Integrating Security
Tying checkpoint screening into the control center
- By Melissa Odegaard
- Jul 01, 2016
Security checkpoints are some of the
most publicly visible and heavily used
components of today’s security infrastructure.
Whether airports, stadiums,
ports or border transit points, in many
ways checkpoint technology is the linchpin for effectively
protecting people and property.
This technology has become more powerful and
sophisticated. However, security checkpoints are often
viewed as barriers and disruptions to the free flow
of people and goods—functioning as bottlenecks instead
of gateways. As populations continue to grow,
many institutions and agencies are considering how
to update the security infrastructure to accommodate
more people and sustain security and safety. Airports,
major public events, transportation networks all need
to be able to screen thousands of bags, people and
vehicles so that they can gain entry into the secured
area on time.
Aviation passenger numbers are expected to reach
7.3 billion by 2034, more than doubling today’s traveling
public. There needs to be new solutions to make
travel for bona fide travelers less burdensome and
complicated. Plus, the costs of delivering streamlined
safety and security at airports, border points and seaports
have to go down.
Better integration of checkpoint technology into
overall security operations can help address these issues,
making passage easier and more efficient, and
aiding in the flow through checkpoints. In addition,
checkpoint technology also offers opportunities to
capture and utilize highly useful information that can
be of critical value to an entire operation.
UNDERSTANDING THE POTENTIAL
FOR CHECKPOINT INTEGRATION
It is useful to consider the different ways individuals
interact with security checkpoints, in order to appreciate
how their technology could be leveraged to enhance
overall operations.
Consider a fan attending a Major League Baseball
game. It’s possible this fan has downloaded the team’s
smartphone app, which he uses to purchase a ticket
on the spur of the moment one evening. At the stadium,
he parks in a lot with CCTV security cameras.
At the ticket gate, he provides his ticket and is processed
through the gate’s metal detector. Because he
has the smartphone app and has registered with the
team through it, his travel through the gate and security
checkpoint could be the starting point to enhance
his stadium experience. Once cleared through security,
the fan receives a personal message welcoming him
to the game, an automatic download of that night’s
program and digital coupons for discounts at the concession
stands or the team store. All of this customer
service could be triggered at the security checkpoint.
Another example of leveraging better checkpoint
integration is at border entries. In some regions with
heavy cross-border commercial traffic, significant delays
have mounted—and revenue has been lost—due
to erroneous or incomplete cargo manifests, customs
declarations and confusion about which containers or
vehicles need to be scanned and which do not.
By using a comprehensive, integrated customs
clearance process, 100 percent of inbound, outbound
and transit cargo vehicles could be scanned and their
X-ray scans matched up with all necessary documentation.
Not only does this have the effect of increasing
the speed, predictability and transparency of customs
clearances; it creates a strong incentive for trade companies
to be fully compliant with their documentation,
and allows for better trade flow and revenue
generation.
These two examples demonstrate how checkpoint
information, when combined with other sources of
information and integrated more fully into security
center operations, can help:
- Overall efficiency and effectiveness of security operations.
- Aid in cost control and planning efforts.
- Optimize revenue streams.
- Improve end user experience of security operations.
CURRENT CONDITIONS:
FRAGMENTATION AND MULTIPLICATION
There is potential value for using checkpoint technology
as a more strategic asset for security operations.
However, the way current checkpoint technology is
engineered and deployed creates certain obstacles to
effective integration.
Recent years have seen a multiplication of systems
to handle different requirements, often from different
regulatory bodies and in response to new threats or risk factors. Airport checkpoints have seen the addition
of full-body scanners and explosive detection
systems to X-ray machines, photo ID checks and
biometric scanning. All these systems are generating
data—but how useable is it?
In addition, there are other security systems such
as security cameras deployed throughout a terminal
that are also generating data—data that is being delivered
to the security control center in parallel with the
checkpoint information, not necessarily integrated
with it.
This fragmentation occurs in other settings as well.
Port security operations, for example, include more
than security screening and cargo inspection activities;
there are physical security operations (like CCTV and
access control) as well as customs/trade compliance
and on-site employee security and gate management.
All these “security” tasks are separate, requiring
individual staff, training and infrastructure for each
process. Each of these processes depends on another
aspect of port security—like security screening and
cargo manifest examination. To ensure the most efficient
detection of threats and contraband, security
screening operators should be able to easily compare
cargo manifests with screening equipment images.
If these processes are not necessarily synchronized,
missteps can occur, leading to screening operators
not receiving the right information in time (or not
at all). Not only does this increase the potential for
threats and/or contraband to slip through a port, it
also means that port operations have a more difficult
time analyzing and reconciling checkpoint data with
other sources of information, to address potential future
risks or improve overall port management.
Fortunately, cooperative efforts are underway
to improve the flow of users through checkpoints,
which can lay the groundwork for greater integration
of checkpoint data into security operations. Trusted
traveler programs make it possible for travelers to
complete a single government background check
and, once approved, go through an expedited security
checkpoint that does not require them to remove
belts, jackets or shoes, and laptops and electronics can
remain in carry-on bags.
Some customs organizations are using a similar
technique called pre-risk analysis, which involves using
data from known shippers and other sources to
plan which vehicles or types of shipments should be
scanned, to help reduce bottlenecks for over-the-road
cargo shipments. This is a predictive technique that
is an alternative to 100 percent scanning and, while
effective, there is still a potential for gaps that could
be exploited.
These are solid efforts, focused on solving checkpoint
bottleneck issues and introducing the use of
digital information to enable better and more efficient
decision-making in the security realm. There
are technology-based approaches, focused on leveraging
the data generated by the checkpoint, that when
implemented well can create a powerful and versatile
resource to enable the security director to have high
throughput, better security and improved experiences
for the end user.
ACTIONABLE DATA:
THE BENEFIT OF INTEGRATION
Security operations generate continual streams of
data, but these streams can have separate paths, formats
and recipients in the security center. The next
step is to build on the efforts to streamline the flow
of traffic through checkpoints, elevating the value
of the information delivered through multiple data
streams—the checkpoint and other security data
sources—into actionable data.
Bundling these streams of data and standardizing
their formats are two important steps that can help
eliminate barriers to efficiently delivering relevant
“rich” data to security center managers, reducing
complexities and helping improve operations across a
facility or enterprise.
Currently, checkpoint systems providers can deliver
their information into security center systems,
but that scanning information is, for the most part,
delivered in isolation and without purpose. Matching
it up with other information is key to creating actionable
data in the control center.
Progress is being made on industry cooperative efforts
around enhancing checkpoint data integration;
checkpoint equipment providers are working with
global agencies to find ways to advance integration on
a wider scale. Recently, the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) revealed plans to support an
Open Screening Systems Architecture that will enable
integrated security systems at the airport. Another
example is the effort by the World Customs Organization
(WCO) and multiple suppliers to create a unified
file format so that the X-ray image data from cargo
screening systems can be easily bundled with other
important customs and shipment data.
Suppliers are working to integrate data files from all
NII scanning events captured at the designated locations
throughout each scanning location; this would
then allow these images to be viewed and bundled with
other data at a control center. This unified file format
allows for a seamless integration across different manufacturer’s
equipment—both scanning viewing software
and integrated data management systems.
By bundling X-ray scans with other data associated
with that event, the file would include the results
of any adjudication decisions. This concept could also
allow for data sharing across different agencies, without
the need for specific tools in each location other
than a unified file viewing mechanism. This kind of
cooperative industry effort creates a framework for
future opportunities to bundle even more checkpoint
data into complete, actionable information for security
center managers.
For example, agencies and commercial enterprises
are looking for easier ways to bundle cargo manifests
and customs declaration information with cargo
scanning X-ray images. In fact, this kind of integration
has been accomplished at some port and over-land border operations. Implementing
this integration has led to a more
transparent and consistent method of
maintaining border controls, increasing
correct tax collection and helping improve
border security.
It has made it possible to efficiently
implement screening 100 percent
of cargo, which in turn has led to
improved levels of compliance with
manifests, customs declarations and
revenue generation.
LEVERAGING CHECKPOINT
INTEGRATION: KEY QUESTIONS
Those responsible for selecting and
purchasing security checkpoint solutions
have in the past focused on more
basic issues when making buying decisions:
costs, ability to physically fit into
checkpoint locations and compliance
with the latest regulatory requirements.
Now is the time to be asking how your
security screening technology fits into
the whole security picture and what
should you be able to accomplish by integrating
it into the control center.
By viewing checkpoint systems as
strategic contributors of actionable
data to security center operations, security
center managers and decision-makers
should consider several questions,
in order to make the most effective
investment on decisions about checkpoint
technology:
- Does the technology have remote
capabilities, and how can I incorporate
that into my security center
operations?
- How is this technology going to fit
into my total security operations,
both in terms of IT/interface/file
format issues, and enhancing my
operational efficiencies? How much
effort will it take to accomplish this
integration?
- How do we design the checkpoint
system to move traffic through as
quickly as possible, while at the same
time accomplishing all the necessary
security checks?
- Now that the checkpoint system offers
relevant data, what will we need
to do to use that data to proactively
improve operations, planning, cost
control, training and optimization
of revenue streams?
This is a different way of approaching
decisions about checkpoint technology
selection, and provides the opportunity
to evolve the concept of operations
(CONOPS) of many different security
organizations. Ultimately, security center
directors should be seeking checkpoint
solutions that function as more
than a gate that has to be manned and
managed; they have the potential, with
the right vision and integration, to be
critical contributors of the data your
security operation needs to maximize
its value and create better customer
experiences.
This article originally appeared in the July 2016 issue of Security Today.