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Miami International Airport rolls out new security system to keep out intruders

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, along with TSA and MIA officials, demonstrated the new perimeter intruder detection system (PIDS) Tuesday.
Jimena Romero
/
WLRN
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, along with TSA and MIA officials, demonstrated the new perimeter intruder detection system (PIDS).

Miami International Airport is rolling out a new perimeter intrusion detection system that aims to stop security breaches through the airport's fence.

The system uses advanced fiber-optic sensors, laser walls, a ground-based radar, video surveillance and analytics, Jim Bamberger, a top official with the Transportation Security Administration, told reporters on Tuesday at a news conference.

“It helps us not only if we know there's a breach but now once the person's in the perimeter we can track that individual throughout the perimeter so that we can appropriately respond to that person," said Bamberger, who was joined by Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.

Security breaches around an airport's perimeter are rare, but an Associated Press investigation found 345 instances in which people breached the perimeter of 31 of the nation's busiest airports — including MIA — between Jan. 1, 2004, and mid-February 2016.

In a 2011 report to Congress, TSA said there were 1,388 security breaches at 450 airports between 2001 and 2011.

MIA is the first site in the country to pilot the technology. So far, the system has been installed around about half of the airport’s perimeter. The rest will be installed within the next two years.

Bamberger said TSA chose MIA to spearhead the program because of its operations.

“What Miami is doing doesn't just benefit Miami. It benefits every federalized airport throughout the U S and other pieces of critical infrastructure that have a perimeter that needs to be protected,” he said.

TSA fronted $6 million to pay for the first phase of implementation, while Miami-Dade County’s aviation department will fund the remaining $6 million.

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This is a News In Brief report. Visit WLRN News for in-depth reporting from South Florida and Florida news.

Jimena Romero is WLRN’s News and Public Affairs Producer. Besides producing The South Florida Roundup, she is also a general assignment reporter.
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