ACY First In US To Use Undercarriage Cameras For Explosives Detection

The Atlantic City International Airport will be the first airport in the United States to use a state-of-the-art vehicle undercarriage screening system, which captures a video image of cars, trucks and buses as they enter the airport property.

The purpose of the new technology is to check for explosives or contraband that could be stashed underneath the vehicle, ACY announced Monday.

Law enforcement officers from the Egg Harbor Township Police Department and the New Jersey State Police, who share law enforcement duties at the airport, were trained to use the equipment today with the new technology to be put in service Tuesday.

The Egg Harbor Township Police purchased the undercarriage screening equipment with $22,500 in grant funding from the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security. The grant was administered through the Atlantic County Office of Emergency Management.

"It is critical that our law enforcement officers have the tools they need to maintain the highest security practices," said Bart R. Mueller, Executive Director of the South Jersey Transportation Authority, which owns and operates the airport. "This grant is a perfect example of government agencies at every level coming together to deliver emerging security technology where and when it is needed most."

The undercarriage vehicle inspection device is a four-inch ramp equipped with a series of cameras and lights that transmit an image of the undercarriage of the vehicle to a security screen located in a mobile vehicle parked nearby.

"This equipment gives law enforcement officers another tool to use in the fight against terrorism and helps us to ensure a safe flying environment for the traveling public," said New Jersey Commissioner of Transportation Kris Kolluri, who also serves as Chairman of the South Jersey Transportation Authority.

"Our Under Vehicle Inspection Systems play an important part in securing sensitive assets around the globe," said Paul Feldman, President of Law Enforcement Associates, the company that produces the new equipment. "We are excited about the prospect of expanding the use of this technology into the domestic commercial aviation sector."

"The ACY airport was identified by a workgroup that consisted of a variety of municipal and county departments, first responders, that a better way was needed to inspect vehicles approaching the airport," said Chief Catania. "This equipment was purchased from a Federal Homeland Security Grant that filtered the money thru the State and down to the Counties through the County Office of Emergency Management."

Passenger traffic at ACY has increased dramatically in 2007, the airport said. Through the first six months of the year, scheduled commercial service was up almost 40 percent from the previous year. Airport officials predict that total passenger traffic for 2007 will reach a record 1.2 million.

In order to accommodate this growth, the SJTA is in the midst of significant upgrades at the airport including: the construction of a 1,400-space, six-story parking garage, interior cosmetic upgrades and the installation of new escalators and elevators to improve passenger traffic flow inside the terminal.

Other planned upgrades include: expansion of the airport apron, the expansion of gate capacity from seven to fourteen and the installation of "common use technology" that effectively expands counter space by allowing airlines to use existing ACY networks and desk space as needed without the expense of establishing and maintaining their own on-site networks and work stations.

FMI: www.sjta.com/sjta, www.state.nj.us/njhomelandsecurity