Sgt. Don Teesdale used to keep paper files on his lap as his police helicopter monitored the state?s most likely terrorism targets. Was something amiss? Had anything changed since the last inspection? He?d have to check his written files to see.
Not anymore.
Thanks to a new technology developed by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland State Police helicopters are now equipped with aerial computer records of the state?s “most important structures.”
“This helps us monitor anything of a suspicious nature,” said Sgt. Chad Gainey of the state police?s aviation command. “There could be a tanker truck parked with a tube going into the water. That doesn?t look right.”
The new computerized files and images will help the pilot determine whether the truck is supposed to be there, state police said.
The Critical Infrastructure Inspection Management System, funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, provides pilots with a tablet-sized computer equipped with a database of previous information about potential terrorist targets, such as the Bay Bridge or any of the state?s dams.
The CIIMS program gives the pilot a series of questions guiding them through the inspection and shares new information entered into the database with local, state and federal law enforcement.
State Police Superintendent Terrence Sheridan said the new technology will “provide better protection for the people of Maryland.”
