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How has airport security changed since 9 11 essay
Aviation security topics
The debate over airport security
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Airport security is a big issue today because many people talk down on it when story after story, it is made to protect the people. Kip Hawley acknowledges that airport security has become so bureaucratic and disconnected from the people for which it is meant to protect for over a decade after 9/11 (Hawley). So why isn’t TSA taking the public’s opinions into consideration? TSA hears over thousands of complaints on a daily about their “stupid security checkpoints” or their “lazy employees”. The thing is, if airports were to improve their security staff, then less people would attempt to bring dangerous items onto the plane. If airports were to have dogs that are trained to smell toxic liquid, that would fix solutions quickly. TSA depends solely on their scanners too much. Ed Hewitt argues that TSA needs to fix the sloppiness and uncaring employees …show more content…
Well, we can start off by saying TSA isn’t going anywhere anytime soon as much as we’d love for it to be long gone. One of the biggest solutions to not only help lines move faster, but cut down the billions of dollars that TSA spends on security, is to profile people. As inadequate as it sounds, we are profiled every single day. To what we’re wearing, our hairstyle, our language, our ethnicity, etc, someone is always going to judge you based on first appearance. Police officers are the biggest profilers in the world. Christopher Elliott concedes that there’s been a lot of talk lately about the TSA adopting Israeli-style screening techniques, including profiling every airline passenger. This makes sense. Terrorists who bomb airlines tend to fit a certain description (Elliott). Profiling can be done in two different ways. Philip Baum of the NY Times, acknowledges that effective profiling is based on the analysis of the behavior and appearance of a passenger (Baum). Profiling isn’t always based on race, religion, nationality, or color of the
“In 2001, airline security was minimal and was the responsibility of the airline. Passengers were asked a few questions by ticket agents before they passed through checkpoints with metal detectors that were calibrated to sound an alarm for anything larger than a small caliber handgun. If an alarm did sound, security at the checkpoint would use a hand wand to scan the passenger again to determine what had set off the alarm. Bags were simply passed through an x-ray machine.... ...
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.
McNeil, Jena B. “TSA Has It’s Security Priorities in the Wrong Place.” 20 Dec. 2010. Web. 20 Jan.
The events of September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks have changed how airport security is implemented
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.
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 flight was the target of an attempted bomb plot. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab got past security screening and successfully boarded the plane with explosives packed in his underwear. He nearly succeeded in detonating the bomb, but the detonation didn't go as planned and passengers overpowered him before he could fix the detonation[0]. As a result, the TSA increased the use of full-body scanners to replace metal detectors. Before the 2009 attack, there were only 40 full-body scanners in use across 19 airports. After the attack, the government planned to have over 1000 machines in use by the end of 2011. However, the expensive machines are ineffective. In 2010, TV personality Adam Savage unintentionally managed to get two 12" long razor blades through security[1]. In 2011, an undercover TSA agent was able to successfully pass through the scanners with a handgun in her underwear, repeatedly[2]. The TSA is clearly incapable of creating a truly safe airport checkpoint, and is becoming less effective the longe...
Overall in my opinion Airport profiling doesn't work and is kind of a waste of time when they should just do body pat downs at airports look at their luggage and make sure there isn’t harmful. Profiling should not even be practiced at airports because people can act anyway they want and just because they act how they want they most likely will be screened and profiled.
Jeffrey Rosen, of the Washington Post, writes a great article regarding the needs of safety when weighed against personal freedoms. “The TSA is invasive, annoying - and Unconstitutional” does well in explaining that the courts do acknowledge that there is a public safety need for certain searches at the airport. It also go on to show that people, when given the choice, are more opposed to pat-down searches than they are with the “naked” scanners of the TSA. These searches, however, do not limit the peoples’ right to procedural due process. The article go on to compare the TSA’s screening methods, with that of the Netherlands. It points to advances in “blob” screening, as opposed to the “naked” scanners the TSA uses. The “blob” scanners do provide more false positives, but as technology improves, so will these minimally invasive scanners (The TSA is invasive, annoying - and unconstitutional. 2010).
Racial profiling in America, as evidenced by recent events, has reached a critical breaking point. No longer can an African American, male or female, walk into a store, school, or any public place without fear of being stereotyped as a person of suspicion. Society constantly portrays the African American
Prior to 9/11, there was little to no security in the airport. One could simply check in and walk to straight to their gate. Shortly after, security took rise across the country and noticeably in airports. Now, one must wait in line, take off their shoes, jackets, liquids, and get screened for metals. While some view this as an inconvenience, others perceive this as a completely necessary aspect to one's travels. In this instance, one's freedom is significantly limited but, in turn, a greater level of safety is provided. This situation is perceived differently by everyone and depending on one’s outlook, can be a good or bad aspect to
Global security is an extraordinarily imperative idea when it comes to public safety. The purpose of global security is to protect the interests of the public. When viewing this through the lens of public and private relationships, it is effortless to see how the two walk hand in hand when it comes to trying to achieve global security. Global security is a relevant concept because the people of the United States need to be protected at all costs. Along with protecting the public, the government also needs to protect the interests of itself. To achieve global security by way of protecting the public, the government works endlessly to ensure public safety.
“Airport Security.” Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 13 January. 2014.
Eradicating terror in America has been, and should remain on the agenda as one of the main efforts of the United States government. Post 9/11, there has been a wide amount of change seen in security, particularly in airports around the country. Speaking with people about the differences of security in airports before and after 9/11, makes it obvious that the United States has made it a priority to minimize threats to public safety. Along with increased security in airports, there has been a surge of racial profiling of Muslims in America. Subsequent to the San Bernardino attacks in California, the issue of racial profiling as being effective and politically correct has been a topic of controversy. The term racial profiling, has recently been
Rafi Sela, a former head of security of an Israeli airport once said, "If you have a gap in security, you have no security" (qtd. in Gulli et al). There remain serious security gaps in the airports spread across the United States today. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency that was specifically created because of the 9/11 attacks and is responsible for regulating and operating the security of the airports in the United States. Its main aspect at present is the screening of passengers and their cargo, and it is in charge of the rules and regulations put into effect in the airports over them. Other agencies and individuals have noticed a wide breach in the TSA's supposedly effective measures of security, as the Government Accountability Office (GAO) made a statement saying, "TSA screening procedures are no better at foiling terror threats than random chance" (Blakeley). The TSA is an ineffective and an incompetent department that is shown by the GAO to be, "notoriously terrible at catching dangerous threats" (qtd. in Blakeley). This gap of security by the TSA is preventing the United States from providing a safe and secure aviation system that will ultimately keep all passengers safe from harm. Unless serious measures are taken to reconstruct the airport security system, the threats of suicide missions and terrorism developing in airports may become a frequent reality in the future. The airline industry has a history involving numerous cases of disputes and complications (Goodwin). Though some of these issues have been resolved by the TSA, many other concerns involving recent occurrences such as attempted bombings still remains to be resolved. Currently, the airport's security operation is one of mass confu...
Public safety covers a wide variety of people and organizations, but carries one common theme and that is, the public’s safety. This course has broadened my knowledge on the many roles that make the public safety sector go around and the role the public plays in it as well. My thoughts before the course were close minded and to the point. I quickly realized that policing is not as cut and dry as I once portrayed it to be. Society is always changing and adapting, and it is the job of the those in public safety to adapt and change with it. The mindset that I grew up with, in rural Saskatchewan, was the police are good people and you will only need to deal with them if you break the law or see someone break the law. My answers in the module 1 survey reflected my upbringing. My first thought for