TSA Security Head Fired Over Long Lines

a reply to: Krazysh0t

I am fairly certain this is the company.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I see. It is a company that the TSA contracts out to.

A November 2006 report by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General found that TSA officials had collaborated with CAS at San Francisco International Airport to tip off CAS screeners to undercover tests. The tests were as to whether the screeners were properly inspecting passengers and their carry-on luggage at security checkpoints. From August 2003 until May 2004, precise physical descriptions of the undercover personnel who were on their way to test checkpoints were communicated to the screeners. According to The San Francisco Chronicle, the report stated that TSA officials and Covenant managers at the airport "notified screening personnel in advance when a tester was approaching a checkpoint and provided their descriptions", and "Officials in the airport's screening control center tracked the undercover testers with surveillance cameras and on foot, the report said, and 'broadcast descriptions and locations of testers to the checkpoints to assist supervisors in identifying testers and to facilitate passing the covert penetration tests.'"[17][18] An article in the newspaper about a wrongful firing lawsuit related to the events further reported that according to allegations in the lawsuit "Posing as passengers, the decoys try to take dummy bombs, unloaded guns and other contraband through the airport's security checkpoints. But the lawsuit said Covenant tracked the decoys via closed-circuit television cameras and tipped off workers at security gates to expect a test."[18] The handing out of descriptions was then stopped, but until January 2005 screeners were still alerted whenever undercover operations were being undertaken.[17][19] Despite the report, CAS was rehired with a $314 million, four-year contract at the airport, and while employees of the firm and TSA were disciplined, none lost their jobs.[17][20] Mississippi Representative Bennie Thompson said the report was troubling, observing: "How is the public expected to have any confidence in the screening systems when managers game the system?"[21][22][23]

Lol

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Great. Nothing like sandbagging.

originally posted by: neo96
a reply to: Krazysh0t

Because unlike you, I'm not so blinded by partisan politics that I can't acknowledge the accomplishments of Presidents I don't like or the negatives of ones I do like.

Says the guy that's been whining about Bush for 3 pages.

Well, "traditionally" it is all bush's fault.

Don't want to break any american traditions now do we?

lol, traditionally.

originally posted by: crazyewok

originally posted by: Parafitt

7am till 10:45pm for just being 'suspicious'.. yeah Im Australian. let more middle easterners in en masse. welcome.

tsa can grope my big fat.....

Yup.
Last time I fly to the USA I saw that.

Plane from Indonesia and one from China lasted. Were let through customs like it wasn’t even there.

My plane from the UK lands and its 3 hours of ques.......

How does that make any security sense?

Close as I can figure out what they think, is that if there were terrorists on board those planes, they would have been blown out of the sky before they got there, so no terrorists.

And the UK shouldn'ta signed that "Ban Trump" petition. So, there is that.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: Krazysh0t

I could have sworn that when I was in SFO a few weeks ago they had private security doing screenings.

I think some airports have been switching over lately, it's not standard yet but more and more are going that route. If memory serves there's 9 major airports using private security now with more wanting to make the switch.

a reply to: Aazadan

I found 19 that have private screeners. Sadly none are the ones I fly into frequently.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: Aazadan

I found 19 that have private screeners. Sadly none are the ones I fly into frequently.

It seems to only marginally help, the private contractors are having to do everything according to TSA regulations and with a lower budget. Lines are a little shorter but there's still an issue of shortages with screeners. That seems to be the big one, every time I walk into an airport they'll have 4-6 screening stations but only 1 in use, and then a second set of different equipment off to the side for TSA Pre that mostly goes unused.

a reply to: Aazadan

When I flew out of Newark last week they had both the PreCheck and regular lanes funneled into only one metal detector and baggage screening machine. It took me almost an hour and I have PreCheck. The other machines were all idle.