Metal Detectors Misused In Lebanese Malls

If you have been to some of the big malls in Lebanon, you would have noticed that, aside from being scanned with a fake explosive detector, as your car enters the parking lots, the security personnel at the mall entrance door will scan the ladies’ handbags with a handheld metal detector.  Does it sound valid for you? Here’s why it shouldn’t:

Metal Detectors Are not for HandBags

There is a sound reason why, when you walk through a metal detector at airports, security personnel ask you to put your luggage and objects aside for x-ray weapon inspection.

Handbags, purses and luggage contain metallic objects that, had they set the metal detector at a good intensity, would alert the operators. While holding a handheld metal detector might make some security personnel feel more special, it is just about a million times wiser to perform a manual search!

What if there are weapons outside the purses

Had this metal detection application been ok for purses, the way it is practiced certainly is not. It is rather ridiculous when you walk with a lady into a mall, and you see the security personnel barely scanning her purse, while none of you actually get screened. The big title? ‘You can carry anything on you or in your pockets, but please, not in a lady’s purse.’

Metal Detectors are Body scanners

Handheld metal detectors are meant to scan the body in order to detect any concealed weapon. They should be held close to the area that needs to be screened.  They have to go through every part of the body to clear a suspect, and for this reason, they are not an ideal solution for a mall.

This said, metal detectors are very effective detection means, and are a rather fairly priced tools to detect weapons. If you do not have a trained personnel who knows how to use a handheld metal detector, a walk-through metal detector can be a better solution, although it does require a proficient security personnel, it is easier to operate correctly – and the handheld metal detector could be used a a complementary tool.