Suk YI EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Homeland security practitioners and their partners have invested a considerable amount of time and resources in improving aviation passenger security screening. An area that has drawn growing attention is the increasing firearm discoveries at the nation’s security screening checkpoints (hereafter “security checkpoints”). Professionals’ attempts to better secure the security checkpoints have…
CHDS Theses: Executive Summaries
From Golden Handcuffs to Pig Iron: Projecting Pension Reform’s Impact on the Homeland Security Enterprise
Jeffrey Waldman EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The public sector is in a financial bind. Aggregate pension liabilities exceed assets at all levels of government, and the magnitude of the disparity is staggering. Reforms from the early 1980s put the federal civil servant pension system on a path to financial sustainability, yet despite the early and proactive nature…
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Effort to Identify Terrorism Threats: Is Social Media Intelligence (SOCMINT) the Next Tool?
Erik Thompson EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Terrorists use the internet to disseminate propaganda, solicit new members, communicate, gather intelligence, seek money, and inspire and plan attacks. In 2015, the San Bernardino, California, terrorist attack brought the use of social media intelligence (SOCMINT) by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to…
The Softest Target: Security Planning for Houses of Worship
John Stein EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Institutions particularly vulnerable to attack due to a lack of security measures and a high concentration of people are what analysts typically refer to as soft targets. The unique nature of a house of worship, with its inviting atmosphere and open doors, limits the constructs available to develop holistic security plans…
Lived and Remembered Experiences: Policing to Improve Relations with Communities of Color
Christine Elow EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This thesis critically analyzes the history of intense policing of Blacks in the United States and the lived experience of such policing. The aim of this analysis is to speak to police audiences and provide police with an additional tool in their toolbox to defuse tense and traumatic incidents. As a…
Two Teams, One Mission: A Study Using EMS Units in Hospital Triage during Active-Shooter and Other Mass-Casualty Events
Thomas Simons EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Hospital planners generally assume that the majority of patients from a mass-casualty event will have received some sort of field triage, that transport from the scene to the hospital will have been coordinated through on-scene incident command, and that hospitals will have received some sort of notification of incoming patients. Recent…
Plan Bee: Understanding Threats to the Honey Bee Population and Examining Strategies to Promote and Protect Pollinators
Mildred Pfrogner EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In the United States, bees and other insects make important contributions through their pollination of wild vegetation, local plant life, and commercial crops. Approximately one-third of food crops, to include apples, strawberries, tomatoes, and almonds, depend on pollination, as do alfalfa and clover, which provide feed for beef and dairy production.…
21st Century and No Emancipation in Sight: Did the Blue Campaign Miss the Point?
Marie-Claire Brown EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Modern slavery, generically referred to as human trafficking, is one of the highest sources of transnational organized criminal revenue with profits exceeding $150 billion annually and affecting more than 45 million people globally. It includes both private economy slavery and state-imposed forced labor, with the bulk of known profits coming from…
Training for Failure in the United States Fire Service
David O’Neal EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Each year in the United States, fire departments are faced with the challenge of preparing firefighters to respond safely and effectively while the fire service landscape continues to change. The addition of new responsibilities like emergency medical services and other all-hazards responses has deeply impacted the time available for training. Furthermore,…
Reforming the Bank Secrecy Act to Address Emerging Technology and Prevent Illicit Financing.
Shawn Bradstreet EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Banks Secrecy Act (BSA) of 1970 was enacted by Congress to prevent criminals from hiding or laundering their illicit gains through the U.S. banking system. The statute’s objective forced financial institutions to maintain currency transactions reports, along with identifying individuals conducting suspicious transactions. Preserving these records allow law enforcement the…