U.S. Homeland Security To Utilize Physiological Screeners To Pinpoint Terrorists

Upper Marloboro, MD. (AHN) - The Homeland Security Department is pilot testing at a Maryland airport a prototype of a physiological screener to spot terrorists. The model bio-scans air travelers.

The model works like a lie detector machine by indicating large fluctuations in body temperature, pulse and breathing which are likely indicators of anxiety often exhibited by a terrorist or criminal. The prototype, called Future Attribute Screening Technology, scans passengers as they pass through a set of cameras.

According to Jennifer Martin, Homeland Security consultant, the FAST picks up things often not detected by human eye.

The department is on its second year of testing the system targeted to last five years. Over 2,000 screeners have been trained by the Transportation Security Administration to observe travelers and question those who appear to be agitated or nervous.

But agitation or nervousness must not be linked with criminal intent, warned Timothy Levine, Michigan State University expert on deceptive behavior. One possible cause of agitation is learning of a flight's delay. "What determines your heart rate is a whole bunch of reasons besides hostile intent... This is the whole reason behavioral profiles don't work," Levine told USA Today.

The FAST is one of the measures the Homeland Security has put in place to tighten security in U.S. ports of entry. Last week the department announced it granted $29 million to the New York City Police Department, which will attempt to prevent a radiological or nuclear attack in the Big Apple through the enhancement of regional capabilities to detect and stop illegal radioactive materials.