DHS to aid security at Oscars

The Homeland Security Department will provide Hollywood's local law enforcement agencies with a whole new view of this year's Academy Awards festivities.

DHS will deploy aerial technology known as L.A. Shield to support law enforcement set up around the ceremony's venue. The system would improve ground-based security assessments by providing aerial images and geographic coordinates and supporting real-time information exchanges.

L.A. Shield is based on the department's Critical Infrastructure Inspection Management System (CIIMS), which Maryland State Police began using in 2007. The original CIIMS technology, designed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, was meant for aerial inspection of critical infrastructure, officials said.

For the Oscars, the system will supplement traditional operations on the ground.

“The expansion of CIIMS capabilities from aerial to ground use will further increase its value to the responder community and the safety of the nation,” said David Boyd, director of DHS’ Command, Control and Interoperability Division, in a statement.