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  1. #1

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    Port workers give biometric data for access

    At the bottom it talks about illegals driving trucks *sob* I hear Muslims are causing a safely hazard getting out of their trucks bowing to the east in the middle of Terminals. Wonder how many of those Muslims are illegals? They say only a few truckers will lose their jobs, I say bull. More like a third or more judging by the Mexican cowboy look sported by most. Remember these guys are driving a hundred tons of truck by your house too!

    Port workers give biometric data for access
    First batch of employees signs up for high-tech entrance cards.
    By Art Marroquin, Staff writer
    Article Launched: 12/12/2007 09:43:34 PM PST

    Kurt Alvarado, Marine Terminal Supervisor for ConocoPhillips, is fingerprinted as he applies for an ID card from the Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC)credential program in Long Beach, Calif. on Wednesday, December 12, 2007. The program's goal is to ensure that any individual who has unescorted access to secure areas of port facilities and vessels has received a thorough background check and does not pose a threat
    to security.The Ports of L.A./Long Beach are two of the first 25 ports in the
    nation to begin enrolling applicants for the TWIC.

    (Jeff Gritchen / Press-Telegram)
    After paying a $132.50 fee, Torrance resident Ted Quinn pressed all 10 of hisfingers onto a digital scanner that will embed his prints into a new security card he'll need to access the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
    He then displayed two identification cards and answered a few personal questions before returning to work at the Pacific Maritime Association, where he trains longshore workers.
    "It was a slow day at work, so I decided to get it done now rather than later," said Quinn, who was among the first local applicants of the federal
    Transportation Worker Identification Credential, or TWIC.
    "It's not so bad and maybe it will make the ports more secure, but who knows?" Quinn said.

    The TWIC program, operated by the Transportation Security Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard, calls for issuing high-tech cards to truck drivers, longshore workers and others who gain access to high-security areas of U.S. ports.
    The Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors are among the first 25 ports to begin enrollment in the nationwide program, which is expected to eventually spread to 147 ports by Sept. 25, 2008.
    "We want to ensure that all the people who have access to secure areas within our ports and our maritime environment have proper security clearances because of the vulnerability of the ports," said Larry Fetters, the TSA's federal security director for Los Angeles.
    Critics of the TWIC program say it's poorly conceived and does not sufficiently protect the nation's ports from a potential terrorist attack.
    "It's nothing but a smoke- and-mirrors farce," said Jim Santangelo, western vice president for the Teamsters union, which represents about 1,000 truckers workingat the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
    "Whatever bad thing that's going to happen at the port is going to happen
    because you can get a fake card just about anywhere," Santangelo said. "The program is just a cover to make us believe the ports are safer."

    Prompted by attacks

    The TWIC program was among a list of requirements ordered up by Congress as part of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002, enacted in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
    Technical and bureaucratic hurdles have delayed the program's implementation for about three years.
    "The delay was deliberately imposed to make sure we got it right the first timeinstead of having a false start and then going back to rework it," Fetters said. "It took time to design this process, test it and get it right."
    To address other technology concerns, the TSA is developing an electronic
    card-scanning system that will be tested in five markets, including the twin
    ports.
    "That's cutting-edge technology still under development because it has to workin extreme weather conditions, from below-zero degrees in Anchorage, Alaska, to 100 degrees in Florida," said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Mark Hamilton. "It's going to take some time to perfect that."
    Until the technology is widely used, the Coast Guard will use hand-held scanners during random inspections to verify information on the cards, Hamilton said. It costs $132.50 to obtain a TWIC card that's valid for five years. Those who recently underwent federal background screenings pay a $105 fee.
    Truckers who work as independent contractors will have yet another out-of-pocket expense, while those who are employed by trucking companies might be reimbursed. "We're going to throw that added application cost back on the employers because they're the ones who should pay for this," Santangelo said.

    Slow uptake

    Workers aren't exactly rushing to apply for cards at the Port of Oakland, where TWIC enrollment began last month, according to Craig Merrilees, a spokesman for the San Francisco office of the International Longshore Workers Union. "My impression is that it's going slow," Merrilees said. "Nobody's enthusiastic about opening their wallet and turning over their hard-earned money, and I expect the same trend for Southern California."
    To head off that concern, Los Angeles and Long Beach harbor officials have launched a campaign to encourage about 100,000 longshoremen workers, truck drivers and others to enroll for TWIC by the end of next year. "It's going to provide a robust access tool within the ports so that we know who are at the terminals at any given time," said George Cummings, security director for the Port of Los Angeles.
    TSA officials demonstrated the enrollment process at a TWIC processing center at the Westin Long Beach on Wednesday, when about 260 applicants were expected to
    show up. A second enrollment center is operating from the Crowne Plaza Hotel in San Pedro. "It was quick and painless," said Mike Hosseini, a Torrance resident who applied for the TWIC card on Wednesday so that he can keep his job to install pipe at local refineries. "It gives you a sense of confidence that the port is safer," he said. "It's another piece of security, kind of like getting scanned before you go on an airplane."

    Biometric data

    Applicants are photographed and have their fingerprints scanned into a biometric device operated by Lockheed Martin, which won a $70 million contract to provide the TWIC enrollment equipment nationwide. A card holder's vital information can be gleaned from a magnetic strip on the back of the TWIC cards. Background checks will be matched against criminal databases, terrorist watch lists and immigration status.
    Prior felony convictions unrelated to national security, such as rape, robbery or unlawful possession of a firearm, could prevent a port worker from receiving the TWIC card.
    "People who are convicted of crimes and paid their debts to society should not be excluded from good-paying jobs," Santangelo of the Teamsters said. "If you make a mistake once in your life, you shouldn't keep paying for it. Some people are rehabilitated." An appeals process is available to those who fail the background check the first time around, Fetters said.
    "I believe a very, very high percentage will, indeed, pass the security checks on the first try," the TSA's Fetters said.
    A small number of undocumented truck drivers, or "troqueros," from Mexico and Central America, could also lose their jobs, according to port officials and federal authorities. "Our requirements cover a wide enough range of people who are here legally," Fetters said. "If you are here illegally, you will not have access to the ports." Immigration advocates argued that many of the undocumented truck drivers may unfairly lose jobs they have held for many years. "It's important to distinguish who are real threats to our security and safety, and who's working hard to make a living," said Anike Tourse, a spokeswoman for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. "We do care about our security, but I think the problem is that we don't have comprehensive immigration reform in this country, so many people will lose their jobs with this program."http://www.presstelegram.com/search/...sstelegram.com

  2. #2
    dart's Avatar
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    FBI PREPARES VAST BIOMETRIC DATABASE-
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 44_pf.html
    The FBI is embarking on a $1 billion effort to build the world's largest computer database of peoples' physical characteristics, a project that would give the government unprecedented abilities to identify individuals in the United States and abroad.

    Digital images of faces, fingerprints and palm patterns are already flowing into FBI systems in a climate-controlled, secure basement here. Next month, the FBI intends to award a 10-year contract that would significantly expand the amount and kinds of biometric information it receives. And in the coming years, law enforcement authorities around the world will be able to rely on iris patterns, face-shape data, scars and perhaps even the unique ways people walk and talk, to solve crimes and identify criminals and terrorists. The FBI will also retain, upon request by employers, the fingerprints of employees who have undergone criminal background checks so the employers can be notified if employees have brushes with
    the law.
    --- ----
    In general, you can easily obtain at least the basic information you need for your people search background check from public records and documents maintained by government and non-government agencies and offices like court houses, police departments, hospitals, and bureaus that serve as a central repository for records such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). In fact, if all you need is a simple and general overview of the background of certain people, you can even perform the people search background check yourself. The long way would be to personally head to these offices and ask for access to these public documents, or you may call or write to them. Usually, you may have to pay a minimal amount for entry and for the processing of the documents for your people search background check.
    When do I avail of free people search background check and when do I pay for it?

    With the birth of the internet and subsequently of various websites offering people search background check services, you may no longer have to go through the physical hassle of how a people search background check used to be done. In fact, before internet, not everybody wanted to perform a people search background check themselves and instead opted to hire the services of private investigators or the police. Nowadays, however, by visiting any one of these people search background check websites, all you would have to do it input people’s names and you will get at least a rudimentary outline of his background, like his age, date of birth, current address, present employment and the like.

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