Scanners aid base security

Since August, military police have been cross-checking multiple law enforcement databases instantaneously using mobile, hand-held wireless scanners that can read any type of bar code or magnetic strip like on a passport, military identification card, or driver’s license.

‘‘The Mobilisa is part of the random anti-terrorism measure,” said Gunnery Sgt. Damaion Polite, the physical security chief for Security Battalion.

Military police use Mobilisa at all gates aboard Quantico.

Since the implementation of the scanners, military police have come across many offenders. The majority of offenses are people driving with a state suspended license, said Polite.

It’s not just citizens with suspended licenses the scanners are finding.

‘‘A foreign national with an expired passport tried to come through the gate and was taken away by Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” said Polite.

Mobilisa pulls information from all databases: the FBI’s most wanted list, the National Crime Information Center, national and state police databases. It even taps into all military branches law enforcement networks and sexual offender databases, said Polite.

It takes a mere three seconds for Mobilisa to scan a bar code or magnetic strip and provide military police with up-to-date information. Technology is constantly advancing, and the military police have found a way to help make Marine Corps Base Quantico a safer military installation.