In an effort to increase security surrounding its perimeter, Mineta San Jose International Airport has installed new hardware and software to make the airfield safer for all patrons.
The airport is wrapping up installation on 11-foot-high fences that will provide an improved physical barrier and plans are in the works to beef up the airport's virtual security via high-tech cameras, according to airport spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes.
"Going forward, we are seeking federal funding for technology improvements," Barnes said. "It's technology likely to come from Silicon Valley companies."
The safety move comes after a string of people broke through or scaled fencing at the airport during the past two years as well as a report issued in 2015 signaling that Mineta San Jose had the fifth highest amount of breaches nationwide since 2004.
Enhanced technology will be a welcomed addition at Mineta, according to Bay Area airport security expert Michael McCarron.
"There's no doubt, technology can make it better, and safer," he said.
Before a recent breach on March 31, 2015 in which a woman hopped a fence and trekked across the tarmac, four others had broken through the airport's perimeter in less that one year's time.
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San Jose's most infamous breach came in 2014 when a teenager scaled an airport fence and stowed away in the wheel well of a commercial airplane en route to Hawaii, prompting national attention.
