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LAX Shooting Prompts New TSA Security Measures

Benjamin Dunn |
November 8, 2013 | 12:30 a.m. PST

Staff Reporter/Photographer

TSA is currently looking for new methods to ensure the safety of employees and passengers. (Tal Atlas)
TSA is currently looking for new methods to ensure the safety of employees and passengers. (Tal Atlas)

In response to the LAX shooting that occurred on Friday Nov. 1, the Transportation Security Administration is reworking its security policies in order to be accountable for a wider variety of threats. According to Press Secretary Ross Feinstein, recent steps include moving “away from a one size fits all security approach to a more risk based security approach.”

The American Federation of Government Workers, a union that represents TSA workers, announced its goal of creating a new class of TSA officers with extended law enforcement capabilities.

In a press release, J. David Cox Sr., president of AFGE said a “larger and more consistent armed presence in screening areas would be a positive step in improving security for both TSOs and the flying public.”

TSA Administrator John S. Pistole also met with 20 security organizations in Washington on Thursday to receive input regarding how to further protect employees and passengers. At the meeting, he reiterated that TSA will continue working collaboratively to best be able to handle whatever potential threats may arise. 

According to aviation experts, however, training and staffing these kinds of officers would be excessively costly.

In an article published by The Verge, Jeff Price, an aviation security expert at Metropolitan State University of Denver, says that arming TSA workers would be “incredibly costly and likely overkill.” He believes that strengthening local law enforcement would be a more cost effective strategy.

READ MORE: TSA Union Demands Armed Guards At All Checkpoints

Pre-checkpoint areas at LAX are particularly vulnerable, as anyone can freely enter the airport structure.

"It's very difficult to stop these types of attacks," said Congressman Michael McCaul in an interview with CNN. "Anybody can show up—as we saw in the Navy Yard with the shotgun." 

As part of LAX’s ongoing renovation project, approximately $1 billion is being invested into “direct and/or indirect improvements to passenger safety and security.” In 2011, the airport saw a 27% decrease in crime compared to the previous year, suggesting that the $1 billion investment has already begun to show improvements in safety. 

Some have suggested that American airports should look to Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport for safety inspiration. Widely regarded as one of the most secure airports in the world, Ben Gurion Airport searches every vehicle at the airport's perimeter and requires passengers to go through security checkpoints before entering the terminals.

Adopting these time and money intensive procedures, however, will raise additional problems. Ben Gurion Airport's stringent security measures were not designed to handle such a large volume of passengers and may result in hours of waiting. While Ben Gurion Airport received 13 million passengers in 2012, LAX received 63 million passengers—over four times as many as Ben Gurion.

Benjamin Rubin, a USC student and former Staff Sergeant in the Israeli Air Force, said that Israel and Los Angeles face different security threats, so their problems cannot be solved using the same methods. While he does not believe that LAX needs to take the same measures that Ben Gurion has, Rubin believes “certain protocols could avoid incidents such as the recent one.” 

Rubin believes LAX should adopt Ben Gurion's policy of training airport personnel how to read body language, such as jittering eyes and hunched silhouettes.  

“Catching subtle cues...can put the line between letting in a potential threat or stopping one," said Rubin. He claims that all airport staff—even non security personnel such as ticketing agents—are trained to screen for anomalies among passengers. “You are always being screened and watched, even by people you are unaware of.”

Reach Staff Reporter/Photographer Benjamin Dunn here.



 

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