[The Hill] The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), charged with ensuring the safety of travelers at airports and certain other commercial transport facilities, is failing in many ways. While it may appear the agency is doing its job, evidence to the contrary abounds.
In a 2016 survey by the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General (IG), the TSA missed 95 percent of the weapons and assorted contraband carried into commercial aircraft cabins by undercover investigators. A notable example this year suggested the TSA still has serious shortcomings despite the red flag: JetBlue TSA checkpoints at New York's Kennedy Airport were left unattended by agency employees, creating a frantic law enforcement search for people who had boarded and flown without being screened.
Adding insult to injury, the TSA announced that it will be gradually increasing its highly intrusive personal frisks of passengers, primarily because the agency keeps missing prohibited items brought by travelers on their person or in carry-on luggage. |