Why Airports Have Had 25,000 Security Breaches Since 2001
The discovery of a stun gun aboard a jetBlue flight, coupled with the man who got past security with an old boarding pass, couldn't have had worse timing for the TSA. The incidents actually coincided with reports that the TSA has had more than 25,000 security breaches at U.S. airports in the past 10 years.
And, even worse, there is a government program that might have prevented them--had it been used.
First some background: The House Subcommittee on National Security Chairman Jason Chaffetz reported that more than 14,000 people were able to access sensitive areas of U.S. airports and some 6,000 passengers and carry-on luggage were able to make it past government checkpoints without proper scrutiny.
It's all part of a revealing report on aviation security from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the congressional watchdog agency. The results are not heartening. The United States has billions of dollars in security apparatus and employees, the DHS and the TSA are huge federal agencies, and are tasked with inspecting millions of passengers, bags, and thousands of aircraft.
Prevention Techniques Not Widely Implemented
Ever hear of SPOT? It's a government program that was never fully implemented and might have prevented the security lapses, according to the report.
SPOT stands for the Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques. It focuses on improving access restrictions, more effective checked baggage systems, and other security issues.
It also works on studying behavior rather than just random checking. The idea is for TSA to focus on behavior observation and analysis techniques to identify potentially high-risk passengers.
And guess what? The DHS now feels that SPOT was more effective than random screening at identifying individuals who possessed fraudulent documents and individuals who were subsequently
arrested.
But the program has not fully been implemented.
The official TSA response to all this?:"These numbers represent a tiny fraction of one percent of the more than 5.5 billion travelers at the more than 450 airports nationwide that we have screened effectively since 9/11. We take every security incident seriously and take appropriate action accordingly which is why TSA keeps close track of all 'breaches' â€" a very broadly defined set of accidental or purposeful security violations, including those where an individual is 'caught in the act' and immediately apprehended."
To be sure, it is a fraction, but the numbers are still frightening.
And so, the discovery of the stun gun wasn't exactly...stunning. And therein lies the continuing security problems of the TSA.
Related:
- Airports on "High Alert" Yet Stun Gun Found on Plane
- TSA's Biggest Security Lapse? No Common Sense
- TSA's Latest Security Troubles: Bogus Boarding Pass
