Jul 31, 2008 9:28 pm US/Central
Shock Bracelet To Stop Airline Hijackers?
Homeland Security Memo Reveals Interest In Using Bracelets For Prisoners, Improving Security On Planes
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Technology for stopping airline hijackers could someday involve an electronic bracelet. Strapped onto their wrists, it would disable them by shocking them. As CBS 2 Investigator Dave Savini explains in his ongoing series "Fly At Your Own Risk," there is controversy over exactly who would be required to wear these bracelets.
"Would the federal government really consider doing something like this?" said Jeffrey Denning, former U.S. Air Marshal.
Denning says he was stunned when he learned about technology that could be used as your boarding pass – and as a GPS device to track you and your luggage through the airport.
But it could also be used as a weapon.
"The bracelet has a capacity to shock whoever is wearing it, kind of like a police taser," Denning said.
Our 2-investigators tracked down the bracelets inventor who says he created it to make air travel easier and to prevent another September 11th attack.
A promotional video shows the technology -- electro muscular disruption. A transmitter would send a signal -- and the bracelet would override the central nervous system knocking the person down to the ground in a fetal position.
The inventor, who does not want to be named, says the bracelet would be activated only during a hijacking - and it would take down only the attacker.
"If the passenger acts up, it would shock and immobilize him for several minutes," Denning said.
But Denning worries the bracelets could be misused and when asked whether he thinks this technology was being considered for use on all airline passengers he said, "At first I think 'no,' then again I've worked for three years for the TSA as a Federal Air Marshal and I've seen some outrageous things."
Denning obtained a letter written after a 2006 meeting by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's research and development division which expresses interest in these bracelets for handling prisoners - then says it may also improve security on airplanes.
However, a Homeland Security spokesman says the only proposed use for the bracelets was for handling prisoners - not for regular travelers.
Still Denning is concerned the bracelets could end up on all airline passengers.
"Why don't we all put dog collars on and zap each other through the airport," Denning said. "It makes no sense."
And he questions whether it would work.
"Don't you think a terrorist could just take off a bracelet?" Denning said.
Barry Steinhardt from the ACLU worries, if used, the technology would be abused by security and airline personnel.
"I find it almost unimaginable that we're having this conversation," Steinhardt said. "It's going to get misused. It's probably going to be misused on a daily, maybe even an hourly basis."
Denning says there are better ways to spend money to close gaps in airport security, including the kind of breaches at O'Hare that were previously exposed by the 2-investigators.
Thousands of airport employee identification access badges were missing, and 2-investigators watched as employees entered the airport through back gates without being searched for weapons, even though they had easy access to planes and terminals.
"The frustrating thing for me is, we've spent billions of dollars, we hired thousands of people and have we really improved that much?" Denning said.
He says these kinds of gaping holes in security need to be fixed before anyone starts thinking about shocking passengers with electronic bracelets.
"Shocking them like a dog if they get out of line," Denning said.
Since leaving the Federal Air Marshals, Denning joined the Washington Times as a blogger and is also a security consultant.
A Homeland Security spokesman stresses that the department has never considered using this technology on all airline passengers. The concept was to consider using it to control suspects that were already apprehended on aircrafts. And he says the department has not actively pursued this technology.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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