Weeding Out Terrorists

(CBS)  U.S. security agents are doing it on the sly, reports CBS News correspondent Bob Orr: They're separating legitimate air travelers from would-be terrorists.

While X-ray machines and explosive scanners focus on weapons, Transportation Security chief Kip Hawley said Tuesday that screeners are studying passengers for signs of nervousness.

"It is involuntary muscular behaviors that are across the board, that doesn't matter what you look like. You don't have to look like a terrorist to exhibit these involuntary behaviors," he says.

It's the first step in so-called behavioral profiling. The next step can be seen inside a lab at the University of Buffalo, where a research suspect is about to tell a lie.

"I'm officer Ray LaHocking and I'd like to ask you a few questions … "

"OK," nods the suspect. "There's gonna be a person I talk to and I'll sign some forms."

So where's the lie?

"When he says 'there's a person I'm gonna talk to and I'm gonna go sign some forms,' you actually see a sign of fear/anxiety that hits him at that particular moment," says psychologist Mark Frank.

What Frank saw was a split-second tightening of the muscle in the center of the forehead.

"It's across the top of the eyes, in the eyebrows," he says. "It's part of a facial expression of fear."

The flash of fear is called a "micro-expression." It's an involuntary facial response that can betray a liar.

"When people have emotions, the same areas of the brain that are responsible for causing the heart rate to go up and your blood pressure to go up and the little sweat you get on your hands are also sending a pulse to your face," Frank says.

Frank, who's developing the profiling technique for the Department of Homeland Security, claims he can spot a liar 90 percent of the time.

"I think at this point it is at least as accurate as a polygraph," he says.

Frank says the kind of behavioral analysis he's doing in his lab can be taught to screeners in the real world with as little as 30 minutes training. Hundreds of faces have convinced him the science is solid in identifying people who might be lying.

"If it just helps you make one or two better judgments," Frank says, "that could be the difference."

Frank concedes facial profiling is not foolproof — there is no absolute way to spot a lie. At the same time, terrorists should take no comfort — there's also no such thing as a fail-safe poker face.

[rihan156]

Weeding out terrorists, or giving hard time to the little guy? Yes to x-raying luggages, travelers, and shoes to detect explosives; but need cooperation to see what works elsewhere instead of reinventing the wheel and wasting resources. Conversely, profiling is illegal tool that not even security threat justifies. It's path to abuses and should be challenged legally; some people who look like Muslims, or MidEasterners are not, whereas blue-eyed and blonde MidEasterners may not be sympathetic to the US.

A "magic machine" that identifies lies? Misleading; similar to polygraph test, it's highly unreliable. There's no proof that forehead tics and heart beats identify an individual's intents/thoughts.

A "Psy": "If it just helps you make one, or two better judgments, that could be the difference between getting the bad guy...and not getting the bad guy." Ahan! How'bout my fear of flying whereas the blonde and blue-eyed guy who killed two people last week isn't afraid of flying? Does that judgement mean knowing if and why I am nervous just by seeing me walking by? Hummmm..you are a medium but not a security guy/"magic machine" handler, or what?
Enough of the ineptitudes the so-called inventors use to make profits on the back of the taxpayer. The HS waves the flag of fear every time it wants people to say "amen". Although I want to see the dangerous guys neutralized, I don't want fear to be used to squeeze me further.

May we all stay in peace!

[long_rider]

Once again, we will protect you; we will save you, just give up your freedoms. I am real confident in a system that can be taught to people right off of the street, in 30 min.

In the environment that the government has created in this country, I think it would be natural reaction (a micro-expression), if a government person came up to me and said he had a few questions. Just think of the possibilities, jail, no lawyer, no hearing, no judge, no bail. GETMO here I come. Just because I had a nervous twitch.

The next time I fly I will wear a mask. I wonder if someone has passed a law against that yet.

I sure wish some of these experts would apply some of this micro-expression technology to our Whitehouse leaders, and let the American people know the real results. They should review the films of the chimp%u2019s speech to congress %u2013 the speech that got us into the war in Iraq.

[long_rider]

Once again, we will protect you; we will save you, just give up your freedoms. I am real confident in a system that can be taught to people right off of the street, in 30 min.

In the environment that the government has created in this country, I think it would be natural reaction (a micro-expression), if a government person came up to me and said he had a few questions. Just think of the possibilities, jail, no lawyer, no hearing, no judge, no bail. GETMO here I come. Just because I had a nervous twitch.

The next time I fly I will wear a mask. I wonder if someone has passed a law against that yet.

I sure wish some of these experts would apply some of this micro-expression technology to our Whitehouse leaders, and let the American people know the real results. They should review the films of the chimp%u2019s speech to congress %u2013 the speech that got us into the war in Iraq.

[long_rider]

Once again, we will protect you; we will save you, just give up your freedoms. I am real confident in a system that can be taught to people right off of the street, in 30 min.

In the environment that the government has created in this country, I think it would be natural reaction (a micro-expression), if a government person came up to me and said he had a few questions. Just think of the possibilities, jail, no lawyer, no hearing, no judge, no bail. GETMO here I come. Just because I had a nervous twitch.

The next time I fly I will wear a mask. I wonder if someone has passed a law against that yet.

I sure wish some of these experts would apply some of this micro-expression technology to our Whitehouse leaders, and let the American people know the real results. They should review the films of the chimp%u2019s speech to congress %u2013 the speech that got us into the war in Iraq.

[long_rider]

Once again, we will protect you; we will save you, just give up your freedoms. I am real confident in a system that can be taught to people right off of the street, in 30 min.

In the environment that the government has created in this country, I think it would be natural reaction (a micro-expression), if a government person came up to me and said he had a few questions. Just think of the possibilities, jail, no lawyer, no hearing, no judge, no bail. GETMO here I come. Just because I had a nervous twitch.

The next time I fly I will wear a mask. I wonder if someone has passed a law against that yet.

I sure wish some of these experts would apply some of this micro-expression technology to our Whitehouse leaders, and let the American people know the real results. They should review the films of the chimp%u2019s speech to congress %u2013 the speech that got us into the war in Iraq.

[long_rider]

Once again, we will protect you; we will save you, just give up your freedoms. I am real confident in a system that can be taught to people right off of the street, in 30 min.

In the environment that the government has created in this country, I think it would be natural reaction (a micro-expression), if a government person came up to me and said he had a few questions. Just think of the possibilities, jail, no lawyer, no hearing, no judge, no bail. GETMO here I come. Just because I had a nervous twitch.

The next time I fly I will wear a mask. I wonder if someone has passed a law against that yet.

I sure wish some of these experts would apply some of this micro-expression technology to our Whitehouse leaders, and let the American people know the real results. They should review the films of the chimp%u2019s speech to congress %u2013 the speech that got us into the war in Iraq.

[long_rider]

Once again, we will protect you; we will save you, just give up your freedoms. I am real confident in a system that can be taught to people right off of the street, in 30 min.

In the environment that the government has created in this country, I think it would be natural reaction (a micro-expression), if a government person came up to me and said he had a few questions. Just think of the possibilities, jail, no lawyer, no hearing, no judge, no bail. GETMO here I come. Just because I had a nervous twitch.

The next time I fly I will wear a mask. I wonder if someone has passed a law against that yet.

I sure wish some of these experts would apply some of this micro-expression technology to our Whitehouse leaders, and let the American people know the real results. They should review the films of the chimp%u2019s speech to congress %u2013 the speech that got us into the war in Iraq.

[urxlncy]

To MaryBethinCT: You said " Has there ever been any terrosits since Sept 11 who was not Muslim or looked Muslim? ......Muslims be for-warned you are going to be profiled." OK. Actually Pupeta answered with an example of McVeigh. There are other examples like Moussawi, if you will. So, to you if a person looks like a Muslim you are going you can complain that he is a potential terrorist. Can you also explain what techniques you want to use to arrive at "He looks like a Muslim or he is a Muslim"? Or are you going to just assume? So If a Muslim changes color like M. Jackson, then I beleive it would make profiling very difficult. Then how would you deal with it? Never heard of a simple statement "looks may not tell anything about the person"? Understand, that applies to anybody.

[pupeta-2009]

What about profiling members of the local militias than also? It was Tim MacVeigh that bombed the Oklahoma building wasn't it? what about the threats from those kind of people? our country is not exactly a newcommer when it comes being under terrorist attacks. The kkk is also a terrorist network, they terrorize people of color and jews. The people that bombo abortion clinics are also terrorists. The definition of terrorism by our government is: -- "the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives" --

[pupeta-2009]

Democracy itself has many faces, from the socialist democracy in Sweden to the corrupt narco -democracy in latin america where drug dealers are the ones who run the show with democracy in the background and newspapers, they are all unique and with it there is no guarantee that we are safe from countries that want to hurt us. Colombia today for example is exporting along with Mexico more drugs in to the US and more responsible for the death of US citizens than all the terrorists combined in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet we still have our borders not secured.