b'SECURITYMIA 17Multiple levels of law enforcement have also been involved from the beginning of the project. Its been a partnership with TSA and certainly our local law enforcement, Miami-Dade Police Department and the U.S. Air Marshals out of TSA, Hatfield notes. We do joint vulnerability assessments on a periodic basis, and the federal air marshals take the point on that. We really take a holistic look at the airport to identify potential areas of vulnerability. Fence penetrations by vehicles or individuals, and near penetration by drones, provide situational awareness and understanding of the propertys vulnerabilities. Every year brings with it knowledge and learning, Hatfield remarks. Certified Network Professionals, MIAs long-term security integrator, began improving the network infrastructure in May 2020 to support the pilot project and other upgrades at the airport. After construction plans and designs were approved for Phase One, the airport received its notice to proceed from TSA in February 2021. Certified Network Professionals began planning and design in April 2022 and completed upgrades to the network in December 2022. Testing was completed in March 2023 on the north side and May 2023 for the south side. Construction work and technology installation for Phase One was completed in July 2023. Now, MIA is in the two-year data collection period while simultaneously moving onto Phase Two for additional sections of the perimeter.PHOTO: MIAMI-DADE AVIATION DEPARTMENTPutting Technology to Workuse data from MIA and SJC as benchmarks to help other airportsThe technologies being tested serve two main purposes: to alert identify their perimeter vulnerabilities and help improve security.the airport of potential breaches, with specific information about Results from the pilot programs two-year data collection periodthe location and trajectory of intruder(s); and reduce false alarms by will be published in late fiscal year 2025 or early 2026. The finalrequiring dual confirmation of a breach. report will include detailed data findings, insights, best practices andThe diverse landscape along the perimeter at MIA made lessons learned, and will be distributed to airports, Department ofplanning, design and installation a challenge, but will ultimately Homeland Security partners and local security providers. The reportyield more information. Every location that we looked at provided is intended to help airports and their project partners make informedits own different challenges, so that variation helped the project, procurement decisions by proving them with unbiased informationsays Orlando Suero, president and network/systems engineer at about the capabilities and limitations of various technologies.Certified Network Professionals. I think it provided a really good baseline for future development at other airports.Preparation, Planning and Teaming UpThe team deployed multiple technologies Beginning in 2019, personnel from TSA and the Naval Surfacebased on the unique environment and Warfare Center of Panama City worked closely with MIA to defineconditions of specific sections of the the scope of the pilot project and recommend specific systems andperimeter. Sensing technologies include laser technologies for testing. In Phase One, they helped the Miami-Dadearrays and fiber-optic sensors; monitoring Aviation Department select 58 zones along critical sections of abouttechnology includes a wide variety of half of the airport perimeter for installation of new equipment. Phasecameras. Often, they work together. For Two, which addresses the rest of MIAs perimeter, will be designedinstance, video and imagery from the camerasORLANDO SUEROand installed over the next two years.are paired with detection from the laser wall The team also worked to identify elements that could potentiallylocated a couple feet from the fence that create false alarms, such as wildlife, wind-born debris and adjacentsenses when someone is approaching the vehicle traffic. Thats a really important weakness that you need toperimeter. If those two technologies detect keep an eye on and be able to design against and create conceptssomething around the same time, it sends an of operations to obviate that condition, Hatfield says. alarm back to the security operations center, After basic design recommendations were made, Miami-Dadesays Terry Harless, senior physical security Aviation Department entered into an other transaction agreementspecialist at Burns & McDonnell. It has theTERRY HARLESSwith TSA in January 2020. Burns & McDonnell provided designsmarts to understand what a person or a services and acted as project manager and prime engineer.vehicle is, rather than some other object. An early warning alarm AirportImprovement.comNovember | December 2023'