Baltimore mayor lays out vision to protect American cities

Baltimore mayor lays out vision to protect American cities    Port security is one of eight areas that many cities need to improve to protect themselves from a terrorist attack, Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley said in a speech last week before the National Press Club in Washington.
   O’Malley, a Democrat, said the federal government is not doing enough to protect the homeland from an attack, including one that takes advantage of “gaping vulnerabilities” in the shipping industry and U.S. ports.
      U.S. Customs and Border Protection this year began using an advanced sea-container X-ray inspection system at the Port of Baltimore, one of only three U.S. ports with the Eagle system. O’Malley said the new technology, which is advertised as being able to scan a container per minute, has enabled the port to scan about 10 percent of inbound containers for terrorist-related and other contraband, according to a copy of his speech. CBP says it conducts cargo imaging on roughly 5.5 percent of ocean containers nationwide.
   President Bush used the Port of Baltimore last month as the backdrop for a speech on homeland security in which he praised the government’s progress in making ports more secure.
   O’Malley pointed to a recent story in the Wall Street Journal (also reported by American Shipper) about the ability of major terminals in the Port of Hong Kong to conduct imaging and radiation inspections on every container transiting the port.
   “If a port like Hong Kong can scan 100 percent of its cargo, why not ports in the United States of America?” he said in remarks reported by the Baltimore Sun.
   O’Malley, who is running for governor, said major metropolitan areas should improve security by conducting regular training and preparedness exercises, setting up systems for intelligence sharing, and installing interoperable communications and closed circuit television systems to monitor city centers and critical infrastructure.
   Cities and states have a responsibility to provide for public safety, but the federal government should cover the additional war costs required to face the domestic terrorist threat to national security, O’Malley said.
   Fighting a global terrorist threat should not fall to cities “using local taxes and the proceeds from fire hall bingo nights,” he said.