“I’m not going to talk about the Alabama… because that’s tied up in courts right now,” she said.
The federal government, civil rights groups and religious groups have sued to prevent implementation of Alabama’s new immigration law, called the toughest in the country by critics and proponents alike. The law goes into effect Sept. 1. A hearing on those legal challenges is scheduled for Wednesday in federal court in Birmingham.
Napolitano was in Anniston to tour the Auburn Canine Detection Training Center as well as the Center for Domestic Preparedness.
“Homeland security begins with hometown security,” Napolitano said, praising the training at both centers. We want to make sure every community has the capability and the capacity to respond to all events.”
The secretary described a demonstration of Auburn’s patented Vapor Wake Detection technology as “added proof” of the necessity for canine detection for homeland security.
“It’s important for us to be able to have different dogs trained differently,” Napolitano said. “It’s so very valuable to our overall mission.”
Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, was on hand to introduce the secretary as well as talk about his own involvement and interest in implementing canine detecting training units for airport security across the country. Rogers said the cost of training a dog using Vapor Wake Detection cost $30,000, while TSA implemented Body Imaging X-Ray machines cost $175,000.
Auburn’s Canine Detection Training Center is among the largest non-federally-operated canine detection centers in the country. Auburn’s patented Vapor Wake Detection trains canines to detect explosives carried on persons through vapor-wake.
Star staff writer Brian Anderson: 356-235-3546
