Facial matching technology and a TSA officer’s keen eye leads to arrest at TPA checkpoint

TAMPA, Fla. - Facial matching technology used in TSA's credential authentication technology, along with the keen eye of a Tampa TSA officer, led to the arrest of an individual attempting to use identification and a boarding pass intended for another person at a Tampa International Airport (TPA) security checkpoint on Thursday, August 15.

Justin Causby, a Transportation Security Officer (TSO) at TPA, was checking identification during his shift on Airside A Thursday afternoon, when an individual inserted a driver's license into the credential authentication technology, or CAT-2 machine, while a photo was taken to be matched to the ID presented. The machine indicated a mismatch error and Causby conducted a manual inspection of the license and boarding pass. He quickly determined that the individual was using documents belonging to someone else.

TSO Causby immediately notified a supervisor, who called in Tampa International Airport Police to investigate further. The individual was arrested following their investigation.

CAT-2 units are equipped with cameras on tablets and are used to match the face of the person standing at the checkpoint with the face that appears on the traveler's ID such as the person's driver's license or passport. The technology enhances detection capabilities for identifying fraudulent documents at the security checkpoint. The photos are not saved and are only used to match the person standing at the travel document checking podium with the photo on the ID that is being presented.

The system also confirms the passenger's flight status by verifying that the individual is ticketed to fly out of an airport on that same day.

TSA works with credential-issuing authorities such as states, the federal government, and foreign countries to ensure that our checkpoint technologies detect counterfeit identification documents. Additionally, TSA officers are trained to manually inspect credentials for features that indicate whether a document is authentic.

TSA continues to integrate new technologies into its identity verification process. Read more about these programs at www.tsa.gov/digital-id.