Editor's note: I want to thank Steve Grossman, director of aviation for the Port of Oakland, for today's guest blog. Steve was one of six U.S. airport directors who recently traveled to Israel to observe how security is handled at Ben-Gurion International Airport, considered one of the safest in the world.
Recently, a group of six U.S. airport directors visited the State of Israel, under the auspices of the Airports Council International-North America, to get a first hand view of the airport security program at Ben-Gurion International Airport. We were guests of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, and the trip turned into much more than just a tour of the airport.
We were privileged to meet with top officials from the National Police Force, Israeli Security Agency, Ministry of Transport and Foreign Ministry, as well as Israeli Defense Force personnel and airport staff. While we obviously hoped to bring back lessons that could be applied at our home airports, what became very clear is that conditions are extremely different in Israel and their security system has grown up based on those conditions. The trip reinforced the idea that if you want to understand a situation, you really need to visit the location and perhaps gave me a bit more appreciation for the trips that some of our government officials take to gather information.
Let’s start with some of the big-picture issues that were perhaps the most illuminating points we learned. From the National Police Force, we learned that in almost every instance of an emergency situation, it is the police that are in charge. The favorite phrase of the individual giving us the briefing was “One Boss” meaning that it was very clear who had the final say during an incident.
This is in stark contrast to the U.S., where every airport has multiple agencies responsible for various aspects of security and emergency response -- all of whom, to one extent or another, think they are “in charge.” To the extent it works in the U.S. it is through the cooperative efforts of all of the entities, but most airports can point to cases where this issue has been a problem. Granted, this “One Boss” concept is easier in a small country like Israel, where there is only one police force, but by using this concept they do solve a number of potential problems during an incident.
Another interesting point was made by the Israeli Security Agency in that they try to share security information both of a general nature and on specific threats with the airport so it can further refine its security efforts. This sharing doesn’t happen nearly enough in the U.S. Most U.S. airports try to go above and beyond what the Transportation Security Administration requires with regard to security, but we receive little guidance as to the threats that we are protecting against. This lack of information doesn’t allow us to make the most effective use of the dollars we have to spend on security.
The days we spent at the airport were both fascinating and sobering. Ben-Gurion has developed a program that revolves around ever-tightening circles of security. Their security philosophy is based on devoting the bulk of their resources to where the real threats will come from. This is unlike the U.S., where the philosophy seems to be that everyone will be subject to the same level of scrutiny.
Israel makes this work through the extensive use of profiling and a well-trained staff with the expertise necessary to implement the program. While we were in the terminal, there was a security incident that allowed us to see their people in action. It was very impressive. They increasingly are using technology to improve their efforts and the key with technology for them is to ensure that it is all integrated into the system and working together.
Finally, it must be said that the Israeli system works in a country with only one significant air carrier airport, which handles approximately 10 million passengers. The size of the U.S., our culture and the financial limitations we face make duplicating their system an impossibility here. However, there are aspects of their approach we could use both at the national and airport level, and that was the true lesson of the trip. I believe that each airport director that went came back changed in some way and all of us were appreciative of the efforts that were made to make us feel welcome and to share the Israeli experience with us.
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Posted by: Raj | Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 06:04 AM