UK government agency increases security provisions with postal X-ray scanners

At a time where terrorist attacks around the world appear to be escalating – recent events in Vienna and Paris are prime examples – and the UK’s national terror alert level has been raised to ‘severe’, a UK government agency has purchased over 200 TR15 Smart Scan Cabinet X Ray Scanners from Todd Research.

Under the terms of the contract, Todd Research will supply, commission, maintain and support new and existing equipment across a worldwide estate, delivering hardware, service, and training support.

Operations Director, Mark Boshell. “We are excited to work with this government agency, being recognised as delivering first class advanced technologies with industry leading image quality on our range of x-ray detection security scanners. We will leverage our significant experience in this sector to deliver our first-class customer focused service and support over throughout the life of this contract.”

Postal threats

In the UK, ‘postal threats’ have again featured in the news. In August, Christopher Doyle, who had sent packages containing white powder to former Prime Minister Teresa May, was convicted and sentenced. And, National Bulletins from Counter Terrorism Policing, have continually urged courier and delivery companies to refresh their mail screening policies and training, following a series of incendiary devices being sent in the UK.

The Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI), also continues to run its ‘Mail Screening Matters’ campaign, highlighting how mailstreams into and within organisations present numerous opportunities for attack. The campaign is designed to complement the information within PAS 97:2015 Mail Screening and Security Specification, said to offer “comprehensive guidance” on mail screening and security.

Postal attacks are maintaining a steady trend as a chosen method of attack, it would seem.

How does X-ray screening work?

For those who are not familiar with this type of X-Ray screening, Todd Research explains a little more about what can you expect a cabinet style X-Ray scanner to do.

Unlike baggage scanners, (like the types of units you see at the airport), these units have smaller X-ray generators that are much better suited to scan lower density materials such as letters and packages.

Whereas the larger conveyor scanners require considerable brute force to penetrate the contents of a suitcase, the TR15 cabinet scanner (supported by Todd Research’s “EPD” software), has more of a delicate touch and can detect as little as three grams of loose powder in an envelope, as well as being able to pick out more solid threats such as IED Incendiary devices, sharps and more.

To understand why it is important to be able to detect powder, security professionals should know that over 90% of postal attacks in the UK are “white powder” related. This relates to the use of either hazardous chemicals, biological substances or hoax powder to simulate hazardous material, such as anthrax or ricin.

Security leaders know that it is not all about what an X-ray scanner can detect, it is also about what happens next, when a threat is identified.

The TR15 has the ability to communicate with the supporting security team on site. With the integration of the Callmy emergency communications platform, an operator can send an image produced by the unit to their security team first responders via the Callmy service. The service is an app-based communications platform designed to deliver instant messaging to groups or mass notifications to business campus’.

Todd Research’s heritage in postal screening goes right back to the height of the IRA postal bombings in the 1970’s, when the UK government looked for help countering the ongoing letter bombing campaign. This led to the developments in “fluoroscopy X-Ray scanning” that continues today. As the threat landscape has changed, so has technology. From the early days of grainy, fuzzy images on a grey background, the latest scanners use HD technology to better determine if a parcel is ‘Safe or Suspect’.

Todd Research screening technology is specified in alignment with CPNI’s postal screening matters campaign and PAS97 best practice for postal screening.

Free Download: The Video Surveillance Report 2023

Discover the latest developments in the rapidly-evolving video surveillance sector by downloading the 2023 Video Surveillance Report. Over 500 responses to our survey, which come from integrators to consultants and heads of security, inform our analysis of the latest trends including AI, the state of the video surveillance market, uptake of the cloud, and the wider economic and geopolitical events impacting the sector!

Download for FREE to discover top industry insight around the latest innovations in video surveillance systems.

Download The Video Surveillance Report