Fighting terrorism the high-tech way

While officials laud the latest security tools, some say it’s not enough

BY DEBORAH BARFIELD BERRY | WASHINGTON BUREAU

September 9, 2005

Malene Meisner stiffened as quick puffs of air shot out from the machine and pelted her body. Within seconds, the high-tech new machine indicated there were no traces of explosives, so the airport screener waved Meisner through Terminal 1 at Kennedy Airport.

Meisner of Denmark had just stepped through the latest in airport security screening.

"I think it's great if it can detect explosives. The more security the better," said Meisner, 34, who was leaving New York Wednesday after six days of vacationing.

The explosives detection trace portal (ETP) is one of several new technologies adopted by Department of Homeland Security officials in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Federal officials say new technology, from the ETPs to machines that detect radiation on cargo and devices that use fingerprints or iris scans to identify visitors at the borders, are key tools in the war against terrorism. Banking on the effectiveness of the new technology, the federal government proposes to spend $1.3 billion next year for research and development.

But while some security experts and passengers praise the agency's use of new technology, they raise concerns about the shortcomings and the lack of resources earmarked for new advances. Experts complain that unless more of the technology goes beyond pilot stages, they are unlikey to make America safer.

"You've got to have a combination of technology and the people ... And there is not going to be one tool that's going to work in all cases," said Rey Koslowski, a political scientist at the University at Albany, State University of New York. "There are lots of challenges. It's not just a matter of just sticking these things up there and turning them on."

At Kennedy, passengers stepped into the boxy machine located in Terminal 1. It's there that the ETP blasts puffs of air that blow particles off passengers' bodies and clothes and into a machine that can detect explosive materials.

Several passengers had no clue what the machine did. They simply followed the screener's orders to step in and wait. "It was scary," said Yana Abramova, 20, of Russia. "I didn't expect it."

Only when a reporter approached her did she understand the machine's purpose. Maybe, said Abramova, it will deter some terrorists, but she said she doesn't feel any safer.

Transportation Security Agency officials tout the machine and say Kennedy is slated to get four more.

"I absolutely believe it's the way to go," said John Hepworth, terminal manager for the TSA, an agency under the Department of Homeland Security. "It's the latest and greatest in new technology. Without technology like this it's going to make our job more diffcult."

Hepworth said the machine can be upgraded to detect new explosives, such as the ones used in the July 7 London bombings.

Last fall, Kennedy was included in TSA's pilot program testing the machine. Since then, more than 150,000 passengers have passed through, he said. TSA officials won't say how many passengers have been stopped because the machine found traces of explosives.

Meisner and her husband, Kim, called the new technology necessary, but said the human factor is still key. Kim Meisner said screeners made him dispose of a lighter in his shirt, but failed to find the one in his backpack. "They should be more thorough," he said.

Critics say Homeland Security has been slow to deploy the machines and put them in vulnerable locations.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) complained that an ETP slated for LaGuardia Airport in June hasn't been installed. TSA officials said the machine will be in by the end of this month. "TSA is slow walking this program and is not installing enough of these puffers in the airports where we need it the most," Schumer said. "Hundreds of thousands of passengers pass though LaGuardia and JFK every day."

Clark Kent Ervin, a former inspector general for Homeland Security and now a fellow at the Aspen Institute, said the agency needs more money for technology, but said officials should also better use limited resources. "The department is moving in the right direction by deploying sophisticated technology ... but this needs to happen on an expedited basis and needs to be deployed at airports throughout the country," Ervin said.

TSA officials say the program has moved from a pilot last year with machines in 14 cities to a permanent one with at least 100 machines, each costing $160,000, to be placed in airports around the nation by January 2006.

"We've gradually deployed additional machines," said Ann Davis, a TSA spokeswoman. "We've been very pleased with the value."

While much of the new technology has focused on airport security, experts say other areas such as ports, rails, communication systems and cybersecurity are also vulnerable.

Hal Raveche, president of the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., said not enough has been done or enough money spent on developing other technology. "We don't have the bright young minds to develop technology to combat terrorism in software, chemical, biological," areas, said Raveche, who is calling for a national mandate to develop more technology for homeland security.

While praising the agency's biometrics-based program used at the borders and airports, Michael Cutler, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies and a former INS senior special agent, said the agency's new technology means little without more manpower.

"I call all of this stuff 'Operation Backrub,' " said Cutler, likening some efforts by the Department of Homeland Security to a parent giving a child a backrub for comfort. "They do a lot of things that don't really give us the kinds of security we need."