Morning Security Brief: Full Body Scanners, Detroit School Guards, Lax Prison Security, SFO Hijack Threat, & Utah Gang Sweeps

♦ Senators have issued a letter to the U.S. Marshal Service critical of the agency's use of full body scanners. "The bipartisan group of senators demanded a detailed explanation from the U.S. Marshals Service, which installed the millimeter wave system at the security checkpoint of at a Florida courthouse," reports CNET.com. "A letter the politicians sent to Marshals Service director John Clark asks him to 'identify any other locations where the U.S. Marshals Service is using whole body imaging technology, whether or not the images from scans taken at any of those locations are also being stored, and, if they are being stored, the reasons for retaining these images.'" During the push to install full body scanners after the botched Christmas day attack, the government assured the public that images would not be stored.

♦ Detroit Public Schools will appeal a judge's order to reinstate school security guards that were fired in July. "DPS wants to privatize in-school security, replacing all of its 226 officers, a move that is being criticized by security experts and the teachers union," reports The Detroit Free Press. "School officials said a one-year contract with Securitas Security Services USA will save the district $4.5 million while replacing unionized employees who had a high rate of daily absenteeism.The security officers who were fired July 29 accuse the district of union-busting and putting the district's 85,000 students at risk by hiring officers who will get less training and less pay."

♦ The private prison where three inmates escaped on July 30 had lax security policies, according to a report investigating the escape. "Management & Training Corp., the report said, ran the prison so poorly that, on the night of the escape, a perimeter post was briefly unmanned and the staff reacted sluggishly to alarms. A spokesman for the Utah company could not be reached for comment," reports the Los Angeles Times. "I have made it clear to all officials responsible for housing these inmates that their lapse in security is completely unacceptable, and that they will be held strictly accountable," Gov. Jan Brewer said in a statement. The prison break led to a multistate manhunt that just ended last night with the capture of John McCluskey and his accomplice Casslyn Welch. On the lam for three weeks, law enforcement officials suspect the couple were behind a string of robberies as well as the murder of an elderly couple.

♦ Law enforcement officials are searching for an anonymous caller who threatened to hijack a plane at San Francisco International Airport yesterday, which led to the grounding of a New York-bound flight and two passengers taken off board. "Police said that a clerk at a business in Alameda, a city across San Francisco Bay from the airport, reported receiving a threat specifically directed at the American Airlines flight. The clerk called police shortly after 9 a.m. Thursday and said the business had received an anonymous phone call, Lt. Bill Scott said," according to The Associated Press. "About an hour later, American Airlines Flight 24 pushed off from the gate long past its scheduled 7:30 a.m. departure. Within minutes, the New York-bound plane was diverted to a remote section of the tarmac at San Francisco International Airport, where it sat for several hours before it was searched and two passengers removed for extra scrutiny." The two passengers, described as Pakistani nationals, were later released. The FBI said the hijacking threat wasn't credible.

♦ A massive gang sweep across Utah has led to the arrest of 158 undocumented aliens who are also suspected of gang ties. "Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations teamed up with city and state police agencies to focus on transnational gang members and their associates," reports The Salt Lake Tribune. "Of the 158 arrested, 93 are facing state and federal criminal charges, including solicitation to commit aggravated murder, forcible sexual abuse, and drug and firearms violations. Several were tagged for criminal re-entry, meaning they were previously deported but returned, and could face between two and 20 years in prison, said U.S. Attorney for Utah Carlie Christensen. The 93, if convicted, will serve jail or prison time and then be deported." An immigration lawyer, however, said simply calling an illegal alien a suspected gang member is an easy way to deport the accused, regardless of what the evidence says.