Beyond the Checkpoint

A discussion on aviation security almost always starts at the familiar TSA security checkpoint. For the two million travelers a day who fly, the checkpoint is TSA. We look at the checkpoint, however, as a piece - an important piece - of a much larger picture.

TSA looks at the entire transportation network in evaluating risk. A large part of our work involves daily interaction with the intelligence and law enforcement communities and our global partners to try to stay ahead of evolving threats and emerging vulnerabilities.

Risk-based security means taking the whole picture into account and implementing selective and unpredictable security measures -- deny the terrorists a stationary target where they can take the time to plan an attack with high odds of success. To be successful in the long run, we need to play offense, not just defense.

Playing offense means getting out past the checkpoint to identify people with hostile intent or conducting surveillance. By spreading our layers of security throughout the airport environment and elsewhere, we have multiple opportunities to detect terrorists and leverage the capabilities of our workforce, our partners, and our technology.

One of these layers involves placing specially trained Transportation Security Officers at the front of the checkpoint to review travel documents, find fraudulent identification and identify and disrupt a problem before it becomes dangerous. We are making it harder for people to use fraudulent documents and IDs by raising the standard of inspection and providing additional equipment for our security officers to do their jobs.

We also continue to expand our behavior detection program, which uses non-intrusive behavior observation and analysis techniques to identify potentially high-risk passengers throughout airports. This added element of the screening process is transparent for normal passengers but makes it troublesome to someone conducting surveillance or doing something that could be dangerous to the public. It requires no additional specialized screening equipment and TSA frequently deploys our specialized officers in support of transit, rail, and ferry systems.

Another security program beyond the checkpoint involves employee screening. We deploy Transportation Security Officers and Inspectors throughout airports to screen airport, airline and other employees, their accessible property and vehicles. This random screening at unexpected locations cannot be avoided and allows airport workers to perform their duties with minimal impact on airport operations.

We recognize that the checkpoint is an interruption in the way of boarding a flight and often can be a source of frustration for travelers. TSA is moving to an approach where we spread out and calm down the security process. This should decrease stress at checkpoints, improve security, and improve the passenger experience. We're working with our airport and airline partners to establish a more calm security environment while leveraging emerging technologies such as millimeter wave, backscatter, liquid bottle scanners and advanced x-ray systems to help security officers detect explosives and other threats.

Getting away from the tunnel vision of looking for prohibited items at the checkpoint and moving toward a calmer, more nimble process focused on finding people with clever as well as obvious weapons will be good for security - and we hope it will also be better for passengers.

Kip Hawley
Administrator
Transportation Security Administration