A New Look At The TSA

A TSA Review

            In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001 there was an enormous push in America by the media and within both political parties to bolster security in airports and customs and to transfer airport security from private firms to a federal system and agency. President George W. Bush appointed John Magaw to Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) ("In Recess Appointment, Bush Names Transport Security Chief," 2002).  The TSA was a newly formed department from the Aviation and Transportation Security Act signed into law on November 19, 2001. The department was formed initially under the U.S. Department of Transportation and moved to the Department of Homeland Security on March 9, 2003 after the Homeland Security Act was signed into law ("History," n.d.).

            The duties of the TSA include screening passengers and articles through choke points, securing before and after entry and exit ways, as well as scanning articles and luggage bound for flight. They use various techniques and have redesigned some techniques and procedures over the course of time to better suit logistics, security concerns, and effectiveness ("Mission," n.d.).

TSA agents are observational and procedural personnel and they are not allowed to use force or make arrests. The pay bands can range from $17,254 base pay for the most entry level position to $174,275 for the highest pay band with an added locality adjustment ("Pay Bands," n.d.). The benefits packages include various health insurance packages, personal leave including vacation, ten paid holidays, paid training, a Thrift Savings Plan, a flexible spending account, transportation subsidies and more ("Benefits," n.d.). According to the Congressional Budget Office, federal workers are compensated 16% more than their private sector counterparts in pay and 46% in overall benefit package when considering entry to mid-level positions. It is not always the case, but pay for government positions are greater in salary and benefits at every level versus the private sector save for doctoral and technical positions. The private sector does pay more in highly specialized fields with IT being one of the most notable (Sahadi, 2012).

A study by the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee was done for San Francisco International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport, comparing the two airports’ passenger and luggage screening processes and security (Forbes Staff, 2012).  San Francisco is one of the 16 airports in America allowed to use private contractors for passenger and luggage screening. The pay and benefits for screening officers are equal at both airports. The study found that the private firms at San Francisco processed 65% more passengers than their LAX counterparts with the same equipment and procedures. The turnover rate is far lower for private firms than for the TSA and costs are lowered by adjusting personnel levels with peak travel times using fully trained part-time employees. The privatized workers didn’t have the same sense of entitlement or job security that the TSA workers had. Furthermore, the TSA missed three times as many bomb materials at LAX and O’Hare in Chicago than in San Francisco, according to this article.

Not only is it plagued by accusations and studies supporting inefficiency, there is also the delinquent behavior of agents. There are charges and convictions of substantial theft, human smuggling, drug trafficking, and many other felonies and misdemeanors. Pythias Brown, a former employee of Newark Liberty International Airport, was convicted of stealing over $800,000 over a four year period (Chuchmach, Kreider, & Ross, 2012).  Later, after his release, he admitted to the convenience of being able to steal and declared it “commonplace” among agents. Agent Latwana Daniels, a 33 year old South Florida mother of four children, was arrested at the end of July this year with 111 grams of cocaine and 39 grams of marijuana ("TSA Agent Arrested on Cocaine Trafficking Charges," 2014). Investigators also found a loaded handgun and crack cocaine processing equipment. The sheer amount of incidents—from a TSA employee cutting a fellow worker with a box cutter over a football bet to the rape of a 13 year old boy by a screener through the Big Brother campaign—demonstrates a reason to review hiring practices and vetting new hires within the institution.  The offenses are so numerous that Congressman Marsha Blackburn created a report detailing the 50 worst offenders (Blackburn, 2012). She credits this to the lack of thorough criminal and credit background checks for TSA security officers.

An assessment of whether or not the TSA has increased safety at our airports turns up multiple failures.  In March of last year, the New York Post reported that an undercover agent carrying a fake bomb was able to pass through TSA security at Newark Airport—not once, but twice—including a pat-down (Messing, 2013b).  In October of last year, a 9-year old boy was able to board a Delta flight to Las Vegas, without a ticket ("9-year-old Minneapolis Boy Runs Away on Flight to Vegas," 2013).  In yet another report, the TSA allowed a ramp worker onto an airplane without valid ID or a boarding pass at Kennedy Airport (Messing, 2013a).  Even more frightening are the multiple reports of loaded guns being missed by security screeners.  Two happened within a week of each other and were of ordinary citizens simply forgetting that they had their gun in their luggage and purse.  In response to this, the chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, John Mica, admitted that “it’s not just this one weapon.  It’s hundreds of items every day” (Greenblatt, 2012).

There are also multiple accounts of wasted money within the TSA.  The Government Accountability Office reported that the TSA spends $200 million per year on the Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques program (SPOT) that is unnecessary because the program has proved completely ineffective (McGregor, 2013).  Another case involved purchasing new screening units with unproven technology that eventually ended up in warehouse storage (Waterman, 2012).

This compilation would be remiss were there no mention of the fact that the agency makes up the policy that it enforces. This was pointed out by the Director of Transportation Policy at the Reason Foundation Robert Poole, Jr. in testimony given before the Committee on Homeland Security and Subcommittee on Transportation Security (Poole, 2012). This can go all the way back to the old saying “Who watches the watchers” from the Satires of Juvenal. It would seem that the architects, whether intentionally or inadvertently, have insulated the agency from any exterior accountability.

A thorough search for any external positive articles for the agency returned no results from any credible sources with citations. Perusing the government websites gives the impression of a very competent organization that would be a joy to work for as well as ultimately being a lucrative career given the benefit packages. There have been renewed calls for privatization of the screening personnel to be regulated by the TSA, and The Department of Homeland Security is considering allowing more airports to opt out and staff their screening personnel according to TSA guidelines (Nixon, 2012).

In conclusion, it is difficult to surmise how and when the TSA has prevented an action due to presence or policy. In the case of the “Underwear Bomber” the perpetrator was subdued by passengers that could be emboldened by TSA presence (Associated Press, 2011). It appears that the TSA should work toward their goals of policy and allow the screening process and checkpoints to be staffed by private companies. It would devolve jobs back to the private sector with taxable income not funded from taxes to begin with. It is a prime example of more government not necessarily being a solution to smart government.

References

9-year-old Minneapolis boy runs away on flight to Vegas. (2013, October 5). Retrieved September 15, 2014, from http://www.startribune.com/local/west/226626241.html

Associated Press. (2011, October 12). 'Underwear bomber': I wanted to avenge 'innocent Muslims' Retrieved September 17, 2014, from http://www.nbcnews.com/id/44874278/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/underwear-bomber-i-wanted-avenge-innocent-muslims/#.VBpUuhYRb10

Benefits. (n.d.). Retrieved September 15, 2014, from http://www.tsa.gov/careers/benefits

Blackburn, M. (2012, May 30). “Not on My Watch”: 50 Failures of TSA’s. Retrieved September 17, 2014, from http://blackburn.house.gov/uploadedfiles/blackburn_tso_report.pdf

Chuchmach, M., Kreider, R., & Ross, B. (2012, September 28). Convicted TSA Officer Reveals Secrets of Thefts at Airports. Retrieved September 16, 2014, from http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/convicted-tsa-officer-reveals-secrets-thefts-airports/story?id=17339513

Forbes Staff. (2012, September 24). TSA Conflict of Interest Would Come As No Surprise To Adam Smith. Retrieved September 17, 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveforbes/2012/09/05/tsa-conflict-of-interest-would-come-as-no-surprise-to-adam-smith/

Greenblatt, M. (2012, September 30). TSA Lets Loaded Guns Past Security, on to Planes. Retrieved September 17, 2014, from http://abcnews.go.com/US/tsa-lets-loaded-guns-past-security-planes/story?id=17358872

History. (n.d.). Retrieved September 17, 2014, from http://www.tsa.gov/about-tsa/history

In Recess Appointment, Bush Names Transport Security Chief. (2002, January 07). Retrieved September 14, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/08/us/in-recess-appointment-bush-names-transport-security-chief.html

McGregor, J. (2013, July 31). Report: TSA employee misconduct up 26 percent over the past three years. Retrieved September 17, 2014, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-leadership/wp/2013/07/31/report-tsa-employee-misconduct-up-26-percent-over-the-past-three-years/

Messing, P. (2013a, April 4). Plane idiots: TSA let man board flight without going through security check. Retrieved September 15, 2014, from http://nypost.com/2013/04/04/plane-idiots-tsa-let-man-board-flight-without-going-through-security-check/

Messing, P. (2013b, March 18). TSA screeners allow fed agent with fake bomb to pass through security at Newark Airport. Retrieved September 15, 2014, from http://nypost.com/2013/03/08/tsa-screeners-allow-fed-agent-with-fake-bomb-to-pass-through-security-at-newark-airport/

Mission. (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2014, from http://www.tsa.gov/about-tsa/mission

Nixon, R. (2012, March 15). New Law Clears the Way for Airports to Drop T.S.A. Screeners. Retrieved September 17, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/us/airports-with-new-law-are-freer-to-split-from-tsa.html

Pay Bands. (n.d.). Retrieved September 15, 2014, from http://www.tsa.gov/careers/pay-bands

Poole, R. W., Jr. (2012). Rethinking Airport Screening Policy. Retrieved September 16, 2014, from http://homeland.house.gov/sites/homeland.house.gov/files/Testimony%20Poole.pdf

Sahadi, J. (2012, January 31). Which federal worker job pays better: Government or private? Retrieved September 17, 2014, from http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/31/news/economy/federal_worker_pay/index.htm

TSA Agent Arrested on Cocaine Trafficking Charges. (2014, January 23). Retrieved September 17, 2014, from http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/South-Florida-Mother-Arrested-on-Cocaine-Trafficking-Charges-264170551.html

Waterman, S. (2012, May 9). Report: TSA wasting money on screening machines. Retrieved September 15, 2014, from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/9/screening-machines-detect-nonmetallic-bombs-not-te/?page=all