Friday, January 8, 2010

High Tech Mechanisms or High Quality Employees?

I love all this talk going around about “airport security” and full-body scanning systems. The issue isn’t the technology being used, it’s the effectiveness and diligence of the employees.

Instead of spending a ton of money buying full-body scanners, boost the personnel, enhance their training, make sure they’re well paid with benefits so they care about the job they’re doing. If you give a guy off the street a uniform and a badge, minimum wage with no bennies, how important do you think he’s going to feel his job is? How safe do you feel getting on your plane knowing this is the guy responsible for your wellbeing? Ok, so lets presume the x-ray machines and new body-scanners are in place. If Joe Security is more concerned with being late for his coffee break or chatting with his buddy about the big game this weekend or texting his date from last night what a great time he had, how much attention do you think he’s giving to the techno-displays? How effective will he be scanning the crowd and observing behavior? Making mental notes of the fidgety guy on line? Scrutinizing the airline ticket or visa, checking the no-fly list, matching the photo to the person in front of him? And if the people doing security aren’t asking you the same questions they asked the guy in front of you, how secure do you feel putting your family on that flight?

You could have the best scanners and sniffers and devices in the world in place, but if the people using it don’t give a rat’s ass, the technology is ineffective.

MandateTHIS

1 comment:

  1. Yeah, because you can't make money off of highly trained, well paid security workers. But scanners, now THAT's an investment!

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