A 30-foot trailer costing $54,000 in Hinsdale County, Colo., “did not appear to have been used” four years after it was purchased with federal grants. New mobile radios sat in storage there for nearly a year. A set of night-vision goggles went missing and has never been relocated. Elsewhere, the city of Denver overlooked a […]

Prosecutors called it “chilling” and “shocking.” A high-ranking official in the Detroit, Mich., office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement named Roy Bailey was responsible for supervising the custody and transportation of detainees facing deportation proceedings. But Bailey allegedly used his authority to establish a crooked and lawless world where two kinds of people existed: “those […]

For a period after Sept. 11, it seemed that every facet of public safety in Pennsylvania was under fire – not from terrorists but from investigators and auditors exposing ineptitude, abuse and neglect. Report after report raised questions about whether mismanagement and other problems posed more of a threat to the Keystone State than an […]

When historians look back on the early part of the 21st century, they may be tempted to attribute the phrase “homeland security” and its patriotic connotation to former president George W. Bush. But the movement to create a Department of Homeland Security began when Bush was still governor of Texas. In 1998, a commission chaired […]

Minnesota police proved their commitment to the war on terror before an international audience in September of 2008. At that time, 45,000 people were expected to fill St. Paul for the Republican National Convention. Authorities designated the convention a National Special Security Event, and for as long as a year in advance, local and federal […]

As of 2009, the federal government had distributed a total of $29 billion over 8 years in anti-terrorism and preparedness grants across the country with the goal of making the nation more secure and better prepared for natural disasters. The 2010 homeland security appropriations bill also provides hundreds of millions more in cash for urban […]

In response to an open-records request asking for information about the state of Delaware’s anti-terrorism grant spending, a public information officer at the Department of Safety and Homeland Security provided just seven pages of information after consulting with government lawyers. A handful of states told us their open-government laws allowed information considered “security-sensitive” to be […]

When it comes to homeland security, the state of Mississippi has a friend in Washington. Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson hails from the state’s 2nd District and chairs the powerful House Homeland Security Committee. A small college in Mississippi where Thompson graduated, Tougaloo, is perhaps the most notable beneficiary of his influence. Located not far north […]

The state of South Carolina was among the first to openly rebel against a controversial Bush-era program known as Real ID, which called for tougher security features in driver’s licenses to prevent terrorists, criminals and illegal immigrants from fraudulently obtaining identification. By November of 2009, the National Governors Association revealed that three-dozen states wouldn’t meet […]

Florida is a leading recipient of homeland security grants in the United States due to its significant population and major tourist attractions. And it’s received hundreds of millions of dollars over the years to recover from various disasters, namely hurricanes that pummeled the state’s coastline. Despite experience in managing sudden infusions of needed federal support, […]