The Pros And Cons Of Airport Security

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There is plenty of literature as well as healthy debate which argues the better method of how the airport industry can be best secured – through federalization or through privatization. Statistical evidence and complaint data shows a high failure rate by TSA – a government agency created after 9/11 to safeguard the aviation infrastructure. Like wise, there are cost and performance studies commissioned by TSA which reflect that TSA can handle the job at a lower cost. Specifically, the Director of TSA, former FBI executive John Pistole, testified before Capital Hill that TSA operates with more efficiency than a Federal screening workforce (Screening Partnership Program, 2012).

Rahn (2001) opens his argument against a federalized security …show more content…

Does this make any sense? If the security personnel at Boston, Newark and Dulles airports had been federal employees, would the terrorists acts of September 11 been averted? The answer is almost certainly no, because up to that date it was not illegal to carry a box cutter on an airplane (Rahn, 2001, para. 2).

Rahn 's factually correct. Prior to 9/11, FAA rules did not prohibit transportation of small blade knives. They were not considered menacing, did not violate most local laws and as a technical point, were hard to detect with the pre-existing technology thus causing choke point problems with security (9/11 commission report, 2004). Also, Disney 's private security company support the entertainment industry. It is not a national infrastructure which is guided by federal law and interacts on an international level with foreign aviation …show more content…

The TSA 's budget is over 7 billion dollars but unfortunately it does not have much to show for the investment (Schneier, 2015). Over the years, the TSA has held a consistently high failure rate with finding weapons – up to 95% in some cases. Searching for guns and bombs can be a tedious task, and I 'm sure the number of false positives can instill complacency. There is a quantifiable reality here which suggests the current system in place is not optimal. Also coupled is the fact that we have not experienced the sort of enemy attack against commercial or private aircraft since 9/11. One could argue it is part of the increased presence of the TSA or more so perhaps because of better intelligence, inter-agency cooperation and a more vigilant society. There has been targeting of aircraft since 9/11. Richard Reid, the “Shoe Bomber” was disrupted by passengers and flight crew. The attempt to use liquid bombs were disrupted by good intelligence. More recent attacks have been the type of “lone wolves” and gunmen hitting soft targets. All terrible acts, but not exactly the same assets which were targeted on

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