So, we just lost some more eyes and ears that could tell us about potential terrorist or criminal threats on one of our critical infrastructures. The “First Observer” program just lost funding by the TSA.

For those of you not familiar with the “First Observer” program, it was designed to have trained citizens who were on our nations highways and interstates report suspicious activity. All classroom training is on hold, all train the trainer classes are on hold and the website will not be accessible after December. I’m sure TSA looked at the cost verses benefit of this program or at least I hope so, but one has to wonder how long does “active in the near future” mean. Does TSA have a plan to “band-aid” this capability until funding is identified. The highways are just like railroads, lots of miles to observe and very few trained people to look for “indicators” and we will just have to let these “soft targets” wait until we are “active again in the near future.”