SPO had its grand opening in the St. Paul International Airport in Minnesota for the Republican National Convention, and it was proven successful again at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
More Airport Advancements
So along with the new system that can detect whether a passenger is going to be traveling with ill intentions, the US Transportation Security Administration has started another high tech security advancement. "SPO Technology" is another innovative way Homeland Security is dealing with threats in airports. SPO, which is a "millimetre wave" that is a "passive stand-off detection solution," is used by QinetiQ; a group dedicated to the technological advancements in security. What this form of technology does is it is able to scan moving people, in a line or strolling through the station, and can detect whether or not a person is carrying an explosive or a weapon. What makes this different from the past security measures is that there is no bag check, or patting down. The SPO can single out a person as a potential threat as they walk by. This speeds up security checks and makes traveling a safer activity to do.
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2 comments:
The two technologies you mention in your posts sound interesting and potentially helpful in preventing people interested in doing harm from boarding airplanes in the US. The first technology you mentioned in your 10/1 post; which can predict risk based on body temperature, heart rate, (and possibly other factors) raised a few questions for me. First off, is this technology curently being used in US airports and if so, what percentage? Is it being used (or intended to be used in the future) at security checkpoints in order to target individuals for a secondary security check? It was my understanding that currently, passengers are randomly selected for secondary checks.
As for the SPO technology you mentioned in today's post, I don't think anyone would argue that being able to detect explosives and weapons is a valuable tool in prevention, but I'm wondering about the cost of equipping our airports with the type of equipment needed to employ this technology, and whether or not it would completely eliminate the need for security checks. It sounds like it fared well in the instances it was used in so far. Is there a plan in place to expand its usage in other US airports?
Were these technologies developed in the US? Are any of them being used in other countries? I've heard (but have not personally researched) that Israel has excellent airport security. Is there anything we can learn from them?
For the first technology advancement that i talked about I finally got the link set up so viewers can now check the website out for themselves. But to answer your questions, the system is known as MALINTENT and it is currently being tested. There have been roughly 144 volunteers that have been tested with the equipment and so far inventors are liking what results they are getting. This type of technology will be used, once it is up and running perfectly in the very near future, to significantly decrease the security inconveniences and will allow passengers to carry liquids once again.
And as for the SPO, I'll get back to you very soon about the costs of the project. Obviously with today's economy going the way it is, we probably don't have the best funds to have this type of screening deployed everywhere. But Dr.William Ribich, the president of QinetiQ North America Company-the company making this technology- was quoted: “With SPO Technology, public safety is protected while we achieve scanning rates up to 45 times faster than competing technologies – all while preserving individual privacy.” I don't think that the security checkpoints will be completely eradicated, but time spent traveling will decrease for sure.
As for the Israelites, they are said to have the safest airlines and airtports in the world. The differences between the Israeli and American security measures is that Israeli security officers engage in dialogue and begin security screening before people even enter the airport. Suspicious people are intercepted before they even step a foot in the station. In America our security is done after people check into their flights. In Israel the security is checked before they even get to the desk, this way people don't have to take their shoes off and dispose of their liquids.
Once Again all of this is on my links in my other posts and the Israel information is going to be posted on a link elsewhere on the site.
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