 The Screening Experience
All Shoes Must Be Screened
Why We Screen Shoes
TSA instituted mandatory shoe screening as an additional security measure when the threat level for the aviation sector went to Orange, or high, August 10. Screening shoes by x-ray is an effective method of identifying any type of anomalies including explosives. TSA’s highly trained transportation security officers can see if a shoe has been tampered with when they view it on the X-ray equipment. Requiring all passengers to remove shoes for x-ray screening increases both security and efficiency at the checkpoint. Today improvised explosive devices are the number one threat that TSA guards against. More than 31,000 Transportation Security Officers have received rigorous training in IED detection and are required to complete four hours a month of recurrent training to detect all forms of explosives. Training and technology are two layers in TSA’s systems approach to security in the airport. Other layers include: intelligence, behavior observation technique, random canine team searches, federal air marshals, federal flight deck officers and additional security measures both visible and invisible to the public. Each one of these layers alone is capable of stopping a terrorist attack. In combination their security value is multiplied, creating a much stronger, formidable system.  TSA wants to assure the traveling public that it’s working aggressively to protect the traveling public against threats they expect and those they don’t expect. Continued cooperation and vigilance are they keys.
Have doubts about the ability to detect explosives in shoes? Read Assistant Secretary Kip Hawley’s remarks and see a recently declassified X-ray image of simulated explosives in a pair of shoes. Learn more about the shoe screening policy. Shoe Screening Learn more about the new security screening procedures. New Security Procedures Learn more about what items are now prohibited due to heightened security. Prohibited Items | 
