Evaluating metal detector limitations in airport security screening

Transportation

Security in Airports

Evaluation of Scanning Equipment

Security situation in airports

The main threat faced by most of the airports is terrorism, which has been traumatizing the airport officials ever since the 20th century. There have been many cases of bombing and hijacking incidents conducted by different militant groups in the entire group. This has lead to the necessity of measures that are aimed at curbing the ever-increasing rates of crime in airports. As the security analyst of Chicago O'Hare Airport, there are exclusive measures that are recommended to ensure insecurity does not affect the airport transactions and its entire surrounding. Already, there are regulations that are to be followed strictly by both passengers and any other visitors in the airport. The arrival time has been increased, so that all the passengers arrive on time. Amount of luggage to be carried has also been reduced to reduce the possibilities of risk, among other regulations. Screening measures are discussed in the proceeding paragraphs.

Interference of metal detectors during screening

Despite their effectiveness in the detection of metallic objects, metal detectors also have limitations that may lead to dysfunction. The most common factors include the complications that security guards face when tuning the detector, as elements such as depth, width, height and general proximity to the ordnance will surely affect how the detector will function. The person operating the device might also develop health related issues, due to the length of time used for attention and listening to hear if the detector produces the beeping sound.

In addition, the detectors give many false alarm sounds. Almost all the metallic objects, including those close to the target will trigger the detector to produce the sound of the alarm. This happens mostly due to the strong signals designed within the metal detector. Because the detector will react differently according to the levels of detection set by the operator, it is upon the operator to ensure the machine is well set to reduce the amounts of false detections, hence increasing functionality of the gadget. If the operator sets the metal detector differently from the intended position, then it is most likely to cause interference (MacDonald & Mendez, 2005).

Different screening measure for the security team

The security team could conduct their screening process using diverse measures, many of which have been successful previously. Some of the measures include conducting passenger checks just to determine identification, following criminal records that are provided in the airports database. Detection in case of criminal records will be conducted through finger print procedures. It is advisable that all the airport operators get coordinators who will train the security team on the particulars of insecurity detection (Elias, 2009). The team responsible for security will use both large body scanners, and detection machines for explosive material tracing. If instituted well, then these strategies and measures could curb the present cases of insecurity.