Federal Surveillance Technology to be Tested at T.F. Green Airport

December 26, 2003

Federal Surveillance Technology to be Tested at T.F. Green
USA Today

PROVIDENCE (AP) — T.F. Green Airport has been chosen to test the latest in 
government-sponsored security technology designed to prevent incursions in and 
around airport grounds. 

Michael Cheston, executive director of the state Airport Corp., said the $2.4 
million in grants from the federal Transportation Security Administration will 
place T.F. Green at the forefront of efforts to seal airports from terrorists 
or other threats. Sens. Lincoln Chafee and Jack Reed helped arrange the 
funding. 

"It's a huge enhancement to safety at airports," Cheston said. 

Two systems are being tested at the regional airport, located in Warwick. One 
is software that could alert authorities when the airport's 3-to-4 mile 
perimeter has been breached. Currently, airport police patrol the fence around 
T.F. Green, Cheston said, while staff members monitor surveillance cameras. The 
software is part of the ASDE-X system. 

ASDE stands for airport surface detection equipment. ASDE-X will be installed 
at T.F. Green this spring. It will allow air traffic controllers to track the 
movement of planes, service trucks and other activity on the runways, 
especially in poor weather, Cheston said. 

The test software is seen as a step forward in the ASDE-X system's development. 
It uses artificial intelligence to detect any intrusion on airport grounds and 
identify where the breach occurred. 

"No ground surveillance system can cover the perimeter like this," Cheston 
said. 

The research is being funded by a $1.2 million grant from the TSA. Testing 
begins in about a month. 

Green was the only airport chosen to test another technological advance: A 
system able to detect "unusual activity" by anyone inside the airport. For 
example, the technology could identify an individual who has put down a piece 
of luggage and left, and then track that person moving through the airport, 
Cheston said. 

Earlier this month, Green was closed for about one hour when screeners noticed 
a suspicious item in a piece of carry-on baggage, but the passenger walked away 
with it before the bag could be searched. 

The technology is believed to be a major improvement to surveillance that 
relies on humans using surveillance cameras to discover suspicious activity. 
The information would be kept secret, Cheston said. The TSA is funding the 
research with a $1.2 million grant. 

The state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said it was concerned 
with the technology's potential to pick out an individual. It could be 
programmed to zero in on Arab-looking people, said Steven Brown, the chapter's 
executive director. Brown said the ACLU doesn't know much about the technology, 
and has filed an open records request with the airport corporation to get more 
information about it. 

Cheston brushed off concerns about a Big Brother-type of system. 

"Everyone should know that if they're coming to the airport, they're going to 
be looked at," he said. 

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