A Nose for Cargo: Canine screening may become cargo security’s best friend

Technology’s best friend, too

While the trained canines can often scan cargo much faster than a stationary X-ray machine, their increased presence in cargo facilities does not mean the era of X-ray and trace scanning will be coming to a close – far from it, actually.

For instance, when a dog “alerts” and sits by a spot where a scent is picked up, it must be verified. In the Third-Party Canine Program, this is called “alarm resolution,” in that the vendor would notify the client, which has to decide on the method they want to use to verify the alert. “Part of that process is the use of X-ray or trace detection or a physical search,” Murphy said. “So there is a technology component in the alarm resolution process.”

At GK9PG, the canine and machine work hand-in-hand. “We don’t consider ourselves a canine company. We’re a technology company and our dogs are a bio-sensor,” Daniels said.

To augment the abilities of the dogs, GK9PG uses software called Global View, which captures every canine screening event on video for storage, which is later used for auditing purposes. The technology also allows Daniels to view screening remotely, either live or in archived form, from anywhere. “We’re trying to find and develop where are the gaps, where are the pain points and how can we fill those,” he said. “We also make them available to the clients.”

“There’s always going to be a technology component,” Murphy added. “The idea of a canine team being the primary source of screening, with the backdrop of technology as alarm resolution – that is the process we have utilized prior to this program being implemented.”