{"id":708,"date":"2011-08-22T21:45:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-22T21:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog-1199783855.us-west-2.elb.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2011\/08\/22\/new-airport-security-measure-to-be-tested-at-bostons-logan-airport\/"},"modified":"2011-08-22T21:45:00","modified_gmt":"2011-08-22T21:45:00","slug":"new-airport-security-measure-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/2011\/08\/22\/new-airport-security-measure-to-be\/","title":{"rendered":"New Airport Security Measure to be Tested at Boston\u2019s Logan Airport"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Heading for your timeshare vacation? Here is a new TSA program of which you might want to take note, called the \u201cchatdown.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ever since the public outcry when the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) upped the ante and began doing pat downs during airport security checks, the TSA has been looking at alternatives. Charged with preventing terrorist attacks and keeping the public safe, the TSA has found itself walking a fine line between strict security measures and personal rights. <\/p>\n

Critics have been quick to point to other countries, which, in their opinion do a better job at both. One such country often cited is Israel. Although that comparison is also controversial. Experts say Americans face differing challenges including a greater sensitivity in the U.S. to racial and ethnic profiling, and the fact that American airports process a great deal more travelers.<\/p>\n

However, this week it was announced that the TSA will begin a pilot program at Boston\u2019s Logan Airport with a new security layer, the \u201cchatdown.\u201d Essentially a brief conversation with a specially trained agent, the measure has been adopted from Israeli security forces as a way of rooting out potentially dangerous passengers before they board aircraft. <\/p>\n

As explained in a TSA news release, passengers will be asked a series of questions by a Behavior Detection Officer (BDO) as they have their identification verified at the security checkpoint. <\/p>\n

Based on physical cues or answers to questions during the dialogue, specially trained officers are able to detect suspicious behavior, a TSA spokesman explained. This analysis will help identify \u201cpotentially high-risk travelers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSecurity officers are screening travelers for involuntary physical and physiological reactions that people exhibit in response to a fear of being discovered,\u201d explained the TSA. <\/p>\n

“We are looking for behaviors that are out of the norm – some kind of indicators of intent to cause a problem,” says George Nacarra, federal security director for the TSA at Logan.<\/p>\n

However, looking nervous and averting eye contact are not considered to be giveaway signs, according to the TSA. \u201cWe recognize an individual exhibiting some of these behaviors does not automatically mean a person has terrorist or criminal intent,\u201d noted the TSA statement.<\/p>\n

The TSA won\u2019t discuss what BDO officers will be looking for, but Nicarra points to some hints \u201cthat a bad guy might be planning to do bad things\u201d such as “the movement of the eyes, perspiring in a cool environment, and the Adam’s apple movement.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the behaviors the BDO officers are looking for,\u201d says Nicarra, \u201care involuntary physiological reactions that a human being would not be able to repress.\u201d Individuals exhibiting specific observable behaviors will be referred for additional screening.<\/p>\n

Every passenger transiting Boston\u2019s Logan Airport will be required to go through the \u201cchatdown\u201d during the pilot program\u2019s 60-day run.<\/p>\n

(Photo credit – Josh Reynolds\/AP via NPR.org)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Heading for your timeshare vacation? Here is a new TSA program of which you might want to take note, called the \u201cchatdown.\u201d Ever since the public outcry when the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) upped the ante and began doing pat downs during airport security checks, the TSA has been looking at alternatives. Charged with preventing…","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}