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Airport security seminar offered this fall
By Paul Solsrud
 Media Credit: AIRPORTS KRT PHOTOGRAPH BY KARL
Officer Keith Samuel and his dog Honor patrol at Oakland (California) International Airport on August16, 2002.
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Kathleen Sweet, along with the SCSU Criminal Justice department, will be hosting an Airport Security Training Seminar on the SCSU campus. The seminar, which runs Oct. 21-Nov. 8, will cover several aspects of security training and is open to the public.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks nearly one year ago, demand for highly skilled airport security personnel has increased substantially. Until now airport security personnel were not required to have specific training outside of law enforcement training. Due to the attacks, however, more specific training will now be required and certifications will become mandatory.
"Similar training (to this course) will be required by all screeners, approximately 30,000 of them once the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) starts to certify specific programs.
This one has not been certified yet but I hope to make it so. It all depends on the timetable of the TSA and Lockheed Instruments, which won the contract to provide the service to the government," said Sweet, assistant professor of criminal justice.
Since there are no such certifications in the United States Sweet attended several courses in the United Kingdom to further her knowledge and to gain a better understanding of the new concerns to bring "real life" experiences into the classroom.
"I completed the U.K. courses on Cargo security and X-ray interpretation offered at the Manchester airport," Sweet stated.
The seminar contains 7 different modules, varying in length from one to three days. The modules are: Threat Awareness; Search and Seizure Rules of Law; Passenger/Carry On Baggage Screening; Carry-On/Cargo Security; Law Enforcement/Military Interface; X-Ray/Explosive Detection/Trace Detection Equipment and Management of Airfield/Aviation Security. Any or all of the modules may be taken.
"We are also making my book, Terrorism and Airport Security, part of the course materials," said Sweet.
The seminar, which was originally scheduled for the summer, has been pushed back to accommodate people's schedules, and will not be held continuously because of class schedules.
"The summer seminar was pushed back because of the short notice and the conflicts in peoples schedules," state Gail Ruhland, director of training
program development. "Summer is a bad time to schedule things."
Response to the seminar has been respectable but a definite count is hard to find until a closer date.
Space is limited, a class of 20-25 would be ideal but more could be accommodated. A spring seminar is also in the planning stages.
The seminar is geared toward airport employees and law enforcement members but is open to anyone who would like to attend.
Groups as well as individuals are invited, with groups such as the Bloomington police department already showing interest.
The cost for the seminar is dependent on total number of days participant registers for: 1 day - $249.00 per day, 2 days - $229.00 per day, 3 days or more - $209.00 per day. Interested parties should register by Oct. 14 or call the continuing studies office.
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