In the decade since 9/11, the United States has invested enormous resources into protecting our critical infrastructure from asymmetrical attacks, such as car bombs and hijacked airplanes. The problem is that our most vital facilities – pipelines, ports, refineries and power plants – are also vulnerable and difficult to secure due to their remote locations.
After his jet ski sank in Jamaica Bay, Daniel Casillo swam three miles to the airport, seemingly effortlessly bypassing the million dollar security system around the international airport.
The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is getting a state-of-the-art security gate to blend into the environs and control inbound and outbound traffic to the high-security facility.
The Energy Department is replacing guards and supervisors on duty last week when three peace activists breached perimeter fences at the "Fort Knox of uranium."
For perimeter security applications covering large outdoor areas, thermal video analytic cameras with greater detection range offer significant economic advantages.
On March 1 of this year, Kenneth Mazik barreled his SUV through a security fence at the Philadelphia Airport and drove onto the runway. Aircraft controllers were given only seconds to divert an incoming commercial jet before collision with the rogue vehicle. Fortunately, airport police and security were well prepared to deal with the incident; as Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Joseph Sullivan reported on ABC News: “The ground radar kicked in; the tower was alerted immediately and they made sure to divert flights coming in and then quickly shut the airport down.”
In an effort to state the state more than $13 million, the Michigan Department of Corrections has decided to eliminate the armed officers who protect the perimeter of 27 state prisons. The concern is that no one will be around to stop weapons, drugs, or other items from being thrown over the barbed wire fences to inmates. Instead, surveillance cameras around the perimeters will replace 120 patrol officers.