Israel's airport security measures are often pointed to as a better alternative

pnwmom

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Wed Nov-17-10 03:13 PM
Original message

Israel's airport security measures are often pointed to as a better alternative

Edited on Wed Nov-17-10 03:25 PM by pnwmom

than the FAA required pat-downs or scans.

The el Al profiling approach involves extensive interviewing of all passengers by specially trained personnel looking for suspicious behavior and requires all passengers to arrive at the airport 3 hours before flight time.

Wouldn't such an approach be hugely expensive and time consuming? What about the issue of racial profiling? Would we really trust these specially trained TSA workers NOT to be influenced by prejudice for or against various groups?
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/full-body-scanners-are-illusion-security

�We at El Al have used the hand/body search for so many years, but we did it only to suspicious passengers that were interviewed by us,� said Yeffet. �We asked the questions and we were able to determine that there was something wrong with a passenger.�

Yeffet pointed out that El Al�s security personnel are highly trained in reading people�s physical actions as indicators of behavior.

�If you are bona fide, you have no problems answering � he said. �If you want to hide from us, we see the physical changes in your face--suddenly you raise your voice, suddenly your Adam�s apple jumps up and down, you�re nervous. Then we ask, 'Why are you nervous? I'm doing it for your safety sir or Ma'am.��

Using that approach, �You can see how fast and easy we survive, and we put the hand on the right people that are trying to blow up an aircraft or to commit suicide,� he said.

SNIP

"I don�t need a scanner,� said Yeffet. �I don�t mean to insult anyone. There is what is called hand search. We take you to a special room where you are interviewed by security experts. If we notice any suspicion, we search you from the head to the toe. We won�t leave one piece on your body that we do not do a hand search on. Why do we have to spend millions of dollars on these body scanners?�

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http://articles.cnn.com/2010-01-11/opinion/yeffet.air.security.israel_1_airport-security-isaac-yeffet-el-al/2?_s=PM:OPINION

Yeffett: We must look at the qualifications of the candidate for security jobs. He must be educated. He must speak two languages. He must be trained for a long time, in classrooms. He must receive on-the-job training with a supervisor for weeks to make sure that the guy understands how to approach a passenger, how to convince him to cooperate with him, because the passenger is taking the flight and we are on the ground. The passengers have to understand that the security is doing it for their benefit.

SNIP

During the year, we did thousands of tests of our security guys around the world. It cost money, but once you save lives, it's worth all the money that the government gave us to have the right security system.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Al

Passengers are asked to report three hours before departure. All El Al terminals around the world are closely monitored for security. There are plain-clothes agents and fully armed police or military personnel who patrol the premises for explosives, suspicious behavior, and other threats. Inside the terminal, passengers and their baggage are checked by a trained team. El Al security procedures require that all passengers be interviewed individually prior to boarding, allowing El Al staff to identify possible security threats. Passengers will be asked questions about where they are coming from, the reason for their trip, their job or occupation, and whether they have packed their bags themselves. The likelihood of potential terrorists remaining calm under such questioning is believed to be low (see microexpression).<38>