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Thanks to “Homeland Security funds”, Montgomery County, PA is creating a 3-D map of the entire county intended to aid in public safety efforts:

I’m not going to pretend to have thoughtfully assessed the privacy vs. safety/security tradeoffs of this plan – I just came across a news blurb in my morning review of security news. Two aspects seem notable: one, it’s yet another step in the creep of ubiquitous surveillance; two, it seems like the public benefits of the plan pertain more to safety than security.

In general, there is a useful distinction between safety as those measures that control or manage the risk of bad things simply happening (fire, natural disaster, accidents, etc.), and security as the countermeasures to more narrowly defined set of risks driven by an adversary with an intention of causing harm. While they are often related, safety and security are different, and should be addressed separately. Even if we decide as a society that we’re willing to make sacrifices in privacy or convenience for the sake of security, we might have a different sacrifice threshold as it regards safety. It is troubling that this distinction seems completely absent from this policy.

On a completely different note, and with a seasonally appropriate nod to the Irish, I’m listening to the Pogues and Joey Ramone sing “I Fought the Law”. Well, at least that’s how the ID3 tag attributes it. To be honest, I have no idea where I got this track, and neither do Amazon or Google. Any thoughts?

Kansans (is that what people from Kansas are called) are going to be trained to spot terrorism:

Average folks will play ‘a vital part’ in keeping the nation safe from terrorist attacks, said Andra Bannister, director of the Regional Community Policing Training Institute at Wichita State University.

To help that along, the institute is hosting two free programs this week to train residents in counterterrorism.

The first will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday at WSU, and the second will be at the same time Thursday at Kansas State University in Manhattan. The Wichita class will be held in Room 231 of Hubbard Hall; the K-State class will be in Room 108 of Edwards Hall. Registration at both sites will begin at 5:30 p.m.

Participants will learn the basics of counterterrorism, Bannister said.”

…

The program will show residents what to watch for and what to report to police. Participants will also learn more about the Patriot Act, the motivations and tools of terrorists, and what “homeland security” involves.