South East Asia is a region that faces constant airport security threats all year around. Airport security is an ever-evolving arena that has mischief makers always being on overdrive to give sleepless nights to law enforcement agencies. In light of this United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) signed a partnership to strengthen airport security against crime and terror threats.
There is a lot of dissatisfaction among the fliers with the long queues at the airports. This happens due to stringent checking procedures in place. Human input in airport security infrastructure is so high that airports are unable to cope with the huge rush of commuters even after having such a large staff for checking. Due to this, fatigue creeps into members of the security apparatus and they are unable to use their judgment to the maximum. This leads them to unintentionally ignore the established security guidelines to determine potential wrongdoers jumping their No-Fly List listing and ends up slipping out of hands.
Lack of proper screening of details of people is a burning issue in the South East Asia region, the best example of which is the people named in Interpol’s Red Corner Lists or any No-Fly List find it very easy to travel via air routes in these countries. This is regularly shared in news media around the world. The modus Operandi (MO) of criminals involved in such blatant violations of rules has been to use the glitches in human-driven systems across the airports. Such activities have long been taking place but somehow seem to be passing under the radar.
Developments to weed out such dilemmas need a wider outlook and explore solutions that reduce human effort which in turn will improve the effectiveness of the security mechanisms. This is where the important role of crime analytics comes into the picture wherein the analytics based on data determines the decision-making and helps agencies by recognizing red-flagged people who are escaping No-fly List guidelines or Red Corner Notices.
The premise behind crime analytics is that whenever a person is added to any No-Fly List or Interpol’s Red Corner Notice, the person’s complete available details are uploaded into the software tool. This triggers the alert when there is any suspicious person from the list trying to travel at the airport(s). This in turn helps the authorities in detecting the wrongdoers who may have escaped their eyes one way or the other. This not only takes the help of their facial features but complete body features and their data. Firms like Wynyard Group are doing deep research on developing such tools that make Airport security more robust and foolproof while reducing human effort at the same time.
Wynyard Group’s Advanced Crime Analytics (ACA) and forecasting software solutions are potent tools in the hands of law enforcement authorities for use in such domains. It helps in keeping a preventive approach to crime at the heart of operations methodology. This, in turn, helps make airport infrastructure and air journeys safe for commuters in airports. Petty and complex crimes of all nature have the potential to be prevented when advanced tools for crime analytics go mainstream and are adopted by most airports the world over. Western Countries have been at the forefront in deploying these technologies and made air travel safe. It is high time that South East Asian countries take a leap ahead and adopt these technologies for ensuring air travel is safe. That’ll help us in producing an overall great experience in the airports for all stakeholders in air travel.