Security Screening: Broken Technology Series
The screening of passengers and baggage at airports is an excellent example of a broken technology situation. Despite five years and hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars the TSA, US Government, Airports and Airlines can’t really seem to make this technology and process work.
First, they do not screen everything, so the screening process right from go is a little farcical.
Second, the rules are not applied in a standardize method. So as a class or group people suffer rules designed to fit all and the rules never do.
We go to the airports and play a silly game sending our bags through X-rays looking for offending articles, we take our jackets off and our shoes and belts and then walk through a metal detector, sending our stuff through an X-ray or imaging machine.
But the air cargo doesn’t get scanned. This is often times a huge portion of the payload within an aircraft and if something dangerous is put in airfreight a terrorist would not necessarily have to be present nor suicidal to cause a tragedy.
I suspect that before I die, I will see the day when people will go to the airport. They will don paper clothing issued by the TSA and will not be allowed to wear anything else.
All baggage will be checked, and passengers will be anesthetized before being allowed onto the airplane. At that point we will all be loaded onto the plane as air cargo, flown to our destination with no frills dreams, and revived on the other side where we will claim our bags in the carisole.
Now isn’t that a happy thought!
Page Popularity for Site: 2% [?]
November 8th, 2006 at 8:51 am
Unfortunately, the un-informed are able to spew inaccurate information about air cargo screening on passenger aircraft. In fact, all cargo boarded on passenger aircraft must pass several security checkpoints prior to being tendered for boarding. Suffice it to say that the FAA has strong rules and regulations designed to control what goes aboard passenger aircraft and while a few politicians use scare tactics to get votes, the vast majority of air cargo industry personnel agree that the current level of air cargo security will defeat would be bad guys. There are several high level programs we are all sworn to secrecy on that cannot be discussed in an open forum, but rest assured, there are a lot of people all over the world who understand the threat and diligently gaurd against it, without you ever seeing the screening process.
November 8th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
Thank you very much for your anonymous comment.
I agree with your perspective and after spending many years working in intelligence, I’ve come to the conclusion that we would all be better served if we were in facte ‘informed’ about the high level programs put in place to protect us.
This would allow us to have a candid and open discussion about all matters and facts and allow us to all work together to insure continued improvement.
It would also benefit the general populous psyche to know that we are so well guarded against threats.
I come from Central Illinois but my mother heralds from Missouri. So if the protection is there, I for one would say ’show me!’
I do not subscribe to the argument that public debate about security matters plays into the hands of those that would attempt to hurt us. The wider the debate the more perspective will be applied to the situation and in a capitalist society we will then receive more opportunities to apply market forces to the matter and let the best process, the best systems and the best technology rise to the challenge.
One failing of the technology and processes in place to day directly derives from the silo perspective and compartmentalization of planning and tactical execution of defensive screening measures.