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Latest report — TSA’s terror-vetting process full of cracks

Overall, the report described the TSA’s terrorism screening process as being “generally effective,” even though the agency failed to detect and identify 73 active airline workers with links to terrorism and lacked “effective controls to keep prospective employees with criminal histories and illegal status from getting a job at airports in the U.S,” says CNN.

Believe it or not, the report says the reason the 73 employees were not identified is because the TSA is not authorized to receive all terrorism-related information under the current inter-agency watchlist policy. To read the redacted report from the Inspector General’s Office, go HERE.

This latest report on the failings of the TSA follows a scathing report the DHS released last week detailing the 95 percent fail rate of TSA airport security officers when confronted with undercover testing of security measures. as reported in Digital Journal.

That failure led to the removal of Melvin Carraway, the TSA’s acting chief. This move put Acting Deputy Director Mark Hatfield in charge until Coast guard vice-admiral Peter Neffenger, who was nominated to lead the TSA in April by President Obama, gets his confirmation by the Senate.

People wait in a security line at John F. Kennedy Airport on February 28  2013 in New York City

People wait in a security line at John F. Kennedy Airport on February 28, 2013 in New York City
Spencer Platt, Getty/AFP/File

The 73 individuals described in today’s report “were employed by major airlines, airport vendors, and other employers,” and because of the cracks in the system, they represented “a potential transportation security threat,” according to the Inspector General’s report. The redacted report did not disclose what category codes were excluded from TSA’s vetting process.

Inter-agency conflict seems to be the problem
Under the current system, the TSA allows airports and airlines to carry out criminal background checks on prospective employees, but the TSA does not oversee or verify the results of the process. “TSA did not have an adequate monitoring process in place to ensure that airport operators properly adjudicated credential applicants’ criminal histories,” the report reads.

Rafi Sela is the owner of AR Challenges, an Israeli-based consulting company that specializes in airport security challenges and protocols. Sela spoke with the guardian, saying the TSA has had problems for years, primarily because of a lack of a centralized system of administering watchlists.

“There is no correlation between the information the CIA, FBI, US Marshall service and other intelligence agencies generate and absolutely none between them and the DHS,” he said. “It’s very easy to miss terrorists on the watchlist, and the definition of a terrorist is very vague.”

Sela added that the TSA needs to change its whole approach to airline security, saying “If you want to really do transportation security the way you should, go after the intent and invest in intelligence, and not check the luggage. Checking the luggage is the most absurd thing to do in security.”

Travelers go through security checkpoints at Denver airport

Travelers go through security checkpoints at Denver airport
Photo by Dan Paluska

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We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our dear friend Karen Graham, who served as Editor-at-Large at Digital Journal. She was 78 years old. Karen's view of what is happening in our world was colored by her love of history and how the past influences events taking place today. Her belief in humankind's part in the care of the planet and our environment has led her to focus on the need for action in dealing with climate change. It was said by Geoffrey C. Ward, "Journalism is merely history's first draft." Everyone who writes about what is happening today is indeed, writing a small part of our history.

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