I know what you’ve all been thinking. “Gee, I wish there were an online game that would let me spot suspicious activity at airports, bus terminals, and train stations.”
Well look no further, your prayers have been answered by the NY & NJ Port Authority, as they’ve introduced “Safety Hero: The Game.”
How good are you at identifying suspicious activity? Play the Port Authority's "Safety Hero: The Game" and find out! https://t.co/FoWKHeztvu pic.twitter.com/z0bMzI8L3r
— Port Authority of NY & NJ (@PANYNJ) August 16, 2017
Now you can spend your free time putting the “if you see something, say something” slogan into action.
After picking your setting there are five levels to each “game,” and each round you’ll have 15 seconds to spot each suspicious activity. If you click wrong, you’ll be penalized by five seconds. But worry not, they’ll let you continue either way — after all, this game is intended to keep us all safe (or something like that).
At the end of each round there’s a review of the answers you got right and wrong, along with why.
Maybe the TSA will be next, with the introduction of “Water Bottle Hero: The Game?”
@AlexS
If your staffs are stupid, educate them. If they cannot be educated, make other people lose their intelligence. Then your staffs suddenly get smarter.
I see people dressed in blue shirts with fake tin badges impersonating licensed law enforcement at many US airports and no matter how many times I report this to a real law enforcement officer, no one does anything about it.
@AdamR: This "game" is just an extension of TSA's failed SPOT program, which has been discredited by countless scientists and experts. The Kettles (average Americans) have *NO* clue as to what is and isn't...
I see people dressed in blue shirts with fake tin badges impersonating licensed law enforcement at many US airports and no matter how many times I report this to a real law enforcement officer, no one does anything about it.
@AdamR: This "game" is just an extension of TSA's failed SPOT program, which has been discredited by countless scientists and experts. The Kettles (average Americans) have *NO* clue as to what is and isn't a threat. For as much money as PANYNJ wasted on this computer game, they could have hired a few real, trained, professional LEO instead.
Errors in the game:
1) Photography is *NOT* a crime, nor should be considered suspicious. Anyone worth their salt knows how to get all of the pics they need, discretely, with a modern smartphone. When in doubt, SELFIE TIME and make sure the item of interest is behind you.
2) Plane spotters aren't terrorists.
3) There's no very suspicious-looking TSA agents stealing passengers' belongings / transporting drugs to click on.
4) Using a stroller to carry items isn't unusual or suspicious. I see it all the time at MCO.
5) Looking at a terminal map is *NORMAL* behavior, definitely not suspicious. If someone was truly looking at blueprints of an airport terminal, they'd likely do so on an iPad, laptop, or phone.
If you pass that game you have more skills than apparently 60% of the TSA according to their own ratings on secret checks.
Welcome to November of last year. The game was introduced in November 2016.
Sounds like I'm in the minority here, but I think this isn't such a bad idea. The military have been using Computer-Based Training (CBT) or Web-Enabled Training (WET) for years to teach servicemembers how to spot things like IEDs on the side of the road - e.g. is that pile of leaves in the middle of the desert near no actual trees really random or is it obscuring something? - or suspicious persons lurking around...
Sounds like I'm in the minority here, but I think this isn't such a bad idea. The military have been using Computer-Based Training (CBT) or Web-Enabled Training (WET) for years to teach servicemembers how to spot things like IEDs on the side of the road - e.g. is that pile of leaves in the middle of the desert near no actual trees really random or is it obscuring something? - or suspicious persons lurking around US installations in foreign countries. It sounds corny, but aside from the issue with the cost - and I highly doubt anyone here is overly knowledgeable about the TSA's specific budget - what's the harm to anyone?
I think most people can agree that the TSA screeners mainly excel at being super surly and terrible at their jobs, but what's so bad about DHS trying to devise a creative and interactive way to get the engage the public and its help to increase overall situational awareness and general awareness of surroundings? Given the times we're living in and recent events in Barcelona, I think this is perfectly okay.
That clown agency wasting funds on rubbish like that when NYC has the most disgusting (and overpriced) toll tunnels and bridges. Once again brain-dead bureaucrats who are servile fools of two low-caliber governors at work.
Could be fun if they would ramp it up and make it more serious. Instead of docking you a few seconds you should get killed. They could also incorporate profiling as a good way to vet people :)
@RF
The game doesn' touch your balls.
But the idea of TSA being made into a game showed that the public never considered them as a safety instrument in air transport. Unless water bottle is a safety hazard (because water look a lot like nitroglycerin?)
...cause some naive intern thought he had the greatest way to solve the security issue.
Think this cost more than that customs random people app?
Pity I can't sell them the Brooklyn Bridge, they already bought it!!
@James, How is TSA the game different from real life?
Hahahahahaha..... TSA the game.... sure they'll gave you another ssss next time you fly.... hahahahah....