Behavioral observationGAO: TSA's behavior screening program has no scientific proof that it works
Last week a Government Accountability Office (GAO) official testified before Congress stating that the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) behavioral analysis program contained critical flaws; the Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) program was designed to identify potential attackers by analyzing an individual’s behavior; individuals involved in six terrorist plots have slipped by behavior detection officers (BDOs) unnoticed at least twenty-three times at airports where SPOT was implemented; currently there is no scientific evidence that proves potential terrorists can be identified by behavior alone; GAO recommends freezing the SPOT program’s budget at current levels to save an estimated $20 million each year until scientific evidence for the program is established
Last week a Government Accountability Office (GAO) official testified before Congress stating that the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) behavioral analysis program contained critical flaws and was unable to identify terrorists at least twenty-three times as they boarded aircrafts.
In 2003 DHS established its Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) program that was designed to identify potential attackers by analyzing an individual’s behavior.
Speaking before the House Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, Stephen M. Lord, the director of Homeland Security and Justice Issues at GAO, said that TSA has yet to establish scientific proof that potential terrorists could be identified by behavior alone.
He went on to say that “a scientific consensus does not exist on whether behavior detection principles can be reliably used for counterterrorism purposes.”
So far individuals involved in six terrorist plots have slipped by behavior detection officers (BDOs) unnoticed at least twenty-three times at airports where SPOT was implemented.
Many of the airports that the terrorists passed through were among the ten highest-risk airports on TSA’s Airport Threat Assessment list.
In 2010 DHS received nearly $212 million for SPOT and it is requesting $232 million for fiscal year 2011, nearly a ten percent increase, despite the program’s unproven scientific basis.
The program’s high costs and operational challenges have generated many critics.
Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, blasted the program saying, “Years after implementing a costly passenger screening program, the Homeland Security agency responsible for protecting the nation’s transportation system failed to detect terrorists at U.S. airports on nearly two dozen occasions.”
Lord reported that the underlying problem with the program is the fact that “TSA deployed SPOT nationwide before first determining whether there was a scientifically valid basis for using behavior and appearance indicators as a means for reliably identifying passengers who may pose a risk to the U.S. aviation system.”
In May of 2010, GAO recommended that DHS “convene an independent panel of experts to review the methodology of its study.”
DHS agreed with the recommendation and currently an independent pane is reviewing the SPOT program to determine if there is a valid scientific method behind it.
Until the DHS study is completed, Lord recommends freezing the SPOT program’s budget at current levels which would result in an estimated $20 million in savings each year.
