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Exclusive: A look at Tampa's new port security
The Port of Tampa is the largest freight-handling port in the state. It adds an estimated $8 billion to the area's economy.
An official launch is expected soon in anticipation of the Super Bowl coming to the area next January. The security upgrades include registering port employees with a new kind of high tech identification.
Fingerprinting, ID cards and background checks are all a part of the upgrades.
"I think it should have been done in the beginning,' said Charles Harden, who has worked at the port for 35 years. "But I understand the complexity of something like this."
For years, Harden only had to flash his badge for entry to the port.
But now, Harden, along with 40,000 port workers in Tampa and about 190,000 across the country are part of the Transportation Workers Identification Credential program (TWIC), created by the Transportation Security Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard.
"So it's a very fancy driver's license with a biometric ID,' said Lt. Jessica Crandell with the US Coast Guard. "So we're going from a photograph to a fingerprint level of indentification."
Local port officials said the program should be implemented by September. Port officials have said they would like to have the new measures in place before any potential spotlight on the area in conjunction with the 2009 Super Bowl being held in Tampa.
The Coast Guard is still reviewing how to enforce the new rules once the ID program officially starts. The Port of Tampa is the largest freight-handling port in the state. It handles 50 million tons of cargo every year.
"I know the Captain of the port is interested in insuring that the TWIC program is in place and active before, well before, any of the teams for the Superbowl end up coming to Tampa."
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