FORT BENNING, GA - Starting Tuesday, Eddie Bridge gate guards will begin scanning identification cards for all personnel entering post from the southeast side of Lawson Army Airfield.
The access control point is the fifth to add the Intellicheck Mobilisia handheld scanners since the additional security measures went into effect Aug. 17. Each week another gate will add the devices until all 10 ACPs are up and running, said Jim Webster, physical security specialist for the Directorate of Emergency Services.
The handheld readers can scan information from common access cards, family member identification cards, contractor badges and most driverAfA's licenses.
The scanners check for expired or forged identification cards and run background checks against terrorist watch lists and wanted criminals.
Webster said he expects all ACPs will have the scanners by Oct. 13, well ahead of their Oct. 31 deadline for full implementation.
"This will give us a few weeks to work out the kinks and get the community adjusted to the new procedures," he said. "We want to have minimal impact on the installation while still increasing the safety of the Fort Benning community."
Scanners are currently being used at Benning Road, South Lumpkin Road, Custer Road and Buena Vista Road gates, Webster said. There will be a slight delay at the gates initially but Webster said measures are in place during rush hours and periodic backups to move things along.
The slowdowns are expected to decrease as people become more familiar with the scanning procedures.
Greg Sandell, captain of the guard for Wackenhut Services Incorporated, said the best thing drivers can do to speed the process is to have their identification ready when pulling up to the gate.
Waiting for people to get IDs out of their wallets or to collect IDs from multiple passengers contributes to delays at the gate, he said.
If a scanner says an ID card is expired, Sandell said the first thing security personnel will do is verify the card is expired by looking at the expiration date.
"If a government-issued ID is expired, we will then confiscate it and give the owner a DA Form 4137 receipt," Sandell said.
Security personnel will not confiscate an expired driverAfA's license but will ask the person to produce another acceptable form of identification, he said.
To find out which ACP will be next to add scanners, see next week's edition of The Bayonet.
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