Airport scan on victims, villains

CISF has begun using passenger profiling to identify potential victims as well as goons, writes Nandini R Iyer.

Passenger profiling need not be used only to identify criminals or miscreants. The CISF has begun using it to identify potential victims too.

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The latest module of passenger profiling in use with the CISF is aimed at identifying passengers who could be targeted by touts or petty criminals, both inside and outside the terminal. The module, responsible for security at most Indian airports, ensures that India’s image as a tourist-friendly country is maintained.

CISF officials are very categorical that profiling of both kinds — the one that identifies potential victims and the second one that identifies miscreants — is not being used as a substitute to regular checking or as a compromise on prevalent security measures. What it does do, however, is enable trained CISF personnel to watch out for tourists travelling alone, first-time flyers and those who may be otherwise vulnerable — for instance, those with no knowledge of English or any Indian language, single women, teenagers or elderly people — who may be harassed by touts.

According to CISF sources, profiling has helped prevent what could well have become an eve-teasing case on several occasions.