MIAMI -- In the wake of the alleged trans-Atlantic terror plot, some airline officials and Homeland Security specialists are calling for passenger profiling.

Security analysts said indiscriminate mass screening of passengers is not only expensive, but ineffective in catching terrorists while inconveniencing most of the flying public.

Some security experts said they believe the focus should be less on technology and more on passenger behavior, reported NBC 6's Ike Seamans.

Now being taught to airport police and employees, "profiling" is a dirty word to many civil libertarians who fear racial and ethnic discrimination.

Miami International Airport is one of the first to test the controversial plan, Seamans reported.

Sam Juchtman, an Israeli security expert who is teaching Miami-Dade police behavioral techniques, said profiling is common sense. He is one of many who are advising police and airport employees in the United States.

"We are not looking from where a passenger is coming from," Juchtman said. "We are looking for behavior, anything that is unusual or irregular."

Juchtman observed on-the-job training by Miami-Dade Sgts. Kevin Doughtery and Mike Kirkland Tuesday. It appeared as if they were just on normal patrol in the terminal.

"We're looking for the unusual in the sea of the usual," Doughtery said.

Lauren Stover from the Miami-Dade Aviation Department said airport employees will help police officers identify behaviors.

Doughtery and Kirkland said they found a man whose traveling documents raised suspicions.

Juchtman also checked him out. Ten minutes later, the passenger, who was in transit from Peru to Madrid, was let go.

Right now, this test program is in just 12 airports. Homeland Security hopes to expand that to many more airports soon.

Randal Marhsall, the general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union in Miami, said the organization is concerned that what some are calling behavioral pattern techniques is really nothing more than a new way to conduct ethnic and racial profiling. He said he is examining the issue closely.