Security Heads Inside the Fences
The TSA now randomly screens airport workers as an added layer of security
May 22, 2007
TSA inspector Steve Weed pats down
carpenter Mark Forsyth, a contractor
working at the airport. Forsyth's truck
also was inspected.
Photo by Jon M. Fletcher/The Times-
Union
Mark Forsyth's afternoon at work usually doesn't include a pat-down of his body and a search of his truck, like Thursday afternoon did.
At least, a few weeks ago, it wouldn't have.
Now, though, Forsyth and the hundreds of other people working behind the scenes at Jacksonville International Airport face the possibility of being subjected to random searches every time they enter a secured area at the airport.
The new program, called the Aviation Direct Access Screening Program, expands the Transportation Security Administration's focus from screening passengers to also randomly searching workers and contractors at the airport.
These people have, generally, gone through background checks and have badges. The point of the searches is to make sure they're not bringing weapons or other prohibited items into the airport. Those who do face the possibility of criminal charges or of having the TSA levy fines against them.
But with nothing in his truck that violates the rules, the morning interruption is just a minor inconvenience, Forsyth said. Thursday was the third time he's been stopped by one of the searches, and he said he thinks they're a good thing.
"If I have to fly," he said, "I want to be as safe as possible."
In Jacksonville, TSA has conducted the expanded checks for about 10 weeks, picking up maybe 20 items of contraband - mostly knives.
That's actually a lower haul than Ed Goodwin, TSA's federal security director in Jacksonville, said he expected. A pilot of the screening program began in July 2006, and TSA recently has been rolling the program out across the nation for about six months, and other airports found more items when they started.
The searching of employees comes on the heels of an incident at Orlando International Airport in March, when an individual was found on a plane with 14 weapons and 8 pounds of marijuana, an incident that points up the "employee insider threat" at airports, TSA said.
Working eight to 12 hours a day, the roving teams of three TSA screeners stop about 46 vehicles daily. The number of people actually searched varies on the vehicle: With the airport under construction, some of those vehicles are vans full of construction workers.
Some of those construction workers, by the way, didn't run into problems with the TSA, but did end up getting hauled off when background checks ran by the airport police force turned up outstanding warrants.
In a broader sense, the benefit of searches goes beyond finding things and stopping entry, Goodwin said.
"Anytime you're increasing your presence and doing more random searches, you're increasing awareness," he said. "They know we're serious about it."
This article was reprinted with permission from The Times-Union.
Click here to learn about Employee Screening as a layer of security.
