Why We Need The TSA Essay

The Transportation Security Administration, more commonly known as TSA, is a part of the United States Department of homeland Security that supervises and manages the safety of travelers in the United States. Unlike other government operated tasks forces such as the military or FBI whose as been in existence since (), the TSA was only recently founded twelve years ago in 2001 after the devastating terroristic attack that took place in New York city’s twin towers earlier that year. There are more than forty eight thousand people employed by the TSA in airports, bus stations, railroads and freeways across every state, but you may never realize when they are nearby. Some have the typical security duties of checking bags, using different

The TSA maintains a screening Performance Management Information System (PMIS) where recorded complaints are logged. Operations research analysis teams and federal security directors review complaints logged in the database to track trends and identify areas of concern and take appropriate actions, including possible disciplinary actions, to resolve specific issues. Complaints involving allegations of discrimination based on color, race, gender, religion, or national or ethnic origin are forwarded to the TSA’s Office of Civil Rights for further investigation. Despite considerable concern raised by some regarding inappropriate behavior during pat-down screening procedures, the DHS found no problems with the technique.

According to Jason Villemez of the PBS News Hour, there were immediate changes to airport security following 9/11. Within 2 months of the attacks, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act was passed. This law requires that every single bag is screened at airports andrequires that certain procedures are followed at every airport (Swickard). Before 9/11, scissors, baseball bats, darts, and 4-inch-long blades were allowed, but these are now illegal under the ATSA (O’Connor). The Aviation and Transportation Security Act also created the Transportation Security Administration known as the TSA (Tognotti). Each airport had to supply their own security before 9/11, but with the creation of the TSA, the government supplied security for airports (Villemez). Gabi Logan of USA Today found that the increase in security including baggage checks caused a six percent decrease in the number of passengers. Passengers chose not to travel at all or found a different way to get to their destination. While security in airports was significantly increased, 9/11 also affected millions of Americans involved in the war on terror”.

Another measure TSA took was to add body scanners to security. These scanners can see what a person is carrying underneath their clothes. There have been a few different designs to this machine due to some lawsuits in the past brought up because the TSA agents were making fun of a man’s gentile size or certain passengers would feel embarrassed because someone can see their bodies. Now what the TSA agent sees is an outline of the passenger’s body and whatever is on the body. The body scanner does not show a naked person anymore.

The Travel security agency, or the TSA, is an important agency whose job it is to protect our nation in airports and borders. Impressively, the Agency has stopped many weapons, and saved our citizens numerous times. According to several experts however, the TSA has never stopped a terrorist plot. Their methods have been questioned too. As our nation grows deeper and deeper in debt, the TSA is a huge cost that may need to be cut. In order to gain a clear understanding of the TSA, its successes, issues, and cost must be evaluated critically.

Since the beginning of aviation, aircraft have been used for other intentions besides carrying passengers and cargo. They have been used as weapons of war dating all the way back to the first world war, and the use of aircraft has enlightened the advancement of the aviation. “Throughout the history of aviation, the greatest progress in flight has been made during time when either war or the threat of war was present” (Millspaugh, et al., 2008, p. 33). However, the war we face today has been triggered by the deliberate use of aircraft to cause death, destruction, and mayhem.

The September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks forever changed the way our air travel industry operates. It affected the government, the airlines, airports, employees, and passengers alike. There was not as much of a threat of terrorism before 9/11, so airport security was not nearly as thorough, and at times intrusive as it is today. Through the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration, the evolving threat of terrorism has not been successful in carrying out another 9/11 style attack.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created on November 19, 2001, and was signed into law by the 107th Congress (NMAH, 2011). The TSA was created to strengthen the security of transportation systems while allowing free movement of people and trade (NMAH, 2011). In recent years the administration has seen a lower budget due to the removal of three programs and the money will be diverted to fund the wall on the Mexico border (Halsey, 2017). Slow screening times from TSA are causing people to miss their flights due to the large lines. Also, numerous items of contraband are not being detected by the

As a response to the 9/11 attacks, one would expect that the TSA would improve airport security. In reality, it's just security theater. Originally, the use of metal detectors and luggage x-rays in airport security checkpoints was enough. However, on December 25, 2009, an inbound international

A visual posted in chapter 7 for the article titled “Is America Safer Now Than Before 9/11” Illustrating current day airport security checkpoints (PA 700). This visual makes multiply bold statements about our current airport security. The image is of multiple security checkpoints at a current day airport, first passport validation check and a personal identity confirmation with the same transportation security administration officer (TSA). Then passengers proceed to unload all of their belongings into a bin to be x-rayed and analyzed by another TSA officer, simultaneous the passengers luggage is also being x-rayed. The line of passengers then winds over to another TSA officer where passengers get manually scanned

We as people examine the impact of post-9/11 airport security measures on air travel in the U.S. Using five years of data on passenger volume, we evaluate the effects of the implementation of baggage screening and the federalization of passenger screening on the demand for air travel. These two congressionally mandated measures are the most visible changes in airport security following the 9/11 attacks. Exploiting the phased introduction of security measures across airports, we find that baggage screening reduced passenger volume by about five percent on all flights, and by about eight percent on flights departing from

The TSA, however, tries to assure passengers that the images produced are blurred which means the passengers being screened cannot be recognized. It further emphasized that the images are not recorded. In response to this, the Islamic Human Right Commission (IHRC), a non-profit research and advocacy organization based in London, says “The fact that a person’s facial features cannot be identified does not mean that the images are any less invasive. The images still show the person’s body in graphic detail where intimate piercing, catheters and all the parts of the person’s body (including those that a person would normally wish to keep private) are seen by the screener. This is gross invasion of privacy.” If these images are truly not archived, the question is where is the images uploaded on the internet are gotten from. (Bello-Salau 668)

Many years ago airport security was not even an issue. People felt secure and safe and rarely worried about being searched. As time went on, the prevealance of terrorism became an increasing issue. There began more acts of terrorism by threatening and holding hostages on board commercial planes. As these acts continued, the government as well as citizens became vulnerable and an airport safety procedure was implemented as a way to ensure the safety of the United States. The implemented procedures over the years included a check and scan of all carry on and checked baggage, body scans, hire government airport employees, and a strict list of carry-on items. This made travelers feel safer as it decreased the ability of terrorist to commit

increased its efforts in protecting its airports. At that time, “the security scanners already in place in most airports included baggage x-rays, metal detectors, and chemical residue detectors, which help security staff search out illegal items that a passenger might have” (DiLascio). These security scanners unfortunately failed in their job. Since then, the Transportation Security Administration has been keeping American airports safe using the latest technology. Airports have now been fitted with high-tech body scanners rather than the archaic metal detectors that only detect metal objects. During the past few years, individuals have attacked the

Airport security is necessary for the safety and efficiency of airlines today. Attacks involving airlines have been “among the deadliest in terms of human lives and economic impact,” even though relatively few attacks have occurred using airlines compared to other terrorism methods (Szyliowicz, 2011, p.2). Airport Security has been administered using a government-operated system since the Aviation and Transportation Security Act was enacted in 2001. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), now an agency of homeland security, replaced private security measures and personnel with at least 60,000 federal employees (Szyliowicz, 2011). However, privatization may be making a come-back. The following analysis will analyze