Will Technology Thwart Terror?
From Red Herring:
A short article on how effective technology can be to fight terror. It has a few good nuggets:
In 2004, one month before the Madrid rail bombings killed almost 200 people, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s advanced research division requested proposals for devices that can quickly detect explosives in abandoned baggage or on the body of a suicide bomber. However, the $5-million project has not yet resulted in tools in the hands of law enforcement.
While the cameras used in most cities are invaluable forensic tools in the aftermath of a crime, they alone are not very good at preventing crimes. Companies such as ObjectVideo in Reston, Virginia, are working on intelligent surveillance that uses software to detect unusual patterns such as abandoned bags or suspicious driving. Cameras outfitted with such software are already installed in ports and military bases in the United States, Europe and Asia.
If you’re waiting for intelligent surveillance to mesh with face-recognition programs and other software to secure your local subway stop, don’t hold your breath, said Doron Pely, vice president of publications for Homeland Security Research, a homeland security market research company. Such devices can trigger false alarms. The ability of the gizmos to work with acceptable false positive rates in a busy transportation hub is many years away. Even a 1 percent false positive rate in a place like Grand Central Station could bring a mass transport network to its knees.
The best defense may remain low tech. Mr. Pely pointed to Israel as an example of a country that uses “warm bodies” over high tech to defend rail lines. In a country the size of Israel, posting well-trained soldiers at the entrance of every train station to look every passenger in the eye is possible. But it’s unrealistic in huge metropolises like New York or London. Without the human element, says Mr. Pely, bombings like the one in London Thursday will be impossible to prevent no matter what technology is used.
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