Port Authority brass are secretly planning to deploy military-grade technology to keep the new World Trade Center safe from terrorism once it’s completed, The Post has learned.
The high-tech system of thousands of “intelligent” cameras and computer processors can recognize people’s faces and retinas and then compare that information with databases such as terrorist watch lists, sources said.
The plans show that the PA is taking every precaution at the twice-attacked site of 9/11.
Security measures at the 16-acre site — scheduled for a 2013 completion — include the sensitive cameras, and infrared and heat sensors that can be outfitted with explosive and radiation detectors.
The plans also call for scanners that are able to secretly recognize faces and human retinas and determine whether visitors are on terrorist or criminal watch lists.
And agency brass are also authorizing “artificial intelligence” computers that constantly track the behavior of people on the ground — figuring out how to spot “unusual movements” that can be flagged for security personnel.
For example, cops could be dispatched if the computers detect any of the following:
* Someone deviating from the normal walkways or walking against the flow of pedestrians.
* Someone jumping around or making erratic movements.
* Someone dropping a bag where people don’t usually leave their luggage.
“What we’re doing down there has never been done before,” said one agency official.
The agency’s system will be connected to the NYPD’s Lower Manhattan Security Initiative, which has cameras and scanners already spread around downtown.
Defense Department contractor Behavioral Recognition Systems, based in Houston, will set up most of the system, which is expected to cost tens of millions of dollars.
The president of Behavioral Recognition Systems, John Frazzini, told The Post that the program is light years ahead of the old-fashioned security cameras monitored by night watchmen everywhere.
Frazzini, who would not discuss the WTC system specifically, insisted that no personal information is kept by the system and that no security monitors are ever installed in private areas like restrooms.