Leidos partners with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Secret Service to ensure safety at Presidential Inauguration
Leidos recently helped the U.S. government, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the U.S. Secret Service by providing security screening technology and technical support for events associated with the inauguration of President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The aftermath of the attack on the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021, created a special and urgent need for elevated screening of vehicles and cargo in the Washington, D.C., area for potential threats such as weapons, explosives, and unauthorized people that might threaten the peaceful completion of inauguration activities.
The Ports and Borders division of Leidos makes the VACIS® M6500 mobile cargo inspection system and the VACIS® XPL mobile passenger vehicle inspection system. These systems are flexible, high-throughput mobile inspection technologies that scan entire passenger cars, delivery vans, buses, and trucks towing full-size cargo containers using low-dose X-rays. The systems allowed CBP and Secret Service inspectors to view the contents of these conveyances quickly without having to open them. Working with CBP since 2014, Leidos has deployed 89 VACIS® M6500 systems at ports from coast to coast, where they have scanned hundreds of thousands of cargo containers entering the United States. Since 2019, Leidos has deployed 10 VACIS® XPL mobile systems at high-volume U.S. land border checkpoints, where they have helped CBP inspectors intercept millions of dollars worth of illegal narcotics and many thousands of illegal weapons concealed in passenger cars.
Leidos worked closely with CBP and the Secret Service to relocate two VACIS® M6500 systems to Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and two VACIS® XPL mobile systems from ports of entry on the U.S. southern border on extremely short notice to support security efforts during the week leading up to the inauguration, where they acted to screen the many delivery trucks and cars entering the secure area. These systems measurably helped CBP, the Secret Service, and other elements of U.S. law enforcement and our military to protect participants in the inauguration and keep the Capitol itself safe. Experienced Leidos technical personnel supported from our VACIS® manufacturing facility in Vista, California, and on-site in Washington, D.C., helping the government deploy these systems quickly and effectively and supporting them during scanning operations. Leidos was the sole provider of large-scale non-intrusive scanning systems for the inauguration.
At Leidos, we are proud to continue our long association with the government to support national security goals, as well as special events such as the presidential inauguration. The VACIS® M6500 and XPL systems have supported security screening by law enforcement at other events, such as several previous Super Bowls. We are familiar with the security precautions used by CBP and law enforcement to support events such as these, and we are proud to have continued our support for such screening efforts now and in the future.
