New technology would detect intruders at Boston airport BOSTON (AP) =97 Logan International Airport plans to purchase a new= perimeter=20 security system this summer that will immediately detect intruders on the=20 six miles of surrounding shoreline and communicate their location to state= =20 police.Since last fall, airport officials have tested six security systems= =20 as part of an ongoing effort to stay on the cutting edge of aviation=20 safety. The last of those systems is now being piloted. Each uses high-tech= =20 cameras and specially designed software to distinguish between innocent=20 intruders, such as wildlife or the scheduled arrival of a commercial jet,=20 and a potential terrorist threat. "I don't care about coyotes, but I care=20 about people on the beach," said Dennis Treece, corporate security director= =20 for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which oversees Logan. "This is the=20 security guard that never blinks." The system currently under review is one= =20 of several that uses heat-sensor technology. This allows the airport to=20 detect intruders at night and in foggy or stormy conditions. From its perch= =20 on the airport control tower, the heat sensor transmits not only the=20 outline of a passing container ship, but shows an outline of its engine= room. Using the technology, officials would be able to see =97 even in a deep fog= =97=20 if a small boat came in with four people and left with two. Another=20 advantage, Treece said, is that the systems include alarms, which=20 automatically alert security officers if something suspicious enters the=20 airport security zone. This means the cameras do not have to be monitored=20 at all times, Treece said. The cameras can be used as proactive detectors,= =20 rather than used after the fact to determine what went wrong, he said.=20 "It's like an army of vigilant eyes scanning the horizon, except our eyes=20 don't blink," said Glenn McGonnigle, president and chief executive officer= =20 of VistaScape, the company that provided software for the system currently= =20 being tested at Logan. FLIR Systems is providing the heat-sensor cameras.=20 If fully implemented, the location and identity of intruders would be=20 immediately transmitted to hand-held computers used by state police=20 assigned to the airport. The two planes that crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001,= =20 originated at Logan. Since then, the airport has become a national leader=20 in testing new security systems and is the first commercial airport to test= =20 the system currently being piloted. It has already been fully implemented=20 at the San Diego Naval base. In an urban area like Boston, Treece said, the= =20 most important aspect of a perimeter security system is its ability to=20 filter out normal intrusions and alarm only when something unusual=20 approaches. Otherwise, he said, the number of false positives would waste=20 time would overwhelm security officers and make them less likely to react=20 quickly when an actual threat occurred. The final cost of the security=20 system will not be known until a vendor is chosen, which will occur before= =20 the end of the summer. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.cso.gov.tt TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************