Behavior Detection Officers Keeping A Watchful Eye On Airports

Although you probably couldn’t spot one of the if you tried, chances are they spotted you if you were exhibiting suspicious behavior in one of over 160 U.S airports.

To identify dangerous people, the Transportation Security Administration has stationed specially trained Behavior Detection Officers at 161 U.S. airports, including Miami and Fort Lauderdale. The officers, who can be anywhere from the parking garage to the gate, try to spot passengers with an unusual level of nervousness or stress.

They don’t focus on a person’s nationality, race, ethnicity or gender, said Sari Koshetz, spokeswoman for the TSA.

“We’re not looking for a type of person but at behaviors,” she said.

The program started in Boston in 2003; expanded to Miami in 2006 and then to Fort Lauderdale in 2007. The TSA won’t disclose whether detection officers roam Palm Beach International Airport.

Under the program, a suspicious passenger might be given a secondary screening or referred to police; detection officers don’t have arrest powers.

Last year, officers nationwide required 98,805 passengers to undergo additional screening. Police questioned 9,854 of them; 813 were arrested.

While the TSA doesn’t break down the numbers for individual airports, the officers require dozens of travelers in Miami and Fort Lauderdale to undergo a secondary screening each week.

via Airport officers covertly keep an eye out for suspicious behavior — South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com.

Could Wii Balance Board Prevent Terror Attack?

The Department of Homeland Security is investigating whether the use of Wii Fit Balance Boards might be a good tool for detecting signs of tension or unease in airport security lines.

As somewhere over 20 million Wii Fit owners know, the Balance Board can detect your precise balance point, making it a perfect keep-fit tool — but the Future Attribute Screening Technology project hopes detecting physiological signs — including rapid shifts in balance — will help identify passengers who may have hostile intentions.

“Researchers took a Wii balance board…and altered it to show how someone’s weight shifts. Studies are now under way to determine whether there is a level of fidgeting that would suggest the need for secondary screening,” CNN said.

The Balance Board is just one of a suite of sensors the Boston-based project is trialing; others include eye trackers and devices that record respiratory and heart rates. Researchers say their goal is to have a system ready for field tests in 2011.

via Read Full Article.

Study: Airport Security Badges Need Improved Tracking

The government has not been able to keep track of all the airport security uniforms and badges it issues, which makes secure areas in airports vulnerable to terrorists posing as authorized officials, according to an internal review released Friday. Read more

Homeland Security Warns on Security of Venezuelan Airports

The Department of Homeland Security issued a warning questioning the security of Venezuelan airports, a move that won’t immediately block flights but may renew tensions about air travel between the countries.

DHS officials have been blocked from inspecting international airports in Venezuela to determine whether they comply with security standards adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization, according to the department. U.S. inspectors have been trying for the past two years to gain access to Venezuela’s main international hubs, including Simón Bolívar International Airport, outside the capital, Caracas, according to the U.S. embassy there.

The Venezuelan embassy in Washington didn’t respond to a request to comment. Christopher White, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, said beginning Tuesday, security checkpoints at U.S. airports will post warnings on travel to and from Venezuela. The warnings won’t directly block flights or advise Americans to avoid flying to Venezuela; rather, they will state that TSA cannot verify that airports in Venezuela have proper security procedures in place.

“Venezuela has refused multiple requests to allow for such assessments, which are required by U.S. law, and the agency is taking action to warn travelers of this security deficiency,” according to an advisory the TSA released Monday.

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