With the increasing movement of illegal drugs and arms ad ammunition

through international airports, there is a constant need for the upgrading of security measures by the authorities, moreso because criminals are using increasingly sophisticated methods to evade detection of illegal items.
Almost on a daily basis illegal items are discovered in baggage at one or several international airports. However, one of the limitations security officials are facing in enforcing stricter security measures is the question of violation of the privacy of passengers.
In this regard, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) believes that three principles should be applied to proposals to increase air-travel safety.

* New security proposals must be genuinely effective, rather than creating a false sense of security;

* The level of intrusion – the degree to which a proposed measure invades privacy- should reflect the level of risk.

* Security measures should be implemented in a non-discriminatory manner. Travellers should not be subjected to intrusive searches or questioning based on race, ethnic origin or religion.

In applying these three principles, the ACLU supports the use of effective security measures to enhance airport safety, which have minimal risk to privacy, maximum security benefit and reflect the level of risk. The ACLU believes that increased safety need not come at the expense of civil liberties. The ACLU has suggested a number of measures such as: increased training for security personnel; heightened screening of airline and airport security personnel; strict control of secured areas of airports; measures to improve security at foreign airports; a neutral entity to which passengers can report lax security procedures and luggage-matching of all passengers.
There have been proposals, including those made by Senator John Edwards, D-NC, to use biometric techniques to accurately identify airport personnel who have access to sensitive areas. The ACLU does not oppose using biometric identification techniques with a proven record of accuracy, such as iris scans or digital fingerprints, to identify and authenticate persons working in secured areas of airports. The error rate for those technologies is very low and using the technology could increase security without compromising civil liberties. This represents a good application of modern technology. Biometric identifiers collected from airport and airline workers should not, however, be used for unrelated purposes.
However, according to the ACLU, not every technological solution makes sense and will enhance safety. For example, many have proposed using facial- recognition technology for a variety of uses in airports. But this modern technology is notoriously inaccurate. One government study, for example, showed a 43 percent error rate of false negatives – a failure to properly identify posed photographs of the same person taken 18 months apart. In other words, persons who should have been caught were not. Put another way: If Osama Bin Laden were to stare in the camera at one of our airports, the technology would have no more chance than a coin toss of properly identifying him.
While there must be a balance between the privacy of passengers and security measures, it is clear that there is a need for using increased technology in boosting security at ainternational airports.
In recent times there have been several busts involving illegal drugs at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), and no doubt the use of technology helped in the process.
But apart from the movement of illegal drugs and arms and ammunition, many people are involved in illegal commercial transactions robbing the state of vital revenue.
On this note, CJIA has received a timely security boost with the installation of the Guyana Revenue Authority’s (GRA)$14.8M baggage scanner,  which will target persons who slip illegal items and those that attract taxes into the country without declaring them. While the airport already has several scanners to detect illegal and illicit items and substances carried by outgoing passengers, the new state-of-the-art scanner has been installed to deal with arriving passengers.
GRA Commissioner General, Kurshid Sattaur, told the media that the equipment has been installed to detect firearms, cocaine, explosives and other illegal items, and is in no way intended to target ordinary people and tourists.
This is an important step in the fight against the influx of illegal items into the country and the GRA should be commended for making such a timely intervention; and this clearly shows that our officials are not complacent, but rather are proactive and are constantly thinking about how to improve security measures at our international airport.