Nearly two decades after Hurricane Katrina swept through the Gulf Coast, what policies have changed? August 2024

 

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NCDP Training Newsletter Volume III | Issue 42 | August 2024

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AP Photo: David J. Phillip

 

Nearly two decades after Hurricane Katrina swept through the Gulf Coast, what policies have changed? A look at some key legislation since Hurricane Katrina.

 

Almost nineteen years ago, Hurricane Katrina swept through the U.S. Gulf Coast, inflicting pain on the lives and land it touched. In its wake, people questioned what federal, state, and local governments could do to be more prepared for major storms. Katrina exposed key gaps in the U.S. emergency management system. In the United States, emergency management developed into a formal field after the 9/11 and the anthrax attacks, with a focus on managing security incidents and bioterrorism. However, the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina made it clear that the field needed to evolve to focus more on severe weather events, too.  Lawmakers and government agencies have made several adjustments since Hurricane Katrina, fundamentally reshaping the emergency management field. Read more about key policy developments since Hurricane Katrina made landfall on August 29, 2005, below:  Disaster Recovery Reform Act (2018) - This act introduced a number of reforms, with particular focuses on pre-disaster planning and mitigation.  Sandy Recovery Improvement Act (2013) - This act changed many of FEMA’s administrative authorities, representing one of the most significant updates since the Stafford Act of 1988.  Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act (2006) - This act established FEMA as a separate agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and created 10 regional FEMA offices, each with a regional administrator. This act provided more flexibility to FEMA for managing response efforts.  Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act (2006) - This was an amendment to the Stafford Act of 1988, which authorizes FEMA to provide rescue, care, shelter, and essential needs to household pets and animals following a major disaster or emergency. Although the level of destruction brought on by Hurricane Katrina is almost unfathomable, emergency managers must be prepared for even more extreme storms in upcoming years. It is also imperative to better understand how climate change will influence current and predicted future extreme weather events. The National Center for Disaster Preparedness offers free web-based courses and instructor-led trainings to help communities better understand the issues, prepare, and bounce back from catastrophic climatological events.

 

Update: Amn Roger Fortson. Ex-sheriff’s deputy charged with manslaughter in shooting of an airman at his home

 https://apnews.com/article/police-deputy-shooting-airman-fortson-f6a2d835376040c84298e12ca8b17f69

Prosecutor says ex-sheriff’s deputy charged with manslaughter in shooting of an airman at his home

By  KATE PAYNE, CURT ANDERSON and JEFF MARTIN

Updated 4:40 PM EDT, August 23, 2024

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A Florida sheriff’s deputy was charged with manslaughter with a firearm, launching a rarely seen criminal case against a Florida law officer after a Black U.S. Air Force senior airman was killed after answering his apartment door while holding a gun pointed toward the ground.

Former Okaloosa County deputy Eddie Duran, 38, was charged in the May 3 shooting death of 23-year-old Roger Fortson, Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille said. The charge is a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Marcille said a warrant has been issued for Duran’s arrest but he was not in custody as Friday afternoon.

“Let this be a reminder to law enforcement officers everywhere that they swore a solemn oath to protect and defend, and their actions have consequences, especially when it results in the loss of life,” civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the airman’s family, said Friday.

Sabu Williams, president of the local branch of the NAACP, told The Associated Press that “I think this is the best that we could have hoped for in this particular case.”

Duran listed himself as Hispanic on his voter registration, and the charging documents released Friday also identify him that way.

Authorities say Duran had been directed to Fortson’s Fort Walton Beach apartment in response to a domestic disturbance report that turned out to be false.

After repeated knocking, Fortson opened the door while holding his handgun at his side, pointed down. Authorities say that Duran shot him multiple times; only then did he tell Fortson to drop the gun.

On Friday, candles and framed photos of Fortson in uniform graced the doorway of the apartment where he was killed.

Okaloosa Sheriff Eric Aden fired Duran on May 31 after an internal investigation concluded his life was not in danger when he opened fire.

Duran’s attorney, John Whitaker, did not immediately respond to a phone call and email seeking comment.

It is highly unusual for Florida law enforcement officers to be charged for an on-duty killing — it has only happened four times in the last 35 years before Friday. Even then, only one of those officers has been convicted.

Four Miami-Dade officers were recently indicted on manslaughter charges in connection with a shootout with two robbers who hijacked a UPS truck. The shootout left the UPS driver and a passerby dead along with the hijackers.

Three police officers in the Okaloosa County town of Crestview are awaiting trial on manslaughter charges for the 2021 death of a man who reportedly died after being jolted with a stun gun. Those officers have pleaded not guilty.

A former Palm Beach Gardens officer is serving a 25-year prison sentence for manslaughter and attempted murder for a 2015 shooting. The officer was undercover and in plain clothes when he fatally shot a Black man whose SUV had broken down on an interstate off-ramp. The man had feared he was being robbed, pulled out his licensed handgun and tried to flee before he was shot.

A Broward sheriff’s deputy was charged with manslaughter for the 2014 fatal shooting of a Black man who was carrying an air rifle he had just purchased. A judge later threw out that charge.

The U.S. Supreme Court has given law enforcement officers “qualified immunity” for their on-duty actions, making it difficult to charge and convict them for questionable shootings. The court says that officers can only be convicted if the evidence shows that their conduct was illegal and they should have known they were violating “clearly established” law.

Duran began his law enforcement career as a military police officer in the Army. He was hired by an Oklahoma police department in 2015 after his military discharge. He joined the Okaloosa County sheriff’s office in 2019, but resigned two years later and then rejoined the sheriff’s office in 2023.

Okaloosa personnel records show he was reprimanded in 2021 for not completing his assignment to confirm the addresses of three registered sex offenders by visiting their homes. Then assigned to a high school as its on-campus deputy, he was also disciplined that year for leaving the school before the final bell and the students’ departure. Florida law requires that an armed guard be on campus when class is in session.

In a statement Friday, the sheriff’s office said it stands by its decision to terminate Duran and has been “fully accountable and transparent” throughout the case.

The apartment complex where Fortson lived is about 8 miles (13 kilometers) from Hurlburt Field, where Fortson was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron as a special missions aviator serving on an AC-130J Ghostrider gunship.

Duran went to the apartment complex on May 3 after getting the domestic disturbance call. Duran met an apartment manager who directed him to Fortson’s fourth-floor unit, telling him there had been frequent arguments, the deputy’s body camera video shows.

But Fortson, who had no criminal record, lived alone and had no guests that afternoon. He was on a video call with his girlfriend, who told investigators they had not been arguing. She said Fortson was playing a video game.

Also, 911 records show deputies had never been called to Fortson’s apartment previously but they had been called to a nearby unit 10 times in the previous eight months, including once for a domestic disturbance.

When Duran arrived outside Fortson’s door, he stood silently for 20 seconds and listened, but no voices inside are recorded on Duran’s body camera video.

He then pounded on the door, but didn’t identify himself. He then moved to the side of the door, about 5 feet away (1.5 meters). He told investigators he feared that the person inside might fire through the door or open the door and push him over the rail and to the ground about 40 feet (12 meters) below.

He waited 15 seconds before pounding on the door again. This time he yelled, “Sheriff’s office — open the door!” He again moved to the side. A muffled voice can be heard on the video — Duran said he heard someone cursing at the police.

Less then 10 seconds later, Duran moved back in front of the door and pounded again, announcing himself once more.

Fortson’s girlfriend told investigators that the airman asked who was there but did not get a response. She said Fortson told her he was not going to answer the door because no one comes to his apartment. She said neither of them heard the deputy yell that he was with the sheriff’s office.

After the third knock, she said Fortson told her, “I’m gonna go grab my gun because I don’t know who that is.”

When Fortson opened the door holding his gun, Duran said “Step back,” and then two seconds later began firing. Fortson fell backward onto the floor.

Only then did the deputy yell, “Drop the gun!”

Fortson replied, “It’s over there.”

The deputy called for paramedics, but Fortson died a short time later at the hospital.

__

Anderson reported from St. Petersburg, Florida; Martin reported from Atlanta. Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed to this story.

Does Your Community Have A Gun Buyback Program? State of Maryland. August 2024

 

Gun Buyback this Saturday The State's Attorney's Office is partnering with Rockville City Police for our 3rd Annual Gun Buyback event. It will be held this Saturday, August 17, 2024, rain or shine. Community members will be able to voluntarily turn in their firearms and receive a $100 Visa gift card for functioning handguns, rifles, and shotguns, and $200 in Visa gift cards for functioning assault-style weapons and privately manufactured firearms (ghost guns). All firearms will be accepted with no identification needed and a no-questions-asked policy by law enforcement. Click for Details

Space Sector: Do you really know what's up there? Stimulate our next generation leaders. August 2024

 Space has debris. 

Within emergency management we consider the management of debris.

Our next generation leaders being introduced to this field can use problem-solving to create new and innovative approaches to resolving issues in our communities on land, sea, underwater, air, and space.

BEMA International

          Membership on land, sea, underwater, air, and space

What’s in space.

        https://platform.leolabs.space/visualizations/leo#view=objectType

Introduce young people to the business of space & satellite

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Have you ever been invited to talk to a classroom of young people about what you do for a living? Despite the fame of a few billionaires, the space and satellite business remains pretty mysterious to most people. But it’s also deeply interesting and inspiring, especially to children and young adults

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Ready-made educational content

SSPI has developed educational content that is ready-made for group presentation. It consists of selected videos in the Better Satellite World campaign, some for elementary and middle-school students and others for older students. It includes a guide to presenting the materials and generating discussion about the industry. It’s a great way to plant seeds of interest in the next generation about the business you work in – the most exciting technology industry anywhere.

You’ll find it all at https://www.sspi.org/cpages/school. It’s one more way that SSPI engages you in the space and satellite community. Enjoy! Several of our educational videos were made possible by Hunter Communications.

Header photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

Copyright © 2024 Space & Satellite Professionals International, All rights reserved.

 

 

 

Cybersecurity: NIST Unveils 3 PQC Algorithms Ready for Immediate Use August 2024

https://www.meritalk.com/articles/nist-unveils-3-pqc-algorithms-ready-for-immediate-use/

Aug 13, 2024

NIST Unveils 3 PQC Algorithms Ready for Immediate Use

The Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) today unveiled its first set of three encryption algorithms designed to withstand cyberattacks from a quantum computer – noting that, after nearly a decade of research, they are ready for immediate use.

NIST initiated its journey for quantum-resistant algorithms in 2015, selecting the top 15 from a batch of 82 submitted algorithms. In 2022, NIST announced its selection of four algorithms – CRYSTALS-Kyber, CRYSTALS-Dilithium, Sphincs+, and FALCON – slated for standardization and released draft versions of three of these standards last August.

“The advancement of quantum computing plays an essential role in reaffirming America’s status as a global technological powerhouse and driving the future of our economic security,” said Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves. “Commerce bureaus are doing their part to ensure U.S. competitiveness in quantum, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is at the forefront of this whole-of-government effort.”

“NIST is providing invaluable expertise to develop innovative solutions to our quantum challenges, including security measures like post-quantum cryptography that organizations can start to implement to secure our post-quantum future,” Graves added. “As this decade-long endeavor continues, we look forward to continuing Commerce’s legacy of leadership in this vital space.”

NIST noted that quantum computing could revolutionize fields from weather forecasting to fundamental physics to drug design, but it carries threats as well.

“Researchers around the world are racing to build quantum computers that would operate in radically different ways from ordinary computers and could break the current encryption that provides security and privacy for just about everything we do online,” NIST said in its press release.

Quantum computing technology is developing rapidly, and some experts predict that a device with the capability to break current encryption methods could appear within a decade, threatening the security and privacy of individuals, organizations, and entire nations.

“Quantum computing technology could become a force for solving many of society’s most intractable problems, and the new standards represent NIST’s commitment to ensuring it will not simultaneously disrupt our security,” said NIST Director Laurie Locascio. “These finalized standards are the capstone of NIST’s efforts to safeguard our confidential electronic information.”

The three finalized standards released today – CRYSTALS-Kyber, CRYSTALS-Dilithium, and Sphincs+ – contain the encryption algorithms’ computer code, instructions for how to implement them, and their intended uses. The fourth draft standard based on FALCON is planned for late 2024, NIST said.

“These finalized standards include instructions for incorporating them into products and encryption systems,” said NIST mathematician Dustin Moody, who heads the post-quantum computing standardization project. “We encourage system administrators to start integrating them into their systems immediately, because full integration will take time.”

Moody said that these standards are the primary tools for general encryption and protecting digital signatures.

NIST noted there have been no substantive changes made to the standards since the draft versions released last year, but it has changed the algorithms’ names to specify the versions that appear in the three finalized standards:

• The CRYSTALS-Kyber algorithm – Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 203 – is intended as the primary standard for general encryption. Among its advantages are comparatively small encryption keys that two parties can exchange easily, as well as its speed of operation. It has been renamed Module-Lattice-Based Key-Encapsulation Mechanism (ML-KEM).
• The CRYSTALS-Dilithium algorithm – FIPS 204 – is intended as the primary standard for protecting digital signatures. It has been renamed Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Algorithm (ML-DSA).
• The Sphincs+ algorithm – FIPS 205 – is also designed for digital signatures. The standard is based on a different math approach than ML-DSA, and it is intended as a backup method in case ML-DSA proves vulnerable. It has been renamed the Stateless Hash-Based Digital Signature Algorithm (SLH-DSA).

Similarly, when the draft FIPS 206 standard built around FALCON is released, the algorithm will be dubbed FN-DSA, short for FFT (fast-Fourier transform) over NTRU-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Algorithm.

To accommodate any ideas that cryptographers may have had since the initial 2015 call for submissions, NIST asked the public for additional algorithms in 2022 and has begun a process of evaluating them. NIST continues to evaluate two other sets of algorithms that could one day serve as backup standards, the agency said.

One of these sets consists of three algorithms designed for general encryption but based on a different type of math problem than the general-purpose algorithm in the finalized standards. NIST plans to announce its selection of one or two of these algorithms by the end of 2024.

The second set includes a larger group of algorithms designed for digital signatures. In the near future, NIST expects to announce about 15 algorithms from this group that will proceed to the next round of testing, evaluation, and analysis.

While analysis of these two additional sets of algorithms will continue, Moody said that any subsequent post-quantum cryptography standards will function as backups to the three that NIST announced today.

“There is no need to wait for future standards,” he said. “Go ahead and start using these three. We need to be prepared in case of an attack that defeats the algorithms in these three standards, and we will continue working on backup plans to keep our data safe. But for most applications, these new standards are the main event.”