Airport security
Does the thought of going through airport security make you want to jump off a bridge? Some people may think that security in airports is either too strict, or it is not enforced enough. Airport security has certainly developed over time, both in terms of more technology, and in terms of increased security. It has had a lot of reasons to step up, both with terrorist attacks, and with other incidents, such as the way that explosive technology has evolved. The topic of airport security is a big debate: is it too strict or not strict enough? It is important that people know and understand both sides of this important issue.
There are many reasons why people believe that airport security should be more enforced. One reason is because of historical events. There are attacks that date all the way back to the 1930s. For example, there was an attack over Chesterton, Indiana killing all seven people that were aboard the small airplane. In 1949, a man from Canada named Albert Guay set a dynamite bomb in his wife’s luggage before she boarded the DC- 3 aircraft. Everyone on the plane was killed in the explosion. Later, him and his two accomplices that were involved in the making and the transporting of the bomb were arrested, and then they were executed. In 1970, President Nixon passed a law that said every person that gets on a plane, and their luggage, have to be screened before they board. Additionally in 1972, the FAA or the Federal Aviation Administration, made it mandatory that the airliner companies scan every passenger with a metal detector to try to prevent hidden weapons. On Christmas day of 2009, a man named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23 year old from Nigeria, attempted to set off explosives aboard a Northwes...
... middle of paper ...
...nt that people know and understand both sides of this important issue. Now people may see the difference between more strict and not strict enough.
Works Cited
“Airport Security.” Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 13 January. 2014.
“Federal Aviation Administration.” Federal Profiles for Students. Ed. Keele S. Sisung. Detroit: Gale Group 1999. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 14 January. 2014.
“O’Hare Airport Debuts Full-Body Scanner in Chicago.” UPI Photo Collection. 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17. January. 2014.
“Smuggling.” Gale Encyclopedia of American Law. Ed. Donna Batten. 3rd. vol. 9. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 14 January. 2014.
Thomas, Eric. Personal Interview. 23 Jan. 2014.
Wlaschin, Emily. Personal Interview. 23 Jan. 2014.
One of the first new pieces of technology the TSA introduced were better screeners. A new screener known as AIT or Advance imaging technology has been created to counteract items that may have been hidden from site or...
Since 9/11 there have been nine major security changes at airports. The most important changes are the liquid ban, which bans liquids more than 3.4 ounces from being on an airplane and the body-scan machines along with the enhanced pat downs. (Seaney 1)l/ The body scan machines are x-ray machines that scan the person for anything that could be used as a weapon. Enhanced pat downs are violating to some people as they do not like their private areas searched for weapons. But these pat downs are necessary to detect, find, and remove weapons that a TSA (Transportation Security Administration) agent cannot see with their own eyes. The last important change worth mentioning is that all special items including laptops, tablets, E-readers, and all electronic items have to be checked for explosives and other threats. These changes as well as other minor regulations for passengers give the TSA an extra line of defense while screening air travelers.
This happens because the TSA focuses on preventing attacks and does not explicitly reveal how many attacks they have stopped, or if they have stopped any at all. Dylan Mathews, the author of “The TSA is a Waste of Money,” argues the TSA would explicitly reveal if they stopped any attacks, but they simply have not. He cites an instance where the TSA “caught” an Army veteran who attempted to “smuggle” unfinished bomb-making materials into his checked luggage. Mathews argues that if they publicized such a small victory, they would most certainly advertise stopping a real attack. He backs up his argument with convincing statistics: Only 14 percent of passenger flaggings led to a referral to law enforcement, and only 0.6 of those flaggings led to an arrest, none of which related to terrorism. These staggering statistics clearly show the TSA’s current flagging process does not efficiently and effectively capture criminals, and only creates aggravating travel
The airport full body scanners “costs about $170,000 a unit” so that shows you that the airports are willing to spend millions of dollars to prevent another attack. These scanners present a three dimensional image of your body so the operator can see what objects are under your clothing. “In Tulsa, people will have to stand facing the scanner and raise their hands. Faces are blurred. In a separate monitoring area, pictures are evaluated.”3 People were complaining that the scanners were revealing to much of their body to the operator so “The TSA no longer uses the backscatter scanners that produced near-naked images of
At many airports across the country, passengers are sharply greeted with the hassle and headache generated by the long security lines. Many travelers complain of the continuing list of rules they have to observe and how they seem to get persistently worse. The government’s solution to the hassle and headache is full-body scanners. The government claims these full-body scanners are faster to go through versus the traditional metal detector, detect weapons and bombs easier, and reduce the stress of the long security lines. In the past, airport security has not been fully successful in protecting the country from terrorists. As a result, many terrorists without being detected are escaping and are free to pursue their assault on America. Having full-body scanners will allow for less time in security, easier detection of terrorists, and will help to protect the United States.
According to BLeonard, if you’ve got nothing to hide, you’ve got nothing to fear.(“Would the use of full-body scanners at airports be respectful of individual rights”1) “Getting searched is better than the alternative especially for people who refuse the search.”(541Inferno 1) When someone refuses to get searched all that does is draws more attention to them as being a suspect and possibly having something. “What if someone refused to be searched or scanned and they let them on and then BAM they hijacked.”(Are body-scanners respectful of individual rights at airports 2) Even though some people it is very time consuming to go through all of those body scanners and pat-downs, it is actually worth using that time to ensure the outcome. “You cannot put a price on ones life, so to simply spend a couple of privacy rules here [to think] and [you’ll see] there [life] is worth much more than anything else.”(2) As long as you do exactly what the security says you will not take any more time than anyone else that is waiting in line with you. Once you get past security once you will not have to worry about waiting in line anymore. According to NineLester, “Those who want to use the services of airports should realize that the safety of everyone is a to...
Many travelers and passengers wonder and question what responsibilities are assumed by TSA and what TSA members actually do. R...
Lack of high monitored airport security is another main cause of the attack on September 11th. Security mainly consisted of x-ray machines, metal detectors, and potential checks from airport security guards. Passengers could board planes wit...
Before 9/11 the security of the airports was just simply go through a metal detector to see who had guns or could be a possible hijacker, there wasn’t much importance to it. There wasn’t much requirment to what you needed to have or show to fly and this is how Al-Qaeda, a terrorist group, took advantage to hijack the plane with the most fuel. Security back then wasn’t really enforced as it is now ever since the 9/11 attack happened a lot of things changed in the airport security to try and avoid another nightmare for America.
After the terrorist attack on September 2001, there are many changes that were executed in the airport security systems, and these changes ranged from thorough inspection of individual passengers as well as additional screening procedures, which the security personnel deemed appropriate. For example, following the 9/11, passengers were required to submit their bags for inspection prior to boarding the flight. The change in airport security has come at a great price as the passengers, security personnel, and the aviation industry as whole were affected. It has been over a decade since 2001, and that fateful event dictated the manner by which new
Chuck Goodwin explains, “TSA, which stands for Transportation Security Administration, is an agency in the Department of Homeland Security and is responsible for screening all travelers and their luggage, as well as the screening of all air and rail transportation in the US.” Many travelers know of the them for their increased presence in all airports in the U.S and other major American airports worldwide. After the terrorist attack that took place in September 2001, President Bush and his advisors implemented The Patriot Act. Tracey DiLascio explains, “The Patriot Act is complex, but its major provisions act to improve coordination and communication between government intelligence agencies, removing unwieldy and unnecessary legal barriers between different federal offices and allowing vital investigations to proceed with greater ease and efficiency.” Their idea was to ensure that all intelligence agencies would communicate in a way that would keep America safe. “Steps to prevent events of the scale of those that took place at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, began to fall into place almost immediately...The first outline of a proposal for what would eventually become the USA Patriot Act was drafted just days after the attacks.” (DiLascio) Due to past terrorist attacks, the TSA has implemented security measures in the airports they occupy. “Following September 11, 2001, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created to strengthen the security of the nation’s transportation systems and ensure the freedom of movement for people and commerce.” (TSA website) These measures include full body scanners and pat downs.
When it comes to traveling around the world, airfare is the way that most people take. Travelers in the United States rely heavily on airport security to prevent any troubles while taking that route. Travelers need to be able to trust the airport security to prevent life threatening situations, whether that would be in the airport or in the air. Airport security is such a huge scandal because of the target that airplanes have for terrorists. Terrorists look to airlines to wipe out a group of people or even to just make a statement. Although airport security is such a huge phenomenon now, it wasn’t always. It wasn’t until the terrorist attack on 9/11 that “woke up” American airports. This attack brought worldwide pressure on airport security to prevent that from ever happening again. Change and improvement in airport security has been constant ever since 9/11. Improvements range from procedures to baggage inspections (“Airport”). Millions of dollars have been brought to improve airport security and emergency procedures. Transportation
is constantly upgrading and changing airport security, our security is falling behind those of Europe and Asia. “TSA still falls short in 7 of 24, or almost one-third, of critical performance benchmarks set for the agency”(Air security). TSA’s major issues include, screening failures, questionable rules, unsecure cockpits, and thin security forces. During screening, TSA agents consistently fail to identify weapons/explosives during undercover tests. Passenger screenings miss on average, 20% of all weapons carried on by passengers, pilots, flight attendants; that number is considerably too large. Another problem TSA has is their rules with what can be brought on an airplane. Items like liquid, gels, scissors, bats, etc are easily passed through security because they are seen as everyday items, but in reality, they can be used as weapons. TSA constantly changes the rules on whether items like that can be brought aboard an airplane which leads to confusion among the security crew. After 2002 when the FFA required reinforced doors to be replace, problems with the new doors started to come up. Doors began to pop open mid flight and flight attendants began breaking them (despite being reinforced) which causes major security problems. If the cockpit door is broken mid flight, the pilot had no defense during a mid flight hijacking. Air marshals would be their only hope if an attack were to happen, but only about 5-10% of flights have them. As of now the air marshal program is significantly understaffed leaving more and more planes vulnerable to attack. TSA has to really step up their game before another attack like 9/11 happens on US
The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2011 prompted the world to reevaluate and drastically modify airport and airline security. “Four targets had been chosen, all iconic American buildings that would send a clear message of the depth of their hatred for the United States. All four planes crashed, killing all on board—terrorists, crew members, and passengers, along with hundreds who were killed inside the structures, on the ground, and the men and women who ran into collapsing buildings in an effort to try and save others” (Smutz 1). As Jason Villemez said “the decade after the 9/11 attacks reshaped many facets of life in America” (Villemez 1). Before the attacks, people did not think that large scale hostility towards innocent people in our country was remotely possible. Ever since that fateful moment, citizens in America are on their toes every day worrying about another attack happening. United States citizens have had to adapt and change in response to this fear of further terrorist assault on our country. One of the ways they have adapted is by changing their means of security concerning airline travel.
The Transportation Security Administration was formed as part of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act after the attacks of 9/11. It was created to oversee security for highways, railroads, buses, mass transit systems, airports, and water ports. The majority of the TSA efforts, however, are airport security. This organization is responsible for screening passengers and baggage prior to being loaded onto commercial planes. Since its inception, there have been many issues in regards to the TSA and its inspectors. The following are items of airport security controversies within TSA. These controversies involve police organizational issues and administrative challenges for criminal justice administrators. This paper will discuss how a potential