Thursday, March 29, 2007
New security method in works for
Nashville
The Tennessean
Travelers could soon find more than their bags screened at the Nashville International Airport: Specially trained security agents will be searching your body language, facial expressions and demeanor for signs of a threat.
The federal Transportation Security Administration has started rolling out a program it calls SPOT — Screening Passengers by Observation Techniques — at major airports nationwide. Jobs have been posted in Memphis, one of 40 airports set to get the program by year's end.
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The program "adds an element of unpredictability to the screening process that will be easy for passengers to navigate but difficult for terrorists to manipulate," said TSA spokeswoman Sari Koshetz.
Melanie English, who was boarding a plane at Nashville International on Wednesday afternoon, said she has nothing to hide and won't mind answering questions from security officers.
"I think it's a great idea," English said. "I'm all for more security."
The officers undergo four days of classroom training and 24 hours of on-the-job training to learn how to spot involuntary physical signs of stress, fear or deception.
Anyone deemed suspicious will be subject to closer scrutiny.
Techniques are designed to avoid unnecessarily hassling people who are simply afraid of flying.
"The program aims to identify anomalous behavior," said Koshetz, the TSA spokeswoman. "Part of the training is learning the distinction between nervousness and nervous behavior with a motive behind it."
ACLU doubts training
Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the Tennessee chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the training doesn't sound intense enough for such a difficult task.
"What is particularly concerning is that the agents that will determine whether to question passengers get 4 or 5 days of on-the-job training," Weinberg said. "People study years to get Ph.Ds in psychology to evaluate that same thing."
While behavioral profiling has been successful in Israel, it is only one part of a comprehensive security approach there that includes armed sky marshals on every flight, Weinberg said.
"We can't pick pieces of it and say if we use" the behavior profiling "we can protect our citizens the same way they protect theirs in Israel," she said.
The ACLU has also opposed the program on civil-rights grounds.
It filed suit on behalf of one of its employees who said he was unfairly detained based on race in 2003 at Boston's Logan International Airport. At the time, troopers with the Massachusetts State Police were trained to do the behavior detection now done by TSA.
King Downing, national coordinator of the ACLU's campaign against racial profiling, was threatened with arrest after refusing to show identification to a trooper.
Downing, who is black and wears a beard, alleged that his appearance, not his behavior, led to the scrutiny. The case is pending in the courts.
But TSA officials say behavior analysis is actually the opposite of racial profiling.
"We have selection based on specific observed behavioral criteria … possibly indicative of criminal or terrorist activity," Koshetz said. "The criteria do not consider race or ethnicity as a determining factor."
Reading faces is a talent
The program is being rolled out slowly because hiring the right people is crucial, TSA officials said. Middle Tennessee University criminal justice professor Robert Rogers said that hiring people with a natural ability to read faces should be a priority in this type of security measure.
"You either have it or you don't," said Rogers, a Ph.D, who worked as a corrections officer, counselor and researcher for prison systems in Tennessee and Illinois.
Professional poker players, politicians and salespeople generally know how to read people and adjust their approach, Rogers said.
"Some people have an innate gift to notice facial expressions and signals you give away with body language," Rogers said. "You can only teach people so much."
Business traveler worries
Theresa Vineyard, a San Antonio resident who often travels through Nashville on business, said she wonders whether TSA officers could really spot signs of deception on a trained terrorist.
"Whenever you see them on the news, it seems like" terrorists are "trained so well for their mission," Vineyard said. "I don't know that they would show any signs."
But Vineyard does think the officers could pick up her irritation if questioning leads to delays.
"When I'm traveling, I'm usually hustling to get to the plane," she said. "I don't know if my body language would be misunderstood."
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