On July 12, a civilian-operated drone forced firefighters battling a 35-acre wildfire in Southern California to ground supporting air tankers. This was the fourth such incident in a month where a drone disrupted firefighting efforts in California. These civilian-operated drones pose significant dangers for firefighting operations.

However, the use of drones by the fire service holds many potential benefits. “Drones would be a generous increase in our capabilities regarding communication, safety, and command and control,” said Captain Peter Jensen, a 26-year wildland firefighter with the Ventura County Fire Department in California. Learn more about how unmanned aerial systems (UAS) could assist firefighters fight wildfires.

Vlog with Dr. Kelli Frakes
Program Director, Homeland Security at American Military University

Data security is a major concern across multiple industries. So, what is being done to combat the near-weekly data breach issues that are not only affecting large companies, but private citizens? Dr. Frakes discusses chip and pin use in the credit card industry, and whether it really is effective enough to combat the data breaches that put private citizens at risk.

In Homeland Security managing editor Glynn Cosker presents the first in a series of short videos outlining current cybersecurity trends and predictions for 2015.

By Leischen Stelter

It seems like every day my inbox is packed with new stories about police reform. The biggest story was the July 24th announcement by Attorney General Eric Holder of a major overhaul of the New Orleans Police Department. Holder, in conjunction with Mayor Mitch Landrieu, signed a federal consent decree that is designed to clean up NOPD. Just a few days later, the Justice Department announced a similar (but less expansive) reform of the Seattle Police Department. What’s going on here?