DHS looking at shock braclets for air travel.

[Pat K]

By Jeffrey Denning

Just when you thought you've heard it all...

A senior government official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expressed great interest in a so-called safety bracelet that would serve as a stun device, similar to that of a police Taser®. According to this promotional video found at the Lamperd Less Lethal website, the bracelet would be worn by all airline passengers.

This bracelet would:

• take the place of an airline boarding pass

• contain personal information about the traveler

• be able to monitor the whereabouts of each passenger and his/her luggage

• shock the wearer on command, completely immobilizing him/her for several minutes

more at http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/aviation-security/2008/Jul/01/want-some-torture-with-your-peanuts/

[Kat Kanning]

good lord!

[Russell Kanning]

looks like they only want to use them for after they have detained someone .... I could see how they would prefer them to just handcuffs ... you can hurt people without getting your hands dirty

[TackleTheWorld]

Are they expressing great interest in using cattle prods to speed up embarking and disembarking too?

[Lloyd Danforth]

BZZZZZZZZZZZ!! [davidspadevoice]  "Move along now!  Bub Bye![/davidspadevoice] BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!

[Puke]

Con Air, with the cages and chains. 

[K. Darien Freeheart]

Adam Sandler in Anger Management

[KBCraig]

This bracelet would:

• take the place of an airline boarding pass

• contain personal information about the traveler

• be able to monitor the whereabouts of each passenger and his/her luggage

• shock the wearer on command, completely immobilizing him/her for several minutes

A big clunky bracelet, huh? Before long, thanks to miniaturization, they'll be able to implant it in your hand or forehead. So that you can shop, of course.

[Free libertarian]

Wow...free jewelry, nice perk for travelers

[Raineyrocks]

Here's some other stuff they want to try on a joyful airplane trip; it's better than shock bracelets but it's still just more Big Brother.

http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn14013-inflight-surveillance-could-foil-terrorists-in-the-sky.html



In-flight surveillance could foil terrorists in the sky

    * 17:22 29 May 2008
    * NewScientist.com news service
   

CCTV cameras are bringing more and more public places under surveillance – and passenger aircraft could be next.

A prototype European system uses multiple cameras and "Big Brother" software to try and automatically detect terrorists or other dangers caused by passengers.

The European Union's Security of Aircraft in the Future European Environment (SAFEE) project uses a camera in every passenger's seat, with six wide-angle cameras to survey the aisles. Software then analyses the footage to detect developing terrorist activity or "air-rage" incidents, by tracking passengers' facial expressions.

The system performed well in tests this January that simulated terrorist and unruly passenger behaviour scenarios in a fake Airbus A380 fuselage, say the researchers that built it.

Systems to analyse CCTV footage – for example, to detect violence (with video) or alert CCTV operators to unusual events – have been designed before. But the SAFEE software must cope with the particularly challenging environment of a full aircraft cabin.
Threat indicators

As crew and passengers move around they often obscure one another, causing a risk the computer will lose track of some of the hundreds of people it must monitor. To get around this, the software constantly matches views of people from different cameras to track their movements.

"It looks for running in the cabin, standing near the cockpit for long periods of time, and other predetermined indicators that suggest a developing threat," says James Ferryman of the University of Reading, UK, one of the system's developers.

Other behaviours could include a person nervously touching their face, or sweating excessively. One such behaviour won't trigger the system to alert the crew, only certain combinations of them.

Ferryman is not ready to reveal specifically which behaviours were most likely to trigger the system. Much of the computer's ability to detect threats relies on sensitive information gleaned from security analysts in the intelligence community, he tells New Scientist.
Losing track

But Mohan Trivedi of the University of California, San Diego, US, is sceptical. He has built systems that he says can track and recognise individual people as they appear and disappear on different floors of his laboratory building.

It correctly identifies people about 70% of the time, and then only under "optimal conditions" that do not exist inside an airplane cabin, he says.

"[Ferryman's] research shows that a system detects threats in a very limited way. But it's a very different thing using it day in and day out." Trivedi says. "Lighting and reflections change in the cabin every time someone turns on a light or closes a window shade. They haven't shown that they have overcome these challenges."

Ferryman admits that his system will require thousands of tests on everyday passengers before it can be declared reliable at detecting threats.

The team's work is being presented this week at the International Conference on Computer Vision Systems in Greece.

Aviation - Learn more in our comprehensive special report.

Comment subject    

[grasshopper]

   You see this coming from good Bohemian Grove Republicans.  Pass the knife to kill the child for SATAN and strap on this bracelet.

[Kat Kanning]

Did you watch the promo video for it?  They were saying how people would welcome this to keep them safe 

[John Edward Mercier]

As if the cost wasn't enough to disuade air travel. 

[error]

I received the following response from DHS spokesman John Verrico:

Shocking, but False

Sometimes it just amazes me how these stories evolve. Let me start off by saying that the Department of Homeland Security's Science & Technology Directorate nor TSA have been pursuing shock bracelets for airline passengers as alleged by the Washington Times Blog.

This allegation stemmed from a misleading video posted on the Lamberd Website which depicts an ID bracelet that would contain identifying information as well as the ability to stun the wearer. The company claims to connect use of such a device to DHS and TSA, but no discussions between these agencies has ever taken place.

This all originated from a meeting held two years ago with a private company representative (not Lamberd) who proposed bracelet technology in response to the TSA's desire to find less-than-lethal means to detain an apprehended suspect.

The bracelet was never intended to replace boarding passes, contain ID information or be worn by all passengers as asserted in the Lamberd video and discussed in the Washington Times Blog.

The hypothetical use of the bracelet would have been for transporting already apprehended prisoners and detainees at prisons and border patrol facilities, and DHS was looking to see if there were potential air travel applications for apprehended suspects.

This concept was never funded or supported by the DHS or TSA and hasn't even been discussed for two years. The letter circulating throughout the blogosphere from Paul Ruwaldt was not addressed to Lamberd and merely states the DHS was interested in learning more about the technology. Neither side followed up.

DHS/TSA does NOT support the asserted use and has not pursued the development of such technology.

[Russell Kanning]

good to know they are not officially wanting to go that way ... it's something

if we could get other branches of this gang to say .... officially not want to torture anyone in gitmo ... that would be a nice sign
or ... officially want to withdraw from Iraq