One-Size-Fits-All: Port Security's Future Nerve Center

By Peter Kant, Executive Vice President, Rapiscan Systems

“Port security” is often used as an all-encompassing term, wrapping up not only a port’s security screening and cargo inspection activities but also physical security operations (like CCTV and access control) as well as customs/trade compliance.  While the term may be overarching, the associated actions are separate, requiring individual staff, training and infrastructure for each process.

The individual nature of these processes can lead to serious consequences.  Nothing happens in a vacuum at an operation as large as a port, especially when it comes to security.  Often, each individual process under the security umbrella relies on another aspect of port security – like security screening and cargo manifest examination.  To ensure the most efficient detection of threats and contraband, security screening operators should be able to easily compare cargo manifests with what they are seeing via the screening equipment.

But because these processes are not necessarily synchronized, missteps can occur, leading to screening operators not receiving the right information in time (or at all).  This means that there is a greater potential for threats and/or contraband to slip through a port, despite the best intentions of the port authority.

The answer to these problems, of course, is to integrate all security operations into a single, streamlined process, turning “port security” into much more than an umbrella term.  For many years, this was purely a pipe dream – there were too many vendors, too many competing technologies and the capacity for integrating these disparate tools and procedures simply was not available to most port operators.  But, as with all things, times change.

Now, the notion of a unified port security nerve center is not some whimsical concept dreamed up by an industry association, but rather a near-reality.  While still not a complete vision, ports now need to begin planning for how they will integrate previously siloed security operations to ensure that they can detect and remediate emerging threats head on.

So how should ports begin to prepare for port security’s new brain?

Integrate What You Can…

Integration will be the watchword for the future of port security, but authorities and operators should not wait for combined security operations to become a necessity as opposed to a “nice to have.”  Staying ahead of security trends ensures that adding new technologies and processes to their service mix will be faster, less costly and result in drastically reduced implementation errors/downtime.

One way to start is by integrating existing security operations whenever possible.  For example, if a port-of-entry is running separate cargo screening systems for radioactive materials and conventional threats/contraband, they should look to integrate these operations via emerging technologies.  New solutions that combine two or more existing security procedures into a single, streamlined process or system, like traditional X-ray screening paired with radiation detection or a single system for CCTV, DVR and video analytics, can improve operations now while making the eventual total integration of security processes go much smoother.

Know What You Need…

Even if port security wasn’t perched on the precipice of redefining itself, ports need to ask themselves a hard question when it comes to security and customs: What, exactly, do we need when it comes to security? 

It’s easy for operators to reply with “everything,” but the truth is often far, far from that.  While major ports-of-entry and commerce hubs, like the Port of New York and New Jersey or the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, do need to be prepared for every possible cargo-borne threat and contraband-transport contrivance, ports that see more moderate traffic must be more realistic.

Security and customs screening technologies, along with the personnel required to run these activities, are massive expenditures now and can be incredibly difficult to integrate into the nerve center of the future.  By only implementing the technologies and procedures that their port needs right now (and leaving room to grow), port operators can save themselves money and time in the present as well as in the future when the time comes to integrate operations into a wider port security umbrella.

When In Doubt, Look Outside

Finally, port operators do not need to feel like the burden is entirely on them to identify new security technologies/procedures, implement them and do all of the integration.  The security industry itself is evolving alongside the port security spectrum, meaning that a plethora of partners are willing and ready to help operators meet the stringent new demands of inter-connected security.

Specifically, many vendors are beginning to offer security-as-a-service in a port capacity, allowing authorities and operators to focus on actual commercial operations while leaving the security and compliance aspects of a port in the hands of specialists.  Engaging with a security operator that can manage all pieces of the port security puzzle, from maintaining existing operations to implementing and integrating new technologies, can go a long way towards ensuring that a port will not be left behind the curve as security evolves.

The emergence of the port security nerve center is a huge benefit for port authorities and operators – the streamlining of customs, inspection and general security procedures will help cut cargo backlogs, improve throughputs and generally enhance commercial viability of a port.  But operators must be smart about how they approach integration by taking stock of what they have, what they need and what someone else can do for them.  Port security will be gaining a “brain,” so to speak, but operators still have to be smart about their security operations.

Peter Kant is executive vice president with Rapiscan Systems, a global provider of security inspection solutions. He can be reached at [email protected] for comments and/or questions.