Page 8 - Customs Today Winter1984-OCR

Commissioner's Round Table:

Red/Green Passenger

Inspection System

every activity, minute by minute. veloped their Red/Green systems at
In this, the first Commissioner's Round Table, We feel we should give the respon the same time but independently of
Mr. von Raab had as his guests the following sibility to the inspector. We should each other, is that correct? You
Inspectors: Mark Eisenhauer, O'Hare Airport, also pay less attention to the both came up with similar systems
Chicago; Vincent Hauk and John Henry, JFK Air honest traveler and more attention involving the use of rovers at the
port, New York; Vance Cook, Houston Intercon to the potential criminals. baggage carousels.
tinental Airport; and John Casale and Bob Bauman
Well, the Red/Green system How effective have these rov
of Miami International Airport. The topic of the day has been operating in Houston for
was the Red/Green systems in use in their respective ing inspectors been at the baggage
about 15 months. How is it going? carousels?
airports.
Inspector Cook (Houston): Inspector Hauk (New York):
Commissioner: Right now we're up to processing almost I'm with the CET team at JFK and
Just after I was sworn in as 1,000 passengers an hour. we've been doing quite well. Last month we got
Commissioner, we started to plan Commissioner: about 9 pounds of heroin, 10-1/2 pounds of
for Red/Green. A lot of study went Compared to, what was it, 600 cocaine, quite a lot of marijuana, and we made
into what we eventually did, and at or 700? several currency seizures. We work in plain
the time there were many who ar
Inspector Cook: clothes, and I know this helps. We found that if
gued on both sides of the issue. Of No, 300. The Customs area in Houston we are out on the floor in uniform, people stop
course, we didn't want a system Airport was built for handling 300 passengers us to ask directions to the rest rooms, or "where
like Amsterdam, where you walk an hour. We're processing more than three times do I catch my flight to Cleveland?" and things
through the green lane and out the as many passengers an hour, and the inspectors like that. Being asked a lot of questions when
door to a taxi stand. We wanted are enjoying it more. They like the variety, you're trying to concentrate on profiles breaks
some control. I felt we could adopt your train of thought. If you 're in plain clothes,
a system that wouldn't hold up the working the primary area, the red area, the no one bothers you.
vast majority of travelers, who we green, roving. And best of all, we have almost Commissioner:
doubled our number of significant seizures this
know are honest, but would still year. Do people show the same re
give us control over those passing spect if you do not have your
through Customs. Commissioner: uniform?
Houston was the first place to That's about all you could ask Inspector Hauk:
have Red/Green. Don Kelly volun of the Red/Green system: we're Well, we identify ourselves, show them the
teered to be first. He set up a able to do much more work, and badge. Occasionally, they will try and walk
system at the airport that they were we're able to do it much better. If I away. This is usually a foreigner who doesn 't
all excited about. When I went recall correctly, it was an inspector understand. But we just have to stop them.
down to see it, they even presented in Houston who told me the inspec Commissioner:
me with a copy of a book they had tor's enforcement potential would But doesn't New York also
put together on the system. I rise if his attention could be fo have uniformed inspectors at the
brought the book back to Gene cused on looking for criminal activi carousels?
Mach and asked him why we ty, shifting away from routine ad
couldn't do this all over the country. ministrative matters, away from Inspector Hauk:
I thought that the most inter rubber-stamping. All activities that Yes. We have both red and green inspec
esting aspect of the Houston divert your attention from looking tors. The green inspectors concentrate on process
system was that it was largely for the crooks. ing the people who shouldn 't be delayed, family
designed by the inspectors them Is that feeling general? Do you groups. This thins out the crowds a lot. Then
selves. They made the changes for all feel this way? the red inspectors can handle the people who need
the Houston Airport, for the kinds Inspector Cook: our attention.
of facility they have there and the Yes. But it took training. Probably the Commissioner:
kind of flights and the level of risk. hardest thing was to get most primary inspectors
We learned from that experi to forget about rubber-stamping passports and What about Miami, are your
ence that we would have to design performing other administrative functions and to roving inspectors uniformed?
each system differently, that each concentrate on watching passengers, studying Inspector Casale (Miami):
would have to be designed around their behavior. They know the high-risk flights, Yes. Our whole force of rovers is in uni
the situation existing at that loca and they know the profiles they're looking for. form. And we run into the same problem with
tion. We also got off the idea that Commissioner: people asking us all kinds of questions and direc
we have to define the inspector's Now, New York and Miami de tions. You do lose your concentration.