Security inspectionImproving Vehicle Inspections at Security Checkpoints

Federal agencies screen an average of 235,000 vehicles every day for illegal contraband, explosives and other potential threats in the United States. This important work is performed at secure facilities across the nation and at hundreds of ports of entry (POE) and checkpoints along our border. The sheer volume and need for the efficient throughput of vehicles at inspection sites may present challenges during examination of vehicles and their occupants.

Currently, federal law enforcement personnel (LEP) perform a visual search of the undercarriage using mirrors, or, if available, an under-vehicle inspection scanner. The scanning units are expensive, have moderate resolution and require vehicles to go only five miles per hour. It is time-consuming and tedious, but critically necessary to prevent the smuggling of narcotics, explosives, weapons—and unfortunately, even humans.

Collaboration Brings a New Solution into ‘VIEW’
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has partnered with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Federal Protective Service (FPS) to provide a capability that will be a game-changer to the vehicle screening process.

The Vehicle Inspection for Early Warning (VIEW) research and development initiative is intended to be innovative—providing a low-cost, automated, fast and intuitive vehicle inspection system for POEs and checkpoints and a solution for protecting critical infrastructure and key resources, such as soft targets and special events. The system was designed, developed and tested in partnership with Synthetik Applied Technologies, LLC, through a grant funded by S&T.

VIEW incorporates functional requirements defined by CBP and the operational needs of FPS so that the resulting device enables both agencies to perform necessary tasks critical to the mission. Over the past two years, the DHS team has refined requirements, developed performance criteria and overseen demonstrations of the various phases and versions of the VIEW scanner technology. The VIEW effort recently moved into its design, test and evaluation phase where the technology will be assessed in an operational environment to verify it meets the functional and performance requirements of CBP and FPS. Subsequent phases will see CBP integrate the technology into its existing architecture and screening procedures, while FPS will develop ways to incorporate VIEW into their daily operations. While the initial deployments will be focused upon secondary inspections, the ultimate goal is to use the technology for scanning all vehicles at POEs and checkpoints.