Access Control
& Security Systems

Charles Slepian, CEO of the Foreseeable Risk Analysis Center, Tigard, Ore., says there is a significant risk of suicide bombers striking airport concourses and terminals as part of a potential terrorist attack.

"America has thus far been spared suicide bombers of the type seen in the Middle East on an almost daily basis," he says. "While we continue to try to devise ways of keeping explosives off of airplanes, we have yet to deal with terrorists willing to blow themselves up at crowded ticket counters, or in the midst of a serpentine line waiting to clear security in a busy terminal."

Slepian highlights four issues to be addressed when confronting the potential problem:

-- Do we have security people with the profiling skills able to intercept a suicide bomber before the screening process begins?

-- How can we better handle the crowding of passengers waiting for screening to limit the casualties that could be caused by a suicide bomber?

-- How could the employment of retired law enforcement officers with profiling, interrogation and technical skills be used to reduce the risks presented by this problem?

-- How could the proposed pilot project for JFK airport, using retired law enforcement personnel as security screeners, be used as a test for a suicide bomber interdiction program?

************************************************************* WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Can the rash of suicide bombings plaguing the Middle East extend to American soil? Tell us what you think! E-mail your comments to mailto:prothman@primediabusiness.com with the subject line "poll response."

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