TSA Experiences

[Andrea]

Mercury News editorial: TSA looks even worse in Congress' report

http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_30154509/mercury-news-editorial-tsa-looks-even-worse-congress

Critics of the stepped-up security presence at American airports since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks have always said that while it looks good, it isn't really making travelers much safer.

Now, more and more, it doesn't even look good.

After a series of scandals marred the image of the Transportation Security Administration, a congressional committee investigated the TSA's efforts to head off employee misconduct. The result is a new report from the staff of the House Homeland Security Committee whose title does further wonders for the agency's reputation: "Misconduct at TSA Threatens the Security of the Flying Public."

Of particular concern in the 29-page report is that the instances of misconduct have grown at an alarming rate in the last six years, even after a watchdog investigation revealed substantial misconduct.

For example, the report noted that in December a federal grand jury charged a TSA officer at Oakland International Airport with using her position to facilitate drug smuggling through the security checkpoint. The officer allegedly helped smuggle more than 100 kilograms of marijuana over a two-year period.

The report notes this is a problem everywhere, which is troubling because everywhere is where we all fly.

The eye-popping statistic is a 28.5 percent increase in reported misconduct by TSA workers nationwide from 2013 to 2015, when the annual number of allegations climbed to 17,627, equating to about one for every three full-time employees.

The biggest category of misconduct was "neglect of duty," which doubled in the two years ending in 2015, to 1,206 incidents nationwide. Neglect of duty is described as "inattention to duty resulting in a loss of property or life; careless inspection; negligent performance of duties; failure to exercise due diligence in performance of duties; failure to follow procedures."

Another of the eight categories of misconduct that saw increases is "integrity and ethics," which covers accepting bribes and other criminal conduct. Try not to think about that the next time you're standing in a long checkpoint line.

The misconduct ranges from salacious (federal air marshals spending government money on hotel rooms for romps with prostitutes) to downright dangerous (an officer in Orlando taking bribes to smuggle Brazilian nationals through a checkpoint without questioning).

The House report says that while allegations have been rising, the TSA has taken fewer disciplinary actions against employees. A faulty disciplinary system contributes to low morale. As the report says, "Employee misconduct of all types corrupts TSA's core mission to protect the traveling public and poses serious security vulnerabilities."

The TSA's job is to make airline passengers feel safer and, not incidentally, actually make us safer. It's failing on both.

[Andrea]

Security Video Shows Man Breach TSA Checkpoint

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2016/07/22/security-video-shows-man-breach-tsa-checkpoint/

For one year, the Transportation Security Administration has refused to say how a man managed to get around a security checkpoint and on a plane at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

It was called a bad romance that broke through security barriers.

Last July, Damarias Cockerham of Garland managed to move around the security checkpoint at gate D-16 and board a plane to confront his girlfriend who was leaving him.

Cockerham is seen walking up to an unused and unguarded metal detector that had a cloth security belt in front. Cockerham simply moved the belt and walked through the metal detector and blended in with everyone else who had gone through screening.

Seconds later he’s seen walking down the jetway where he boarded the plane without a ticket. A gate agent is seen chasing him, then getting off the plane… then going back and eventually escorting Cockerham off the plane. The agent walks Cockerham to the general public area and manages to stall until police arrive — 14 minutes after breaching security.

Neither the TSA nor DFW Airport has commented on the incident.

[Andrea]

Unplugged TSA scanner allows travelers to pass airport security

http://nypost.com/2016/07/26/unplugged-tsa-scanner-allows-travelers-to-pass-airport-security/


At least 15 travelers strolled through a TSA checkpoint at La Guardia Airport without being searched because someone forgot to plug in the security scanner, The Post has learned.

“Our nation’s security is dependent upon whether or not a TSA screener plugs in the screening machine,” a furious law-enforcement official said.

“There has to be a better way.”

The snafu was discovered at about 8 a.m. Sunday inside Terminal D by TSA Agent Eva Cocoli, according to sources.

Delta Air Lines supervisor Deborah Trapani quickly ordered the checkpoint closed, while Port Authority cops tracked down nine of the unscanned fliers.

Finding them took about an hour, and they all had to be brought back to the checkpoint to be properly inspected.

“It was a big inconvenience,” said a woman who was among the nine who were rescreened.

After checking surveillance footage, authorities determined that at least six other passengers who went unscanned were not located and were assumed to have boarded planes, police officials said.

[Andrea]

PHX federal air marshal accused of selling, making drugs

http://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-phoenix/phx-federal-air-marshal-in-accused-of-selling-making-drugs

SAN TAN VALLEY, AZ - The latest arrest of a federal air marshal is part of a much bigger picture.

Kristopher Hanks, a federal air marshal whose current employment status is unknown, is facing several different charges for allegedly making and selling bath salts and spice.

A judge is allowing Hanks to be released from jail on his own recognizance until his trial in October.

However, Hanks had very little to say when ABC15 confronted him about the charges.

"No comment," Hanks said.

Court documents show DEA started to investigate Hanks in 2010 after he was accused of working with former police officers Shelly Worthley and her husband, Ronald Worthley .

Shelly was with the Salt Lake City Police Department before she and her husband moved to Arizona. Ronald got a job with the Gilbert Police Department. He worked there between 2007 and 2010.

Court records show Shelly mixed the drugs at her San Tan Valley home.

Hanks and the couple opened several businesses together selling the drugs. However, the DEA didn’t waste time shutting the Worthleys’ business down.

But last May, Shelly insisted that she hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Everything I purchased was through the UK and I made sure it wasn't on a federal ban list," Shelly said.

Court documents reveal emails, lab reports and thousands of dollars worth of cash exchanged between Hanks and Shelly Worthley. The pair is accused of knowing that people were buying their products to get high.

"It was labeled: ‘Not for human consumption,’” Worthley said. “But people want to get high and there is nothing you can do to stop that.”

Worthley is now taking responsibility and is slated for sentencing in October.

"I justified it by saying people are going to get high,” Worthley said. “It was a bad decision. I got caught up in the money. A lot of people were doing it. But it affected my husband and family and I regret it.”

Hanks is not saying much.

When ABC15 asked him, "Do you know how dangerous those drugs are?” He simply responded, “No comment. Thank you."

Court documents show that the drugs were distributed all over the nation.

ABC15 reached out to the Transportation Security Administration, which oversees the Federal Air Marshal Services, to find out Hanks' history with the department and the status of his employment. ABC15 is waiting to hear back.

Two other people were convicted in connection to this operation as well. They received probation.

[Andrea]

The 9/11 legacy: Airport security still largely a matter of faith


http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/transportation/article100626637.html

Year after year, more Americans attempt to board planes with concealed firearms in their carry-ons. They also come with hidden swords, hatchets, sharpened ninja stars and even gunpowder.

Invariably, the response from passengers when officers from the Transportation Security Administration seize the weapons is: Oops, I forgot I had it.

“It’s always astonishing to me that people can forget they have a weapon in their carry-on,” said TSA Administrator Peter V. Neffenger. “I’m not sure why people continue to do this.”

Not everyone buys the excuse of forgetfulness.

“They didn’t forget their pants. It’s beyond me,” said David Borer, general counsel of the American Federation of Government Employees, a union that represents the nation’s 42,000 or so transportation security officers.

Whether the reason is memory lapse or a desire to be prepared should armed terrorists once again try to commandeer an aircraft, the seizure of a record 2,653 firearms last year at airport checkpoints is but one aspect of an evolving security panorama as the nation passes the 15-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The security ritual now has a familiar rhythm: Shoes off. Laptops out. Everything through the X-ray machine. Nearly 2 million passengers endure the drill each day. Many hate it. A few get unruly.

The tools deployed by the security agents – including full-body scanners – get ever more sophisticated while the most basic of questions goes without a satisfying answer: Do all the security measures work? Are terrorists truly deterred? Are we safe?

Experts agree on only one thing. Heightened airport security is here to stay.

“It’s going to take a long time before we stop taking our shoes off,” said Bruce Schneier, a security technologist and fierce critic of the TSA.

It’s going to take a long time before we stop taking our shoes off. Bruce Schneier, security technologist

It’s hard to pick apart the security procedures the federal government has adopted and not arrive at the conclusion, as Schneier has, that much of it is “security theater.”

Seeming failures abound. An audit last year found that TSA officers found weapons only three times when undercover investigators passed through airport security checkpoints 70 times with weapons or mock explosives, a failure rate of 95 percent. The then-administrator lost his job.

“We are not safer than before 9/11, regardless of the money and energies spent to change airport security,” said Michael Boyd, an aviation consultant and longtime former airline executive based out of Evergreen, Colorado. “The TSA approach is a dud. It is a giant bureaucracy with zero accountability for failure.”

Events in the past month underscore how TSA officers, who are unarmed, behave in the face of potential terror. On the night of Aug. 14, when false reports circulated of gunshots at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, TSA officers and civilian security guards abandoned their posts and joined a stampede of hundreds of travelers. It raised questions about readiness in the event of a real terrorist attack.

The TSA approach is a dud. It is a giant bureaucracy with zero accountability for failure. Michael Boyd, aviation consultant

Two weeks later, panic broke out at Los Angeles International Airport when loud noises led to rumors of an active shooter. Several terminals were evacuated, and passengers and TSA officers alike breached security doors to flee to the airport tarmac.

Panicked people, Boyd said, were “chasing off in all directions like a herd of gazelles running from thunder. TSA has no plan in the event of an incident, except to tell people to run away from the noise, or dump them into the street in a nice tight crowd for a terrorist target.”

The hassles of slipping off shoes, pulling laptops out of bags and emptying coins from pockets has spurred applications for expedited security screening. Known as TSA PreCheck, the program lets low-risk travelers ease through checkpoints without removing shoes.

Some 12,000 applicants a day pony up the $85 for five-year memberships, after waiting six weeks for appointments, and total numbers have surpassed 3.5 million. According to Secretary Jeh Johnson of the Department of Homeland Security, 96 percent of PreCheck passengers spend an average of five minutes or less at security checkpoints.

“We’ve turned security into have and have-not,” Schneier said: the PreCheck passengers who’ve paid their money and the rest of the traveling public.

Rudeness and the occasional too-intimate pat-down have led to combative encounters.

“There’s just this sort of general hatred of TSA, and some people go off,” said Borer, the union general counsel. “All this scorn gets heaped on them. It’s all the people coming through and saying, ‘Screw you. Don’t touch me.’ It’s awful.”

All this scorn gets heaped on them. It’s all the people coming through and saying, ‘Screw you. Don’t touch me.’ It’s awful. David Borer, American Federation of Government Employees

Passenger anger has occasionally flared. In 2013, an unemployed motorcycle mechanic killed a TSA officer and wounded two other officers and a teacher in a rampage at Los Angeles International Airport. A notebook he left behind referred to the TSA’s “Nazi checkpoints.”

In 2015 in New Orleans, a taxi driver attacked TSA officers with a machete and wasp spray, injuring one of them, before being shot by a sheriff’s lieutenant. The assailant later died.

Rating the effectiveness of security procedures is a divisive endeavor. Experts disagree.

“The two things that have improved security since 9/11 – and there are only two – is one, reinforcing the cockpit doors, and two, teaching passengers that they have to fight back,” Schneier said.

Some airline pilots, protected by the reinforced locked cockpit doors, now maintain handguns at arm’s reach in case of intruders.

Awareness among passengers of their own potential roles in thwarting terrorism soared after Sept. 11, 2001, when courageous passengers aboard United Flight 93, bound from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, took on the four hijackers. The passengers and crew tried to regain control of the flight, leading to its crash in a field in Pennsylvania but preventing the hijackers from slamming the airliner into a still-unknown target, perhaps the White House or the U.S. Capitol.

Fighting back now seems ingrained in some passengers.

Certain airports present a better ideological target for terrorists: JFK, LaGuardia, LAX, San Francisco, Atlanta. Anthony C. Roman, former pilot who is a security consultant

“Go to an airport and pick 10 random people, and they’ll tell you, ‘We know we have to do this, 100 percent,’ ” Schneier said.

Indeed, passengers have averted several terrorist incidents. Richard Reid, a Brit whom al Qaida had recruited to board a Paris-Miami flight with explosives in the soles of his shoes in late 2001, was tackled by passengers and crew members before he could ignite the explosives.

Travelers also subdued a Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, after he attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear on a Christmas Day flight from Amsterdam to Detroit in 2009.

“Ultimately, it’s going to be fellow passengers and alert citizenry who create a better defense for Americans than a government monopoly like the TSA,” said Chris Edwards, an analyst at the Cato Institute, a research center that advocates for minimal government intrusion.

Even the famed air marshals, whose numbers soared after Sept. 11, have come under fire. The program, which puts armed agents on high-risk domestic flights, costs more than $820 million annually. In theory, the marshals are the last line of defense before a terrorist hijacking. In practice, more air marshals appear to have been arrested for felony crimes they themselves have committed than make arrests in the line of duty.

When the bureau responded to a freedom of information request earlier this year by ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative newsroom, more than seven years after the request was made, it acknowledged that air marshals had been arrested 148 times from 2002 through the early 2012 for various crimes unrelated to their work.

While air marshals attended to “thousands” of medical emergencies and non-terrorist incidents involving unruly passengers, they apparently carry out few arrests of real terror suspects. A Federal Air Marshal Service spokesman, Thomas H. Kelly, did not address a request for a breakdown of incidents.

A Tennessee Republican U.S. lawmaker, John J. Duncan, said in 2010 that the air marshals service had made an average of 4.2 arrests per year from 2001 to 2010, adding that “we are spending $200 million per arrest.”

Even with the travails of the TSA and the air marshals, one fact since Sept. 11 can gladden the heart of any traveler.

“There haven’t been any (successful) terror attacks since 9/11, knock on wood,” said Borer.

That may make passengers feel better, but not experts who see shortcomings.

Some foresee airports with concentric rings in the approaches to terminals, with facial recognition software in active use, pushing a security perimeter outside terminal buildings.

“Our back doors are wide open at airports,” Boyd said. “Ground security for airliners is really weak: things like catering carts, cargo pods, et cetera, have no security.”

“Certain airports present a better ideological target for terrorists: JFK, LaGuardia, LAX, San Francisco, Atlanta,” said Anthony C. Roman, a former pilot who is a security consultant. “We have to be hyper aware – not frightened, but not with our heads in the clouds.”

“Should there be a successful attack on a U.S. airport, I think we’re going to see more intense security procedures,” he said.

[Andrea]

NBC 5 Investigates: Records Show TSA Funded K-9 Teams Failed Annual Tests More Than 50 Times at Large U.S. Airports

http://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/NBC-5-Investigates-Records-Show-TSA-Funded-K-9-Teams-Failed-Annual-Tests-More-than-50-Times-at-Large-US-Airports-393493421.html

NBC 5 Investigates has learned several K-9 teams at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field Airport failed important certification tests that check how accurately they can detect explosives, calling into question whether those teams are training enough to stay at the top of their game and keep passengers safe.

The mission of explosive detection K-9 teams is to keep bombs out of airports and off planes by screening baggage, cargo and passengers for potential threats.

New records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request raise questions about the top dogs at some of the nation’s biggest airports.

The records show K-9 teams funded by the Transportation Security Administration have failed annual certification tests at large U.S. airports, including D/FW Airport and Love Field, more than 50 times between Jan. 1, 2013, and June 15, 2015, the most recent detailed numbers TSA provided. Some teams failed to find explosives, while others had too many false alarms that could cause unnecessary airport evacuations.

NBC 5 Investigates obtained data from the Transportation Security Administration through the Freedom of Information Act concerning the agency’s explosive detection canines. TSA provided a list showing 52 instances where K-9 teams were de-certified after failing certification tests from January 1, 2013, to June 15, 2015, at 10 large U.S. airports. The map above was created using that data. Some K-9 teams that failed are managed by TSA and others by local airport police.

K-9 teams that fail are pulled out of service and cannot work in airports again until they can pass the test, but experts NBC 5 Investigates spoke with say clusters of failures at some airports raise concerns about how well those teams are being managed.

The TSA said the failures are just a normal part of upholding high standards. But multiple failures at D/FW Airport and Love Field raise questions about whether those teams have been training enough to maintain the highest level of readiness.

In a statement, the TSA tells NBC 5 Investigates, “If a team does not meet TSA’s rigorous guidelines, it is decertified and restricted from working.”

“The team must successfully meet certification standards before returning to search duties. Dog teams that are unable to return to TSA’s high standards are subject to removal,” the TSA said.

The agency said teams performed better in the latter half of 2015 – with a 93-percent passing rate nationwide. But the agency would not share any detailed records for that time period or for 2016, so it’s unknown if there are still some airports with clusters of failures.

“We rely on K-9 teams a lot more now than we ever have in the history of aviation security,” said airport security consultant Jeffrey Price.

Price said the lives of passengers depend on how well the dog teams perform.

“Dogs have always been considered the gold standard in explosive detection. So when you’re considered the best, you better be the best,” said Price.

At Love Field, K-9 teams assigned to protect the airport failed four out of 14 tests with a failure rate of nearly 30 percent over two-and-a-half years. In 48 tests over the same time period, teams at D/FW Airport failed five times, or 10 percent of the time.

The nation’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, did better than those in Dallas with only two failures in 75 tests (3 percent) over the same two-and-a-half year time period. All K-9s managed by the Atlanta Police Department passed while two TSA managed teams failed.

To better understand why more K-9 teams failed at airports like Love Field and D/FW Airport, NBC 5 Investigates went to Alabama to one of the nation’s top K-9 training centers at Auburn University and AMK9.

AMK9 works with the university training dogs in explosive detection for agencies across the country.

“You need to convince that dog that there’s a reason to work,” said John Pearce, who used to help oversee training for the TSA.

Pearce said the main reason some dogs fail certification tests is the people in charge of those K-9 units don’t always set aside enough time for constant training. He sees a direct relationship between the quality of the training and the success the dogs have on tests.

“Our primary job is to find an explosive, as a dog team, but that dog believes its primary objective is to get that toy that’s in the handler’s pouch,” said Pearce.

In airports, dogs rarely find explosives, so unless they practice locating test explosives frequently, they may lose interest.

In addition, handlers also need constant practice to accurately recognize the dog’s cues.

Pearce said handlers need to train daily.

“Train, train, train and train as you’re going to work,” said Pearce.

NBC 5 Investigates wanted to know if the people in charge of the K-9s at Love Field and D/FW Airport are spending enough time training.

Some of the teams are managed directly by the TSA, but many are run by D/FW Airport police and Dallas police that get their dogs, training and funding from the TSA.

Dallas police declined an on-camera interview and would not answer any questions about their teams at Love Field.

When asked about the teams decertified at D/FW Airport, a spokesman sent a short statement saying, “All of the canine teams maintained by the D/FW Airport Department of Public Safety are currently certified and active.”

In 2013 the investigative arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, found “some K-9 teams were repeatedly not in compliance with TSA’s monthly training requirement.”

Since then, the TSA has made changes, including a new program starting Oct. 1 to hold local airport police departments more accountable for training and to enforce higher training standards.

With multiple failures at airports including D/FW Airport and Love Field make some experts wonder if supervision and training is needed in a business where there may not be a second chance.

“Lives depend on the proficiency of the teams,” said Price. “You don’t get a do over in real life. If that team misses an explosive, then that’s a device that can end up on a plane.”

The TSA’s records have shown nearly a dozen teams failed at Washington Dulles International Airport and more than 20 at Los Angeles International Airport from January 2013 to June 2015. NBC 5 Investigates will be on NBC’s Today Show Thursday morning with the national part of the report and on NBC 5 News at 6 p.m. with what other major airports are doing to pass tests and make sure their teams are ready.

[Andrea]

Father who allegedly killed family worked at Metro Airport; had TSA clearance

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/father-who-allegedly-killed-family-worked-at-metro-airport-had-tsa-clearance

After the horrific murder of four children took place in Dearborn Heights, questions arose about the identity of the man behind the murderous acts.

Gregory Green allegedly killed four children and attempted to murder his wife on Wednesday. Police say after the murders, Green sat on his porch and awaited police.

After some investigating done by Local 4’s Shawn Ley, it was found that Green is actually an employee at Detroit Metropolitan Airport and has TSA clearance.

"While TSA and the FAA are taking my water bottle from me before I enter the airport, a convicted murderer was cleared to work for the food company that supplied the planes," said Local 4 legal analyst Neil Rocking. "In this day and age, with all of the concerns about airport security, etc, it is shocking to learn that a convicted murderer was working at the airport with security clearance and just as shocking to learn that the law and regulations may have permitted it."

Given Green’s history - he was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife in 1991- it was alarming to know that a man with such a brutal criminal history was able to be around aircrafts and possess security clearance. But his employer says that it wasn't aware of the crime.

Sky Chefs sent Local 4 this response to our inquiry:
"We are shocked and saddened by this tragic event that involved Gregory Green. Mr. Green has been an employee of our company for approximately one year. We follow all local, state and federal guidelines on employment records accordingly.

"Our employees are subject to background checks by our company and the TSA. Our checks go back for a ten-year period and did not indicate any issues with Mr. Green during that time frame. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of this tragic event." -LSG Sky Chefs

Green’s murder conviction was more than 10 years ago, and though FAA regulations list ‘murder’ as a disqualifying factor for airport security clearance, Green was able to get by because of the amount of time that has passed since his conviction.