Call for Action: Airport security - the nose knows
News & Happenings
May 22, 2007
This article was reprinted courtesy of WINK News.
Right now the nation's terrorism threat level is at orange, and it's been that way for months..... so long, you may hardly notice anymore. If you're a regular air traveler, you're accustomed to the drill at security check points. But there's a lot you don't see.
Much goes on behind the scenes to keep you safe...at the x-ray screenings and metal detectors. This is hi-tech stuff. But sometimes being hi-tech isn't always enough. Sometimes a highly trained dog is better than all the security gadgets we can dream up.
The Transportation Safety Administration at Southwest Florida International Airport wants passengers to get used to seeing security dogs, and to talk about it. K-9 teams at the airport are not new, but a heightened presence will be from now on.
TSA Regional Director Robert Cohen is proud of the extra measure of security the dogs provide. They've often headed off a worrisome situation. "We've had them confirm that it wasn't an explosive on several occasions..something we may have picked up with our ETD machines..an explosive...we brought the dogs in," he says. Cohen also cites a bomb scare that was called in last September at the airport aboard an international flight. The plane was evacuated. The canine teams called in. Fortunately no explosives were found.
The airport now has three canine units. They're all part of a layered approach to ward off potential terrorists. The dogs do what humans or machines can't, and that's why they're so important to the security effort.
Paul Boos, Program Coordinator of the TSA Canine Program for the Southeast Region says you will see the dogs at check in, in the parking lot, and even on the tarmac. And the dogs are constantly trained on any new type of explosives they may encounter. "Whenever we receive a threat... they are training on that odor to master their proficiency," he says.
Dogs like Barry, Nero and Mona...have a nose for explosives. Eric Runge of the Airport Police Department says, "You miss some drugs, chances are nobody is going to die. But if you miss an explosive...chances are somebody is going to die."
The margin for error is zero.
