Forget body scans: search the right people
A dozen operators sit transfixed staring at TV monitors in a dingy room at the back of a Heathrow terminal. Protected by thickened glass to shut out the thundering clatter of a rolling conveyor belt laden with line after line of suitcases, they watch for suspicious objects as they pass through their X-ray machine.
But despite their best endeavours, regular screen breaks and close supervision, the odds are stacked against them stopping the breach of security that could lead to an aircraft being blown from the sky.
I would regularly visit Heathrow to see how the security measures planned at Scotland Yard were working when I was the head of the Met’s counter-terrorism operations.… Seguir leyendo »