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FORT BELVOIR, Va. - Starting this week, Defense Logistics Agency Police officers scanning identification cards at installation entry gates will also be checking a national database to screen employees and contractors for active criminal warrants.
Access to the FBI’s National Criminal Information Center’s records is being added as a new function of the agency’s Defense Biometric Identification System, which has been in place since April, said Patrick Wright, staff director of DLA Installation Support’s Security and Emergency Services. The new capability will be tested at several Defense Department installations, including DLA Distribution Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, July 22 and 24 and will be implemented DOD-wide at a future date, he said.
This new requirement comes from Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work, who authorized the Defense Manpower Data Center to collect information from the NCIC, specifically felony warrant records, to support the Identity Management Capability Enterprise Services Application. DLA’s DBIDS system will connect to the database, just as systems from all Defense Department installations will, said Greg Govan, physical security program manager in DLA Installation Support’s Security and Emergency Services.
Govan stressed this change pertains to personnel with DOD identification cards. All visitors were already checked against the NCIC database for active warrants.
The DOD initiative to link to NCIC for installation access has been ongoing and got fast-tracked after the Sept. 16, 2013, shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, Wright said. NCIC information will be used for installation access control purposes only and will not replace human resources suitability or personnel security processes, he said.
“The main goal is to determine the fitness of every person accessing the installation,” Wright said. “We can determine whether or not a person poses a threat.”
The NCIC database check will run concurrently with the DBIDS scan of employees’ common access cards and will look for active felony warrants issued for the person, Wright said. Once the capability is fully implemented, DLA will receive a daily push of information from NCIC, ensuring DLA Police have access to the most current information, he said.
“It allows us to continuously vet personnel entering DLA installations,” Wright said, adding that the new information could help prevent active shooter attacks or other threats.
When an employee’s common access card is scanned at the gate, if an active warrant comes up in the NCIC database, the police officer scanning the card will receive an alert saying there is a match, and law enforcement personnel will check the database to determine the validity and disposition of the warrant, Wright said. That check will help the law enforcement personnel decide based on DOD and DLA policy whether to simply deny the person access to the installation or detain the person and alert local law enforcement to pick them up, he said. He stressed that employees’ privacy will be protected at all levels.
Govan stressed that the NCIC scan is focusing only on active warrants and has nothing to do with an employee’s criminal history or personnel information.
“It’s not about having access to past criminal activity; it’s about active warrants,” he said.
If a person is found to have an active warrant and is denied access to an installation or detained by law enforcement, DLA Police officers may share information with DLA Human Resources or DLA Intelligence, which will then adjudicate the situation and run their internal processes, Wright said. What happens at the installation gate is strictly law enforcement business, he said, and applies only to access control.
Many DOD installations already use NCIC database information to scan employees for active warrants, Govan said, so DLA employees who are tenants at other locations need to be aware the system is in place and ensure they report any arrests to their security managers and human resources support personnel.
Adding the new capability to the common access card scan at the gate will not delay employees on their way into work, Govan said. Testing of the same system at Air Force installations found a two-second transaction time for NCIC scans, he said, and if an officer receives a security alert about a person, that person will be asked to pull their car to the side, allowing other traffic to flow through the gate as the alert is checked.
DLA Police officers are already trained and experienced in handling active warrants, because they have been using the process for visitors at installations, Wright said. Expanding the capability to all people accessing the installation will improve security without adding inconvenience to employees, he said.
“This is really enhancing our security at our installations,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can to ensure our employees are safe on our installations.”
| Date Taken: | 07.22.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 07.31.2014 14:57 |
| Story ID: | 137859 |
| Location: | FORT BELVOIR, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 217 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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