The doctoral dissertation of a 26-year-old USC computer science student is having an unusual effect on security and transportation at Los Angeles International Airport.
That's because the LAX police are giving a trial run to a new computer program that, they say, seeks to keep potential terrorists and criminals constantly uncertain about where, when and how often vehicles will be searched at airport entrances. The software is based on the thesis of Praveen Paruchuri, who earned his doctorate in May.
Paruchuri says he's surprised and delighted that his game-theory research on random timing of police patrols and its effects on crimes such as home burglaries has so quickly been utilized. High-tech assistance won't solve all the issues of terrorism, but "in the hands of the police can be very powerful tools and make the process a little more efficient," said Paruchuri, who was born and raised in India and is now working at an artificial intelligence research company in Maryland.
Use of the software at LAX began in August and expects to continue the test on car searches for about six months in all, according to James Butts, deputy executive director of law enforcement for Los Angeles World Airports, the agency that operates LAX. The program might be expanded to patrols of bomb-sniffing dogs.
Citing security concerns, Butts declined to discuss specifics of the program and its complicated algorithms other than to say it affects police deployment and the frequency of car searches in a way that "makes it virtually impossible to predict where resources might be deployed."
It not only takes away the routine behavior that terrorists might study and take advantage of, it also designs schedules more likely to catch criminal behavior, Butts said. The result so far has been "very useful" and free of glitches, although he said it was too soon to say anything about its deterrence power.
The project grew out of a federally funded think tank at USC that deploys scholars in engineering, economics, political science, psychology and computer science to evaluate and minimize the risks of terrorism.
Paruchuri's thesis advisor, computer science professor Milind Tambe, is affiliated with that center, formally named the Homeland Security Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events. In 2004, Tambe said, he suggested that Paruchuri devote his thesis to predictability in police and anti-terrorism efforts.
