ACI Asks if Security Screeners Focus on Real Dangers

AUCKLAND, Nov 8 AAP - Airport security has been tightened worldwide since September 11, 2001, terror attacks. But are security staff focusing on the real dangers? The Airports Council International (ACI) has questioned if government-imposed security measures focus too much on low-risk passenger belongings at the expense of detecting dangerous weapons. "The question is asked: is there a preoccupation in many states with the low-threat items such as nail scissors and small pocket knives?" said David Hansen of the ACI's world security committee. "If the process means that X-ray operators are constantly being distracted by these all too common low-risk finds, then what impact does this have on the detection of the rare but much greater threats?" Hansen told a conference in Auckland. Auckland international airport's chief executive officer Don Huse said it was important to keep an open mind about security measures after the "broad" response to September 11. "The threat has changed a little so we can change the response to it," Huse told reporters. "This is a never-ending journey and we're always learning more." ACI director-general Robert Aaronson said the new head of the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) had also signalled the need to re-examine standards which were rapidly introduced after the attacks and imitated worldwide. TSA director Kip Hawley had also stressed the importance of constantly changing security environments within airports. "So people who would do bad things have a hard time anticipating what their chances would be of being detected," Aaronson said. Airports had succeeded in deterring potential terrorists through their high security standards, ACI chairman Niels Boserup said. "The risk of being discovered in an airport is so high that I think if people want to harm other people, I'm afraid, they'll find other targets much easier to access," Boserup said. Security committee chairman Hansen also recommended that delegates to the ACI World/Pacific conference read Australia's Wheeler report into airport security and policing arrangements. The Australian government has introduced a number of new airport security measures in response to the report by former UK secretary of state for Northern Ireland John Wheeler. AAP pw/gs/hu/