New Training Tech to Improve Border Imposter Detection

New Training Tech to Improve Border Imposter Detection

imposter detection

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Imposter detection – verifying the identity of every single person entering the United States is a vital step in halting human trafficking, drug trafficking, and other smuggling attempts at the border. In addition, security screening prevents criminals and terrorists from entering the country.

Imposter detection crosscuts the entire Homeland Security Enterprise, as well as state, local, and tribal law enforcement and even front line soldiers in our military. All of these frontline operators execute this task as part of their respective missions and they must be able to accurately and efficiently verify the identification of individuals to thwart imposters.

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) collaborated with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) to develop tools that can help optimize imposter detection training. The most recent capability to transition is called Eye-dentify, which is an imposter detection training technology.

According to newswire.com, building upon the success and leveraging the innovative technology in ScreenADAPT that analyzes x-ray staff performance,  Eye-dentify tracks an officer/agent’s eye movements during training to determine where, how long and in what sequence a trainee is looking at an ID or a face. Before Eye-dentify, an instructor could have no way of knowing where a trainee was looking or if they are following the procedures being taught. Eye-dentify makes previously unobservable performance now observable.

By tracking eye movements during training, Eye-dentify allows an instructor to provide immediate feedback on performance.

DHS S&T, FLETC and CBP identified the need for training that provided more deliberate practice and enhanced feedback on trainee performance. In response to that need, DHS S&T, FLETC, and CBP collaborated on the development of the new Eye‑dentify software training capability. Eye-dentify is now being used by CBP to train the task of searching facial features to spot imposters. Training like Eye-dentify will soon be extended into other tasks as well (e.g., searching for signs of fake or altered IDs/credentials, as well as searching video for pre-assault indicators/suspicious behavior detection).

When using Eye‑dentify, trainees are given an immediate feedback that includes if their decision was correct, but more importantly how the image/face was scanned. Officers can then review their performance and “identify” the facial features they did or did not sufficiently examine. Trainers and trainees can review the accuracy and eye-tracking data for individuals or an entire class.

The CBP screens nearly one million people every day and secures and manages 328 ports of entry all over the country, including in remote areas.

See article on ScreenADAPT