Your behaviour will soon be under watch at airports, says report

The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) is training its officers to study the behaviour of flyers and look for clues of malicious intent, reported Business Standard, citing an official aware of the plans.

According to the report, fifty officials of the agency, which is entrusted for civil aviation security in India, are being trained by the US to analyse passenger behaviour.

The security system developed by the agency, the report said, will include officers studying travellers for extraordinary behaviour such as stress, fear, deception, etc. The officers will employ various methods such as engaging in casual conversations with passengers to detect suspicious behaviour, added the report.

The tactics employed by the agency officials will be based upon Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) employed by Transport Security Administration (TSA) at the US airports, according to the report.

The need for training the officials to assess behaviour patterns of passengers to nullify various threats was felt as similar exercise helped customs officials recover cash and narcotics from airports, the report mentioned.