Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur)

Airport security get body-worn cameras

- Neha LM Tripathi neha.tripathi@hindustant­imes.com

An unnecessar­y argument with security personnel at the internatio­nal airport over baggage checks or paper work is not just going to cost you time, but will also land you in trouble with clinching evidence captured by body-worn cameras.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has turned to these cameras as the solution to an unwanted statistic — 15% of the 1,50,000 fliers who pass through the Chhatrapat­i Shivaji Maharaj Internatio­nal Airport (CSMIA) daily get into a tiff with CISF staff.

According to the agency, which manages security at 60 out of the 98 operationa­l airports in the country, these cameras that also record audio will help nail rude or problemati­c fliers and even personnel.

Senior officials said the cameras would also help resolve a dispute that might escalate owing to language barriers between passengers and personnel.

After the success of a trial run, senior CISF officials gave the green light to three such cameras currently used at the internatio­nal airport in the city.

Ten similar cameras, pinned to the shirt pocket, are also being used at terminal 1 of the Indira Gandhi Internatio­nal Airport (IGI), New Delhi.

The body-worn cameras, which are the size of a small mobile phone, have 32 gigabyte (GB) memory.

“We plan to get these cameras at other airports as well,” said a CISF public relations officer (PRO) from Delhi.

A Mumbai CISF official said, “This allows security staff to do their duty as they fear that passengers could level false allegation­s against them.”

A senior airport official said, “The video proof can be used when a passenger complains of a CISF official’s misbehavio­ur on the civil aviation ministry’s online portal or to higher officials.”

MUMBAI:

fliers pass through the Chhatrapat­i Shivaji Maharaj Internatio­nal Airport daily of these passengers either misbehave or enter into a scuffle with security staff To provide evidence against rude and problemati­c passengers To help resolve a dispute that might escalate owing to language barriers between passengers and personnel

FOR EXAMPLE

On July 8 last year, a CISF officer was suspended after a member of a political party complained about the officer’s alleged misbehavio­ur. The incident occurred when the passenger and

D Sudhakara Reddy, president, Air Passengers Associatio­n of India (APAI), said, “Though hidden cameras are widely used at internatio­nal airports, the initiative his wife questioned a CISF officer about a group of passengers offering prayers in the gangway at T2. The officer was accused of mishandlin­g the situation. The CISF duty in-charge and two junior officers had to apologise to the politician and one of them was later suspended.

“The situation would have been clearer if these cameras would have been brought to use then," said a senior CISF officer.

by CISF is a good move as it will benefit both passengers as well as officials. Many times, a passenger gets into an argument over some miscommuni­cation.” Earlier in the year, to tackle unruly fliers, airport operator Mumbai Internatio­nal Airport Limited (MIAL) organised a ten-day workshop for CISF personnel

The first phase of the training, which began on March 19, aimed at improving the airport’s global and national ratings for passenger service and convenienc­e A MUMBAI CISF OFFICIAL The training was aimed to get security staff to use their soft skills to deal with unruly passengers

According to a senior CISF official, many passengers seem to have less knowledge of the dos and don'ts while flying, which was one of the major reasons behind a high number of such disputes

This allows staff to do their duty as they fear that passengers could level false allegation­s.

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