Texas' First TSA Passenger Screening Canine Evan Crosses Rainbow Bridge -- Security Today

Texas' First TSA Passenger Screening Canine Evan Crosses Rainbow Bridge

Aug 14, 2020

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) suffered the loss of the first-ever passenger screening canine in the state of Texas. Evan, a black Labrador retriever, who retired in August 2017, passed away earlier this month. He was 10 years old.

Evan was born on May 6, 2010, and trained at Auburn University in Alabama to be an explosive detection canine. Since then, TSA transitioned Passenger Screening Canine Team training to the Canine Training Center at Joint Base Lackland in in San Antonio, Texas. Evan first met his handler, Rick Nicolai, in February 2012. After training together for three months,

Evan and Nicoli returned to Austin where they started their service as the first passenger screening canine team at the airport (AUS).

Their service was not limited to AUS. Evan and Nicolai traveled all over the United States, supporting events ranging from the Papal visits in El Paso, Texas, and Washington, D.C., to jazz festivals and Super Bowl games in New Orleans. They even provided added security in Dallas for an NCAA college basketball title game.

Evan was featured in an Austin local news story about airport security and in a story about his work supporting the Papal visit to the nation’s capital.

Evan retired in August 2017, due to medical complications and was adopted by Nicolai until Evan passed away on Aug. 6.

Featured

TSA Awards Rohde & Schwarz Contract for Advanced Airport Screening Ahead of Soccer World Cup 2026

Rohde & Schwarz, a provider of AI-based millimeter wave screening technology, announced today it has won a multi-million dollar award from TSA to supply its QPS201 AIT security scanners to passenger security screening checkpoints at selected Soccer World Cup 2026 host city airports. Read Now
- Airport Security
Brivo, Eagle Eye Networks Merge

Dean Drako, Chairman of Brivo, the leading global provider of cloud-native access control and smart space technologies, and Founder of Eagle Eye Networks, the global leader in cloud AI video surveillance, today announced the two companies will merge, creating the world’s largest AI cloud-native physical security company. The merged company will operate under the Brivo name and deliver a truly unified cloud-native security platform. Read Now
- Artificial Intelligence
Security Industry Association Announces the 2026 Security Megatrends

The Security Industry Association (SIA) has identified and forecasted the 2026 Security Megatrends, which form the basis of SIA’s signature annual Security Megatrends report defining the top 10 factors influencing both near- and long-term change in the global security industry. Read Now
- Artificial Intelligence
The Future of Access Control: Cloud-Based Solutions for Safer Workplaces

Access controls have revolutionized the way we protect our people, assets and operations. Gone are the days of cumbersome keychains and the security liabilities they introduced, but it’s a mistake to think that their evolution has reached its peak. Read Now
- Access Control
A Look at AI

Large language models (LLMs) have taken the world by storm. Within months of OpenAI launching its AI chatbot, ChatGPT, it amassed more than 100 million users, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in history. Read Now
- Artificial Intelligence

Security Today eNews

Sign up today for essential industry news and product information that can help you stay afloat in the fast-paced world of security.

Email Address*Country*

Please type the letters/numbers you see above.

Webinars

Whitepapers

New Products

EasyGate SPT SPD

Security solutions do not have to be ordinary, let alone unattractive. Having renewed their best-selling speed gates, Cominfo has once again demonstrated their Art of Security philosophy in practice — and confirmed their position as an industry-leading manufacturers of premium speed gates and turnstiles.
Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure.
Luma x20

Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”