Jim Cramer’s Top 2010 Investments – Homeland Security

Jim Cramer on Tuesday served up the second installment of a weeklong series on 2010’s biggest investing themes and today’s best bet in 2010 focused on counter-terrorism and Homeland Security.

In light of the recent increase in homeland security threats and the flight 253 incident, Cramer is betting Washington will beef up our defenses to make sure that future system failures don’t happen. That means more business for the related companies (think body scanners, x-ray equipment and biometrics)

Mad Money first highlighted its top homeland-security stocks last October, but Cramer decided to update the list in light of recent events.

Read Full Article and Stock Picks Here

Inside The Fusion Center, Southern Nevada’s Counterterrorism Center

Open for more than two years, the Las Vegas “fusion” center is battling terrorism and street crime, a dual mission that has affected how local and federal law enforcement agents view each other and their jobs. Take a ‘behind the scenes’ look.

When a tip arrived about a threat of violence at a southern Nevada high school football game, a Clark County School District police officer helped plan a response.

When a Colorado man was arrested on terrorism charges, a Department of Homeland Security analyst probed whether he had Las Vegas ties.

Though the two cases are very different, the officials who worked them were in the same cubicle-filled room at the Southern Nevada Counterterrorism Center.

Open for more than two years, the Las Vegas “fusion” center is battling terrorism and street crime, a dual mission that has affected how local and federal law enforcement agents view each other and their jobs.

The fusion center concept, which was developed by the federal government after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, is grounded in the idea that information flow between police agencies is the key to stopping terrorism.

In Las Vegas and elsewhere, the concept has evolved to include a broader “all crimes, all hazards” approach.

A sign that federal law enforcement has embraced this strategy came last month when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder visited Las Vegas and praised the local fusion center as a national model.

The maturation of the facility coincides with Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons’ decision last month to fold the state’s Office of Homeland Security into the Nevada Division of Emergency Management.

via Read Full Article.