Sep 26, 2006 11:11 am US/Eastern
Cameras To Monitor Parking, Terminals At Airport
FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4 News) ―
Travelers and others who park inside garages and terminals at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport will soon be seen on closed-circuit surveillance cameras.
For the first time, the airport will install a network of TV cameras that monitor both public and secure areas of the airport in order to step up security.
The airport already has a small system, but this is the first time Broward County would add cameras to its parking garages and remote parking lots as well.
These cameras are designed to monitor public places where it is difficult to have live security, said Airport Director Tom Jargiello. Inside the terminal, the airport is working with the Transportation Security Administration.
Airport officials will not disclose the planned camera locations within the terminals. But many will record passengers as they pass through public areas. The cameras will also monitor employees in parts of the airport inaccessible to the public.
''I think clearly this is the trend among airports; they're involved in technology enhancements,'' Jargiello said. ``Some of them are farther along. We're not necessarily ahead of the curve, and we're not necessarily behind the curve.''
The four-phase project will expand on those existing cameras, at a cost of more than $4.5 million. The money will come from passenger facility charges already added to the cost of each ticket.
Miami International Airport has long used closed-circuit television, even before 9/11, said spokesman Marc Henderson. As will FLL officials, he would not disclose the location of the cameras, but said they are used for both security and general safety.
''You may or not be under surveillance by a camera, but you're probably being noticed by somebody,'' Henderson said.
The trend at MIA is to move toward what's known as ''behavioral pattern recognition,'' which Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described to USA Today as ``looking at ways people behave that will actually suggest they're trying to hide something.''
Each MIA employee will be trained to recognize suspicious behavior, Henderson said.
''Cameras help, but we're now training all 35,000 employees in behavioral pattern recognition, which is a vitally more useful tool,'' he said.
Some BSO deputies have had such training, said Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood spokesman Greg Meyer. More will be trained in the next six months.
Jargiello said the camera improvements are not mandates from the TSA, which approves the airport's security plan. The cameras would merely supplement the requirements of the security plan, Jargiello said.
Broward County commissioners will appoint a purchasing committee today to pick a company that will install the third phase of the project, which puts cameras in garages and terminals.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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