By Charles Pekow

Our second installment from the Force Protection and Equipment Demonstration VIII focuses on four more products showcased at the event. The outdoor three-day event at Stafford (Va.) Regional Airport in May turned out to be the biggest such since the first of the biennial FPEDs in 1997, which featured 187 vendors. That inaugural event was organized in response to the bombing of the Khobar Towers military housing complex in Saudi Arabia.

Who's where and who's with them
The Security Command Center lets you know who's getting into the premises and who accompanies them. Give qualified personnel a smart card, and you can record where and when they enter and where they are; it combines the card with biometrics so the wrong person can't use one. Operators can set individual cards to allow access to some areas but not others. The system will also monitor intrusion and can lock down areas after hours. Suspicious entries will trigger an alarm recorded on camera.

Contact: Tyco Security Systems, 703-853-0872, http://tycosecurityproducts.com/governmenthome.aspx

Safety drapes protect from blasts
Closing these curtains can do more than block the light and allow privacy. Mitigation Technologies says that 80 percent of injuries caused by blasts to buildings come from shattered glass, so the Safetydrape Blast Curtain will capture glass shards right at the window. The drapes can fit any window up to 7 feet tall and 45 feet wide. And they're easy to install and remove and don't even look like a physical security device, just standard curtains. As an added benefit, the drapes retain evidence useful to investigators. Can be retrofitted or installed in new projects.

Contact: Mitigation Technologies, 800-616-ATFP, www.safetydrape.com

The visitor pass that won't last
Someone goes through screening at the door or gate and gets the visitor pass for the day to attach to clothes or wear around the neck. But if someone is only a guest for a day, how do you prevent that person from returning with the same pass – or passing it off to someone else, without a second close look? Visitor Pass Solutions came up with a way: The peel-off sticky pass that, when prepared, sets in motion a process that changes color and reads VOID the next day. Preparation of the pass simultaneously creates a log of the visit with sign-out line.

Contact: Data Management Inc., 800-243-1969, www.VisitorPassSolutions.com

Doors you can hide behind
Armortex doors and windows are made to protect buildings and rooms from bullets, bombs and forced entry. The maker doesn't promise that they will keep out all ammunition, but offers steel and aluminum doors and fiberglass windows that are either "bullet resistant" or "blast resistant." The company's composite panels offer some protection from both. The product selection also features windows with a variety of package receivers and bullet-resistant transaction drawers and windows to receive packages. Also available are metal package receivers. Doors come in wood with veneer or plastic laminate finishes, or hollow metal.

Contact: Armortex, 800-880-8306, www.armortex.com