DHS’ READY CAMPAIGN REMINDS AMERICANS TO “GET PREPARED” AS TROPICAL STORM HANNA MOVES TOWARD THE U.S. WITH TROPICAL STORMS IKE AND JOSEPHINE BEHIND IT

WASHINGTON – As Gustav continues inland, Tropical Storms Hanna, Ike and Josephine serve as stark reminders of the need for Americans to be prepared. The Department of Homeland Security’s Ready Campaign encourages citizens to get an emergency supply kit, make an emergency plan, and be informed about what to do if these Tropical Storms gain strength, turn into hurricanes, and head in their direction. As seen with Gustav, hurricanes and tropical storms also produce tornadoes, flooding and power outages that affect citizens for hours or even days after the initial storm has passed. Ready wants to make sure citizens are on alert and listening to what local authorities are advising them to do.

Ready recommends having a three-day supply of water for each individual in your family, including pets, along with non-perishable food, a battery-powered radio, extra batteries and a flashlight. It is also important to consider your family’s unique needs such as medication and any important documents like property insurance. Additionally, pet owners should check which shelters in the area will take animals in case of evacuation. Also, Ready recommends citizens along the Atlantic Coast have a “to-go” kit that includes basic essentials such as food and water as well as blankets and clothing in case they must evacuate on a moment’s notice.

Ready’s Web site, www.ready.gov, is a free resource where individuals can find an emergency supply checklist, download an emergency plan and link to local information. Ready also has resources and tools available on its Web site to help business owners ensure their business plans stay up and running, talk to their employees and protect their assets. For information in Spanish, visit www.listo.gov. Individuals can also call 1-800-BE-READY or 1-888-SE-LISTO for more emergency preparedness information.

February 2008 marked the Ready Campaign’s fifth year at the Department of Homeland Security. Launched in 2003 in partnership with The Advertising Council, Ready is designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies, including natural disasters and potential terrorist attacks. It has proven to be one of the most successful campaigns in Ad Council's more than 65-year history. Since its launch, the campaign has generated more than $756.5 million in donated media support. Individuals interested in more information about family, business and community preparedness can visit www.ready.gov.
 

Press Release                                       

August 26, 2008

Contact: DHS Press Office, (202) 282-8010

DHS' READY CAMPAIGN AND 2,700+ COALITION MEMBERS URGE AMERICANS TO PREPARE FOR EMERGENCIES DURING FIFTH ANNUAL NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH  

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Ready Campaign (www.ready.gov) is sponsoring the fifth annual National Preparedness Month (NPM) in September with support from more than 2,700 NPM coalition members, the largest amount to date.  NPM coalition members, consisting of national, regional, state, and local organizations, will combine efforts throughout the month of September to encourage all Americans to take steps to prepare for emergencies before they happen. 

“National Preparedness Month is an important reminder about each American’s civic responsibility to prepare for emergencies,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. “Those with the capacity and wherewithal to help themselves must do so in advance, so that in the event of an emergency, responders can first assist those who are unable to tend to themselves. From wildfires and earthquakes in California, to hurricanes and tropical storms along the Gulf Coast, to flooding in the Midwest, recent events remind us more than ever that we must prepare ourselves and our families for a disaster.  This is the time, each year, when every American should ask the question, ‘Am I ready?’” 

 The Ready Campaign and Citizen Corps (www.citizencorps.gov) are encouraging individuals across the nation to take important preparedness steps that will greatly improve their ability to survive and recover from all types of emergencies, whether natural or man-made.  These steps include getting an emergency supply kit, making a family emergency plan, becoming informed about the different emergencies that may affect them, and getting involved in community preparedness and response efforts.  NPM coalition members are encouraging Americans to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, schools, and communities by hosting events such as seminars, fairs, community outreach events, workshops, webinars, and trainings.  For a complete list of events, please visit www.ready.gov.  

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joseph I. Lieberman and Ranking Member Susan M. Collins, along with House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson and Ranking Member Peter T. King, will serve as honorary Congressional Co-Chairs of NPM 2008. They will lead the effort to increase public awareness about the importance of emergency preparedness on Capitol Hill and throughout the country. 

For more information on the Ready Campaign and NPM, please visit www.ready.gov or www.listo.gov. Individuals can also call 1-800-BE-READY or 1-888-SE-LISTO for more emergency preparedness information.   

February 2008 marked the Ready Campaign’s fifth year at the Department of Homeland Security. Launched in 2003 in partnership with The Advertising Council, Ready is designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies, including natural disasters and potential terrorist attacks. It has proven to be one of the most successful campaigns in Ad Counci’'s more than 65-year history. Since its launch, the campaign has generated more than $756.5 million in donated media support. Individuals interested in more information about family, business and community preparedness can visit www.ready.gov.

Release Date: July 31, 2008

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010

Background
Title XVIII of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended, requires the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) to develop a National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) that provides short- and long-term guidance to address national emergency communications deficiencies. National studies, assessments, and after action reports from September 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina, and other natural and man-made disasters in the last decade have underscored the critical need for improved emergency communications nationwide. These documents show that the lack of emergency communications interoperability across disciplines and jurisdictions hinders situational awareness, command and control, and the overall management of response and recovery efforts.

NECP Vision and Goals
The vision of the NECP is to ensure that emergency response personnel at all levels of government, and across disciplines, can communicate as needed, on demand, and as authorized. To achieve this vision, the NECP identifies the capabilities and initiatives needed for communications operability, interoperability, and continuity of communications for emergency responders nationwide.

The NECP sets strategic goals and identifies national objectives to enhance governance, planning, technology, training and exercises, and disaster communications capabilities. The NECP provides recommendations and milestones to guide emergency responders and relevant government officials to make measurable improvements in emergency communications over the next three years. To achieve this end, the NECP defines three goals that establish a minimum level of interoperable communications and milestones for Federal, State, local, and tribal agencies to achieve that level.

Goal 1—By 2010, 90 percent of all high-risk Urban Areas designated within the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) are able to demonstrate response-level emergency communications (the capacity of individuals with primary operational leadership responsibility to manage resources and make timely decisions during a multi-agency incident without technical or procedural communications impediments) within one hour for routine events involving multiple jurisdictions and agencies.
Goal 2—By 2011, 75 percent of non-UASI jurisdictions are able to demonstrate response-level emergency communications within one hour for routine events involving multiple jurisdictions and agencies.
Goal 3—By 2013, 75 percent of all jurisdictions are able to demonstrate response-level emergency communications within three hours of a significant event as outlined in national planning scenarios.

Development of the NECP
The NECP was developed in cooperation with a broad set of public and private sector emergency response stakeholders. Federal participants in the NECP development process included DHS component agencies with emergency communications responsibilities, as well as other Federal departments and agencies that serve as members of the Emergency Communications Preparedness Center (ECPC). In addition, to ensure the NECP reflected the needs and requirements of the State and local emergency response community, OEC gathered input from the SAFECOM Executive Committee and Emergency Response Council. Finally, private sector input was obtained through the National Emergency Communications Cross-Sector Working Group under DHS’s Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council structure.

NECP Alignment with Homeland Security Strategies and Authorities
The NECP is the Nation’s first strategic plan to improve emergency response communications; it is not a tactical or operational plan. The NECP complements and supports overarching homeland security and emergency communications legislation, strategies, and initiatives. This includes the National Response Framework (NRF) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS), the National Preparedness Guidelines, and Target Capabilities List, which combine to form a unified structure for response and recovery efforts. Taken together, the goals and objectives of the NRF, NECP, and other DHS strategy documents will improve nationwide response efforts, bolster situational awareness, information sharing, and command and control operations.

The NECP will not supplant Statewide Communication Interoperability Plans (SCIP) or Tactical Interoperable Communications Plans. Instead, the SCIPs will be updated to align with the goals of the NECP through grant programs administered by DHS, including the new Interoperable Emergency Communications Grant Program.

NECP Implementation
The successful implementation of the NECP will require a coordinated effort among all levels of government:

• Executive and Legislative Branches—The NECP includes recommended initiatives and national milestones that will inform emergency communications priorities, activities, and resource allocations for consideration and action.
• Federal Agencies—Federal implementation of the NECP will be done collaboratively among the member agencies of the ECPC. It will also occur through the Federal Partnership for Interoperability Communications (FPIC), where Federal response organizations will work with State and local agencies and governments to improve communications and resource sharing.
• State, Local, and Tribal Governments—The NECP provides information for State, local, and tribal agencies and governments on Federal funding available to assist with emergency communications procurement and planning. It also offers a forum for regional planning and participation.
• Private Sector—The NECP identifies ways the private sector can support emergency communications efforts and provides consistent direction for private sector involvement in standards development and advanced communications technologies.

For more information on the NECP and OEC, please contact OEC@hq.dhs.gov.

Source: http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1217534334567.shtm

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced today that more than 1,200 national, regional, state and local businesses and organizations have pledged their support and joined the 2008 National Preparedness Month Coalition. Sponsored by the department’s Ready Campaign, National Preparedness Month helps to raise awareness and promote action by Americans, businesses, and communities on emergency preparedness.

“As we approach our fifth National Preparedness Month, I want to thank the hundreds of coalition members who are making a difference in their communities by helping raise the basic level of preparedness in our country,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. “Individual preparedness is the cornerstone of emergency preparedness. Experience shows that if Americans take steps ahead of time, they stand a much better chance of coming through an emergency unharmed and recovering more quickly.”

The Ready Campaign and Citizen Corps (www.citizencorps.gov) are specifically encouraging individuals across the nation to take important preparedness steps. These steps include: getting an emergency supply kit, making a family emergency plan, being informed about the different emergencies that may affect them, as well as taking the necessary steps to get trained and become engaged in community preparedness and response efforts.

National Preparedness Month Coalition members have agreed to distribute emergency preparedness information and sponsor activities across the country that will promote emergency preparedness. Membership is open to all public and private sector organizations. Groups and individuals can register to become members by visiting www.ready.gov , and clicking on the National Preparedness Month banner.

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joseph I. Lieberman and Ranking Member Susan M. Collins, along with House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson and Ranking Member Peter T. King, will serve as honorary Congressional Co-Chairs of National Preparedness Month 2008. Together, they will lead the effort to increase public awareness about the importance of emergency preparedness on Capitol Hill and throughout the country.

For more information on the Ready Campaign and National Preparedness Month, please visit www.ready.gov or www.listo.gov . Information is also available by phone at 1-800-BE-READY or 1-888-SE-LISTO.

February 2008 marked the Ready Campaign’s fifth year at the Department of Homeland Security. Launched in 2003 in partnership with The Advertising Council, Ready is designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies, including natural disasters and potential terrorist attacks. It has proven to be one of the most successful campaigns in Ad Council’s more than 65-year history. Since its launch, the campaign has generated more than $703.2 million in donated media support. Individuals interested in more information about family, business and community preparedness can visit www.ready.gov or call 1-800-BE-READY to receive free materials.

By Bill Vidonic, Times Staff

For more than a day in October 2006, dozens of police, fire and rescue personnel combed the woods in the area surrounding Brian Salyers’ Economy home searching for the autistic 20-year-old.

As temperatures dipped into the 30s overnight, no one knew if Salyers would be found alive. The search had a happy ending; Salyers was safe and sound.

Chris Shallcross, an employee of Economy Ambulance Service, watched the dozens of volunteer firefighters work tirelessly, police officers work overtime and other rescue personnel search for Salyers.

(Picture info: The Times/LUCY SCHALY - Chris Shallcross from Economy Ambulance Service demonstrates how to use a tracking device for patients like those with Alzheimer's disease or autism who tend to wander away from their caregivers or homes. The program is called "Take Me Home.")

“I was trying to figure out a way to find these people” more quickly, said Shallcross, also a Beaver County Emergency Services dispatcher.

Thanks to $10,000 in grants secured by state representatives Sean Ramaley, D-16, Economy, and Jaret Gibbons, D-10, Ellwood City, Shallcross bought equipment that should bring peace of mind to some local residents.

Shallcross has begun the Take Me Home program in Beaver County, in which at-risk people, such as those with autism or Alzheimer’s disease, can wear a tracking bracelet. If a person wearing a bracelet wanders off, rescue personnel can use a radio signal to find them quickly.

Shallcross said he has no doubt there’s a need for the program in Beaver County. A similar program has been offered for about 10 years in Allegheny County, through the Western Pennsylvania Search and Rescue Research and Development Program in Wilkinsburg.

Shallcross said at least six Beaver County families approached that Allegheny County group to ask if they could join. The group said they couldn’t properly monitor Beaver County residents because of the distance.

That program is now available in Beaver County.

Those who join the program will be outfitted with a small radio transmitter that’s worn on a wristband and constantly transmits a signal. Shallcross said the technology doesn’t use a GPS signal, because that satellite signal can be blocked if someone is in the woods.

The wristband is difficult to remove, Shallcross said, and can only be cut off, lessening the chances that someone with Alzheimer’s or autism would be able to remove it. The transmitter also is waterproof, in case someone falls into a lake or stream, he said.

If someone wearing the transmitter disappears, Shallcross said, rescuers could use one of four tracking receivers that will be placed in various places in the county so that they’re quickly available to rescuers.

A rescuer will hook up an antenna to the tracking receiver, which will allow the receiver to pick up the signal from the wristband transmitter. A rescuer can sweep the area where the person was last seen, Shallcross said. With a radius of over a mile on the ground, he said, a rescuer can quickly determine in which direction rescuers must proceed. If an antenna is used on a search helicopter, it could search a 10-mile radius.

Shallcross said it should take rescuers less than 30 minutes to find an endangered person once a search begins.

Shallcross said that not only will some wristbands be bought with grant money for needy families, other individuals also can buy the wrist transmitters at a cost of $250. The only ongoing cost, Shallcross said, is that the battery must be replaced in the wrist transmitter once a month, and members of the western Pennsylvania search organization will go to a person’s house to replace the battery, which costs $5.50.

Shallcross said that with the grant money, he’s bought 12 transmitters and four tracking receivers, along with some replacement batteries. Shallcross said someone who might want a transmitter must also get a doctor’s note, to prove there’s a need.

Bill Vidonic can be reached online at bvidonic@timesonline. com.

Search tools
  These tools are available to rescue personnel to help protect or search for endangered people:
 

• Amber Alert: Used to alert people when a child has been kidnapped. Information is released on television and radio stations, the Internet and highway signs. Also, messages can be sent to cell phones.
   
• Adam Alert: When a child disappears in a public building, such as a department store, all entrances and exits are closed and a description of the child is released so that people inside can look for him. People in the building also make sure that no child matching the description wanders out alone or is taken out of the building by someone.
   
• A Child is Missing program: Not only for use with children, the “reverse 911” call system can also be used to find someone with Alzheimers or other endangered people.

  When a person goes missing, a local police department and the Beaver County Emergency Services Center put together a message with information including a description of the missing person, when and where he was last seen, and any other information that could be important.

  The system can generate 1,000 calls a minute to residents in the area where the person was last seen. Beaver County Detective Lt. Kim Clements said that if the person has been missing for a short time, the calls are placed in about a ¼—mile radius. The longer the person is missing, the wider the call area becomes.

  The system last was used nearly two weeks ago when a man disappeared from a Patterson Township personal care home. A nearby resident spotted the man standing in their back yard and notified police.
   

• Cell phones: Emergency personnel can use cell phones to track a person. If the signal from a missing person’s cell phone is bouncing off of a cell phone tower, rescuers can try to triangulate someone’s location.
   
• Helicopter: A state police helicopter with a thermal-imaging camera can be used to search for people lost in the woods.
   
• Command post: Beaver County Emergency Services Center has a communications bus that’s sent to the scene of searches and used as a command post.
   
• Search dog: The Beaver County sheriff’s department has an animal available.

Source: Beaver County Detective Lt. Kim Clements

 Premise Alert

The Beaver County district attorney’s office is working with the Prevention Project of Beaver County to develop a program called Premise Alert, which identifies people with special needs for local police and emergency workers.

Beaver County District Attorney Anthony Berosh said his office is working with social-service agencies in the county to identify those who might need help during an emergency, such as someone who is autistic or has mental health issues.

For example, Berosh said, in a double homicide several years ago in Freedom, the suspect was deaf. When police arrived, they didn’t know the suspect was deaf and there was a brief confrontation because he wouldn’t respond to police commands.

Berosh and county Detective Lt. Kim Clements said that once information is collected, it will be compiled in a database at the county 911 Center. After that, if someone dials 911 from a certain residence and information comes up on a dispatcher’s screen, such as a person is autistic, that information can be relayed to police and firefighters, who then can respond appropriately.

Berosh and Clements said their office will work with the social-service agencies to decide on how best to collect the information, which would be provided by people voluntarily.

“It’s going to be a great help, no doubt about it,” Berosh said.

EFF and ACTE file brief asking court to rehear and reverse decision that allows border agents to routinely search files on laptops and mobile devices

By Grant Gross, IDG News Service
June 12, 2008

U.S. border agents should not be able to search travelers' laptops without a reasonable suspicion of illegal activity, despite a court ruling allowing such searches, two groups said.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) filed an amicus brief on Thursday with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, asking the full court to rehear and reverse a decision by a three-judge panel that ruled that border agents can routinely search files on laptops and mobile devices.

The random searching of laptops is "widespread," said Lee Tien, senior staff attorney with the EFF. The U.S. Department of Justice "claims that U.S. border agents have the power to do so, no suspicion needed, and there are plenty of reported incidents," he added.

There have been multiple media reports in recent months of laptops or other electronic devices searched and seized at U.S. borders, Tien noted. In some cases, travelers have not gotten their electronic devices back from customs officials, he said.

The case the two groups have asked the court to review involves a U.S. man named Michael Arnold, who returned to Los Angeles International Airport from the Philippines in July 2005. A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officer asked to see Arnold's laptop, and customs officers found pictures of naked women and, later, pictures they believed to be child pornography.

Customs officials seized Arnold's laptop and later had him arrested.

Arnold's lawyer argued that the search violated the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment, prohibiting unreasonable searches and seizures. His lawyer argued that the pictures obtained in the search should not be allowed as evidence in a trial, and a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California agreed with Arnold's lawyer.

However, the three-judge panel at the 9th Circuit overturned the district court's ruling. U.S. border agents have broad authority to search luggage and their contents at borders, Circuit Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain wrote in the panel's April 21 decision.

"Courts have long held that searches of closed containers and their contents can be conducted at the border without particularized suspicion under the Fourth Amendment," O'Scannlain wrote. "We are satisfied that reasonable suspicion is not needed for customs officials to search a laptop or other personal electronic storage devices at the border."

The EFF and ACTE argue in their brief that "invasive" searches of electronic devices should be treated differently from searches of luggage. "Your computer contains a vast amount of information about your private life, including details about your family, your finances, and your health," Tien said. "All that information can be easily copied, transferred, and stored in government databases, just because you were chosen for a random inspection."

Tien said he expects a decision on whether to rehear the case within a few months.

Asked if defending an alleged child pornography user was a tough place to make a stand on laptop searches, Tien disagreed. "If they randomly search your machine, don't find anything interesting, and let you go, would you sue them?" he said.

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/06/12/Groups_ask_court_to_review_lap...

Set a Guinness World Record
Enjoy a Better Web

Sounds like a good deal, right? All you have to do is get Firefox 3 during Download Day to help set the record for most software downloads in 24 hours - it’s that easy. We're not asking you to swallow a sword or to balance 30 spoons on your face, although that would be kind of awesome.

The official date for the launch of Firefox 3 is June 17, 2008. Join this effort by pledging today at their site: http://www.spreadfirefox.com/en-US/worldrecord/

Edit: 6/25/08:

Awesome work - we’re almost there!

Thanks to the support of the always amazing Mozilla community, we got more than 8 million Firefox 3 downloads in 24 hours. That’s more Firefox downloads than we’ve ever had in a single day -- an impressive feat indeed!

Please be patient while the good people of Guinness review our World Record attempt. This might take a few days so please check back here. And, a huge thanks for all of your support!

CNN is following four Bauder College students as they build their case files in the Chandra Levy and Natalee Holloway investigations. The Campus Crime Club is part of CNNU, which features student perspectives on news and trends from colleges across the United States.

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- The homicide cop, the prosecutor, the stalking expert and the psychic fielded questions about two unsolved mysteries in a large, sunny room with a skeleton laid out on a table and timelines posted on the walls.

The topic was Chandra Levy, the 24-year-old Bureau of Prisons intern whose 2001 disappearance prompted an investigation that exposed an affair with a congressman, but didn't lead to any arrests.

Psychic medium Reese Christian told the Bauder College criminal justice students that she's been meditating and is getting a mental picture of Levy's killer: He might be employed by the federal government. He might be a serial killer. And he looks like the actor Bill Paxton.

A photo of Paxton, best known for his roles in the movie "Twister" and the HBO series "Big Love," was passed around while a student retrieved a photo of a man the group refers to as "Suspect 3." The two were compared and the resemblance was uncanny.

It may be a coincidence, or perhaps another piece of the puzzle. The students agreed it was definitely time for a closer look at Suspect 3.

The public spotlight long ago faded from the Chandra Levy and Natalee Holloway cases, but they are getting a fresh look at three college campuses, thanks to the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, or CCIRI for short. It's a fancy name for a college crime club that brings the nuts and bolts of criminal justice to life for students pursuing careers in the field.

It also brings new eyes to old cases that have been relegated to the back burner as unsolvable. (Learn more about the students CNN is following)

Beth Holloway, Natalee's mother, spoke in person with the crime club earlier this year. She thanked the students for taking another look at her daughter's case.

Holloway, an 18-year-old graduate of Mountain Brook High School near Birmingham, Alabama, disappeared in May 2005 while on a class trip to Aruba. She was last seen with three young men, all locals, who have been arrested and questioned several times. Holloway's body has never been found, and no one has been charged with a crime.

Using real-life cases is the best way to groom the next generation of crime-solvers, crime club founder Sheryl McCollum believes. She started teaching at Bauder in 2002 after spending 25 years working in the criminal justice system.

"It brings textbooks to life. I think it's the best way to teach," McCollum said. "I wanted the students to see that all their studying and knowledge could be put into practice, and to have a sense of 'real-world' investigative work."

Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Bauder College offers two- and four-year degrees in fashion, business, information technology, medical assistance, interior design and, of course, criminal justice. Many of the 850 students juggle full-time jobs and families with their course work.

For the next several months, CNN will follow four Bauder students as they build their case files in the Levy and Holloway investigations.

"I think it's amazing what Sheryl McCollum is doing at Bauder College by providing these students with a hands-on opportunity to study a real-life criminal investigation," Beth Holloway said in a statement to CNN. "I'm very pleased that they have chosen to work on Natalee's case. "

The students will work from the public record, comb the Internet and conduct interviews. And they will learn crime-solving techniques from professionals, such as building timelines, creating suspect and victim profiles, reconstructing crime scenes, interpreting blood stains and analyzing the paths bullets take.

The students -- Jennifer Gosdin, 27, Antonio Wilson, 26, Danielle Zayas, 24, and Charna-Marie Dixon, 19 -- will file monthly logs, which will be posted on CNN.com. They also will file several special reports as they go on field trips to take an independent look at crime scenes, talk to witnesses and learn specialized investigative techniques.

Gosdin hopes to join a police dive team in Florida. Wilson wants to work as a juvenile probation officer. Zayas is considering law school. Dixon already has found a job as a corrections officer in neighboring DeKalb County.

They are among the 80 students in the club, which began at Bauder in 2005. Last year, the crime club grew to include students at Auburn University Montgomery and Faulkner University in Alabama.

For the Levy and Holloway cases, Auburn students will handle the crime scene and geographic details, while Faulkner students will delve into the victims' profiles. The Bauder students are focusing on the suspects.

Crime club students aren't graded, and they don't receive credit for club work, but there's never a shortage of volunteers. The club meets at least once a month and has its own classroom lab on the Bauder campus.

At the end of the year, students at the three campuses will compare notes, and then write and forward a final report to law enforcement that says whether the case is solvable. Past cases include Tupac Shakur, the hip-hop artist gunned down in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Wayne Williams, the man convicted in the Atlanta child murders case. Students found the Williams case solvable, but Shakur's slaying was ruled "undetermined."

This year's Levy and Holloway investigations seem to carry special meaning for the students.

"Natalee Holloway was graduating high school. She had so many plans, so many things to do, so it just makes it a little more close to home," Gosdin said. "It could happen to any of us. You just, you never know."

"They identify very well with Natalee and with Chandra," McCollum said. "With Chandra, she was a criminal justice major at one time, and she had aspirations of going into the federal government; a lot of our students do as well. And with Natalee, I've got several students who are 19, 20 years old, really on that cusp of starting their college career."

Susan Levy and Beth Holloway personally met with the crime club class of 2008. One student, Antonio Wilson, was so moved that he drove to Natalee Holloway's hometown, Mountain Brook, Alabama, after talking with her mother.

"The students became completely dedicated once they met the family members of the victims," McCollum said. "The victims are real people, the cases are real cases, and the research is real investigative work."

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/06/11/crime.club/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

8. Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania has grown to over 6,000 enlisted and civilian personnel, who are committed to providing world class service to police partners and citizens. The core purpose to seek justice, preserve peace, and improve the quality of life for all by providing exceptional law enforcement services.

http://www.psp.state.pa.us/

Average Median Salary: $53,580

More States
1. New Jersey
2. California
3. Illinois
4. Washington
5. Nevada
6. Alaska
7. Connecticut
9. Colorado
10. Oregon

Source: http://edu.policelink.com/articles/909-10_highest_paying_states_for_law_...

Release Date: June 6, 2008

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced today that it is taking steps to enhance its Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN). Known as HSIN Next Generation (NextGen), the enhancement will provide a secure and trusted national platform for Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) information sharing and collaboration between federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, private sector, and international partners.

HSIN Next Generation will update the current HSIN technology to better enable Homeland Security to meet the requirements of a trusted and secure environment, combined with enhanced capabilities in many areas.

HSIN NextGen will provide DHS, our partners, and stakeholders information management capabilities and services including a portal, search, collaboration, enterprise content management, and Service Oriented Architecture-based information integration and analysis functions to facilitate their collaboration and information sharing needs for SBU data.

Task order award took place on May 23, 2008, through the Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading Edge Solutions (EAGLE) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to General Dynamics One Source, LLC of Fairfax, VA, to develop, operate, maintain, and enhance the HSIN NextGen information sharing and collaboration portal.

The initial award is for $18 million and the total potential five year value, if all options are exercised, is $62 million.

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