Imposter detectionEye tracking technology helps in imposter detection training
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) screens nearly one million people every day and secures and manages 328 ports of entry all over the country, including in remote areas. Verifying the identity of every single person entering the United States is a vital step in halting human trafficking, drug trafficking, and other smuggling attempts at the border. In addition, security screening prevents criminals and terrorists from entering the country. Imposter detection thus crosscuts the entire Homeland Security Enterprise, as well as state, local, and tribal law enforcement and even front line soldiers in our military.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) screens nearly one million people every day and secures and manages 328 ports of entry all over the country, including in remote areas.
Verifying the identity of every single person entering the United States is a vital step in halting human trafficking, drug trafficking, and other smuggling attempts at the border. In addition, security screening prevents criminals and terrorists from entering the country. S&T says that imposter detection crosscuts the entire Homeland Security Enterprise, as well as state, local, and tribal law enforcement and even front line soldiers in our military. All of these frontline operators execute this task as part of their respective missions and they must be able to accurately and efficiently verify identification of individuals to thwart imposters.
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) collaborated with CBP and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) to develop tools that can help optimize imposter detection training. The most recent capability to transition is called Eye-dentify, which is an imposter detection training technology.
Building upon the success and leveraging the innovative technology in ScreenADAPT, Eye-dentify tracks an officer/agent’s eye movements during training to determine where, how long and in what sequence a trainee is looking at an ID or a face. Before Eye-dentify, an instructor could have no way of knowing where a trainee was looking or if they are following the procedures being taught. Eye-dentify makes previously unobservable performance now observable. “Imposter-detection training is vital to accomplishing our mission,” said Luis Berenguer, Supervisory Course Developer/Instructor, Customs and Border Protection Officer (CBPO) Basic Training. “With new and innovative methods, tools, and technologies, we improve our ability to provide quality instruction to trainees. DHS S&T is assisting CBP in providing that quality instruction.”
Current training for imposter detection primarily consists of PowerPoint presentations and using training booklets coupled with classroom instruction. However, current training does not provide trainers or trainees with any feedback on their visual search patterns and whether those patterns conform to the procedures that are being taught. By tracking eye movements during training, Eye-dentify allows instructor to provide immediate feedback on performance.
