biometrics 3

The authority’s executive director Jerry Bridges says: “The Port of Virginia is one of the fastest growing ports in the United States. Inherent in our task is to ensure that the people coming on and off of our terminals have the proper credentials and security screening to access our facilities. We welcome TWIC and the added layer of security it brings to our terminals and the industry overall.”

But VPA director of security Ed Merkle has counseled caution, inferring that the system will take time to bed down. He cites simple issues, such as rear-view mirrors on lorries that mean drivers can’t reach to submit a fingerprint, and their often-dirty hands, making it hard to read the fingerprint when they can. Furthermore, delays at port entrances could cause traffic to back up into other areas. “You can quickly spill over and cause ‘collateral damage’ within the city you’re adjacent to,” he’s quoted as saying.

At the Authority’s Portsmouth terminal, where cameras and readers are used to make sure the driver’s ID card is still valid – and held by the person it was issued to – traffic flow has been maintained by expanding the previous two entry lanes to seven. If fingerprints are to be read as well, even more lanes might be necessary, says Mr Merkle.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles recently signed up Unisys to design and manage a fingerprint-based identification and access control system to control worker access to restricted areas in the port.

The three-year contract is the latest development of the TWIC initiative.

“The benefit to our customers – and to the constituents they serve – is their ability to mitigate and manage risk,” says Tom Conaway, managing partner, Homeland Security, Unisys.