intercept published them after obtaining the information from an anonymous source.
