Smiths Detection launches new partnership with Miami International Airport for enhanced employee screening systems

In response to a recent report by the House Homeland Security Committee on employee screening deficiencies at America’s airports, Smiths Detection, Inc. (SDI) issued a response to the report’s recommendations and announced a first-of-its-kind pilot project for employee screening at the Miami International Airport.

The original committee report, titled America’s Airports: The Threat From Within, detailed how many airports throughout the country do not fully screen each employee that enters a secure access point, instead opting for a randomized screening and inspection procedure.

“A truly comprehensive approach to preventing criminal and terrorist acts in airports must include threat detection technology solutions with multi-view x-ray and explosives trace detection (ETD), paralleling those seen at passenger checkpoints around the world,” Smiths Detection President Dan Gelston said. “Such non-intrusive screening technologies assure greater security without sacrificing speed, accuracy or efficiencies.”

To address some of the issues airport operators face when screening employees, SDI recently launched a new partnership with the Miami International Airport to deploy the company’s new multi-view x-ray and ETD equipment in one of the airports checkpoints. SDI said the project is designed to help develop a replicable concept of operations and demonstrate high-accuracy threat detection and ensure efficient movement of employees.

“Over a decade ago, MIA made the commitment voluntarily to invest in employee screening absent any federal requirements because we felt it was the right thing to do,” Miami-Dade Aviation Director Emilio T. Gonzales said. “We have renewed our commitment to this important component of airport crime-fighting and anti-terrorism by partnering with SDI in an effort to again raise the bar and demonstrate the art of the possible.”