By Matt Ernst
PoliceOne Member
The United States has undergone significant changes since the 9/11 attacks. Such changes include the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and increased terrorism training for law enforcement. The U.S. also convened the 9/11 Commission for the purpose of studying the attack in hopes of preventing future attacks. But are we implementing the lessons learned from the 9/11 Commission and other terrorism investigations?
I would argue that we have made many successful changes, but there remains one glaring weakness that I witness nearly every day — we do not have a very reliable way to detect various forms of identity fraud. If we do not correct this, we will suffer another major attack.
The best way to combat this situation is to evolve into a society where people are identified through their fingerprints, not plastic or paper ID.
Recent History
It was revealed by the 9/11 Commission that Al-Qaeda had an office of passports, located in the Kandahar airport, that altered passports, visas, and identification cards.[1] And just a couple of weeks ago, we learned this is occurring in Syria.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Al-Qaeda–affiliated groups in Syria are collecting European passports and redistributing them to similar-looking jihadists.[2]
Evidence collected from recent U.S. investigations further illustrates this problem. In August, the United States arrested Dino Bouterse, the counterterrorism commander for the Latin American nation of Suriname. Initially charged with conspiring to import cocaine into the U.S., an additional charge was announced on November 8 after a DEA investigation revealed that Bouterse had plotted with Hezbollah to bring Hezbollah operatives to Suriname.
Once in Suriname, these operatives would conduct attacks against U.S. targets and provide protection for Bouterse. In exchange, Bouterse would supply false passports to the operatives for the purpose of entering the U.S.[3]
Boston Bombing Human Error
In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing investigation, an important — yet unsurprising — fact emerged: Human error played a part in law enforcement not completely “connecting the dots” about the Tsarnaev brothers.
Questions arose about how the FBI could have investigated Tamerlan Tsarnaev, but be unaware that he had flown to Russia for six months in 2012.
The answer is quite simple: human error. When Tsarnaev left for Russia in January 2012, his name did not register with U.S. Customs officers because two different versions of his name and date of birth were typed into the customs database. That same inaccurate information was transmitted to the FBI’s main terrorism watch list.[4]
Moving Forward
Let’s imagine this scenario for a moment: Instead of Tsarnaev presenting his passport to customs officers who then manually typed his name into the database, his fingerprints were scanned by a mobile fingerprint scanner. His identity would be determined within a couple of minutes, with no opportunity for his name to be incorrectly entered. There would also be no opportunity for passport fraud because his true identity would be determined by his/her fingerprints — not by the name and photograph on the passport.
This technology already exists, but needs to be vastly expanded.[5]
Here is another scenario: An officer conducts a traffic stop. Instead of the violator providing a driver’s license, the officer simply scans the violator’s fingerprints, which confirms the identity of the violator. Simultaneously, the name is also run through various databases the same way it is when an officer checks the name through a dispatch system.
Law enforcement officers routinely deal with people giving fake names, and occasionally officers and dispatchers make mistakes entering a suspect’s name into a database. With fingerprint scanning, officers can accurately identify people and save time identifying people who give fake names. Further implementation of this technology would result in a much higher number of suspects being apprehended and “people of interest” being identified.
Complex Naming
This system also becomes critical when we consider the complexity of naming systems common in various countries around the world — the practice in Central and South American countries of including both the father and mother’s surnames, for example.
Traditional Arab names are even more complex, and there is still no single way in which the West spells them. Just consider “Mohammed” vs. “Muhammad”. A full Arab name contains the given name, the father‘s name, the grandfather‘s name, the sub-tribe name, the family clan name and possibly the city name.[6]
Quite commonly these names get altered or shortened when someone comes to the U.S. This can complicate identifying someone, particularly when communicating with foreign governments that may know the person under another name.
Moreover, we cannot expect the TSA or customs officers to accurately identify professionally altered passports. Despite their efforts, these officers are under pressure to process travelers as quickly as possible.[7]
Fingerprint Scanning
Fingerprint scanning would remove much of this “guesswork” and make customs processing much more efficient. Efficiency in the game of the homeland security translates into terrorists arrested, attacks prevented, and lives saved.
With technology today allowing TSA to scan airline tickets on a smartphone, there is no reason that we shouldn’t be able to develop a nationwide system where we scan people’s fingerprints as they proceed through a security checkpoint.
Someone must first have their fingerprints in the database to get a “return.” But the more we move toward this system, the more fingerprints we would enter into the database. The system would quickly enlarge, and it would become commonplace for people to have their fingerprints on file starting at a very young age. We could even make it mandatory for everyone getting a driver’s license or ID card to get fingerprinted.
While human error will always be a factor in our society, the consequences can mean life or death. Technology is allowing us to minimize the negative consequences associated with human error. We must not delay in using it.
References
1. The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on the Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. W.W. Norton and Company. July 22, 2004. Pg. 169. (Accessed Nov. 18, 2013)
2. Return of Jihadists Threatens Europe. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Siobhan Gorman, Cassell Bryan-Low, Maria Abi-Habib. Dec. 4, 2013. (Accessed Dec. 7, 2013).
3. U.S. vs. Dino Bouterse, and Edwin Quincy Muntslag. Indictment. Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney. (Accessed Nov. 18, 2013).
4. Terror database too vague to flag Boston suspect. LOS ANGELES TIMES. Ken Dilanian. May 2, 2013. (Accessed Nov. 18, 2013)
5. An affordable mobile fingerprint scanner. POLICEONE. Tim Dees. August 15, 2011. (Accessed Nov. 18, 2013)
6. Arab Names (Accessed Nov. 18, 2013)
7. Customs lines delayed by hours at some big airports. USA TODAY. Bart Jansen. April 4, 2013. (Accessed Nov. 18, 2013).
