Aviation securityTen years on, TSA continues to evolve

As the ten year anniversary of the creation of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) approaches, TSA Administrator John Pistole says the agency is making the necessary moves to enhance aviation security while becoming more customer-friendly.

Pistole noted that despite the significant progress made, threats to aviation security remain numerous. For instance, TSA agents confiscate on-average four firearms per day in carry-on baggage, and in 2011 alone, agents seized over 1000 firearms.

Addressing George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute, Pistole praised a number of controversial programs which he said were successful in making airline security more effective.

Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT), the full-body scanners which have been the subject of sharp criticism due to privacy concerns, “gives our officers the best opportunity to detect both metallic and non-metallic threats,” Pistole said.

As evidence, the TSA chief showed a number of examples of items seized thanks to AIT scans, which have detected hundreds of prohibited and dangerous items since their deployment last year.

In one slide, an individual had wrapped over 700 grams of cocaine around his legs using ace bandages. Pistole noted that the drugs could have easily been explosives. In another slide, a passenger at Miami International Airport was found with a nine-inch ceramic knife. In neither example would the contraband have been discovered using a standard metal-detector.

In an effort to address privacy concerns associated with the full body scanners, TSA recently installed new software which replaces passenger-specific images with the generic outline of a person.

Pistole also pointed to the success of TSA’s behavior detection program, which he said has led to more than 2,200 arrests at airports nationwide. The program has been accused of racial profiling.

During a 2 November testimony before the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Pistole noted that “we’ve had probably a dozen or so people who were referred to law enforcement because of their response, and it turned out, some of these individuals had outstanding warrants for them. Some were illegal immigrants.”

A pilot expansion of the program was recently debuted at Boston Logan International Airport, where TSA deployed Behavior Detection Officers to engage travelers in casual conversation to detect suspicious behavior. Preliminary analysis has shown an increase in the detection of high-risk passenger and TSA is expanding the program to Detroit.

TSA is also taking steps to make the much-maligned screening process at airports a bit easier. It recently launched a program called PreCheck, where select passengers were allowed expedited screening at certain checkpoints at the Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas/Ft. Worth, and Miami Airports. These “trusted” passengers are allowed to keep their shoes, jackets, and belts on and are also allowed to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags.

The agency has also taken steps to significantly reduce the number of pat downs on children under 12.

Pistole said that these and other steps are part of TSA’s efforts to develop and implement a “more risk-based, intelligence-driven approach to aviation security.”