Athena GS3 PDI based training program is being praised by many as the best program to increase level of security by improving the capabilities of security staff, along with other airport employees to observe and comprehend human behavior.

The following sections, taken from an article published in Baltimore Sun, rightly describes the advantages of such training (the highlights are edited by Athena GS3).

Make air travel safer through profiling - of behavior, not race

Planning on flying this Thanksgiving? Expect some company; the Air Transport Association anticipates that 25 million Americans will take to the skies during the holiday, a 3 percent increase from last year.

Complicating matters are new rules requiring carry-on liquids and gels to be placed in 3-ounce containers and sealed inside a quart-sized zip-top baggie. If my last airport experience is typical, confused, water-bottle-bearing passengers will hold up screening lines as they are relieved of contraband.

Americans say they're willing to endure long lines if they make us safer, but how much safer are we? Since the foiled liquid-explosives plot in London, we've all heard how our current passenger screening methods are insufficient. Such reports often call for new gadgets, from "puffers" that detect explosive residue on a person or a bag to backscatter X-rays that trace the contours of a person's body in search of foreign objects. These systems could help improve security, but they don't guarantee it.

Evidence suggests that rather than fixate solely on keeping harmful objects off of planes, our government should invest in efforts to keep harmful people from boarding.

In 14 airports, including Dulles, the Transportation Security Administration is testing a technique... Based on techniques used for decades at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport - widely regarded as the world's safest - ... (the technique) deploys highly trained officers at checkpoints. Their job is to observe the passengers in line and to watch for potentially suspicious behavior. Officers will approach people doing things as seemingly benign as sweating excessively, fidgeting or talking on a pay phone, and ask to speak with them.

This is not an interrogation but rather a casual conversation during which the officer looks for explanations for the suspicious behavior, as well as signs - such as telling facial expressions or evasive answers - that the person has something to hide. Nearly everyone interviewed is allowed to go after a minute or two. The few who arouse further suspicion are thoroughly searched and questioned...

... So far, the results are promising: In addition to apprehending a few suspected terrorists, the program has also netted a raft of criminals (who often exhibit the same suspicious behaviors).

Some opponents... decry it as profiling, and indeed it is. But rather than profiling on the basis of race, gender or religion, ... (the technique) profiles behaviors.

(The full article is available at http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.profiling16nov16,0,5423761.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines)