Editing Transportation Security Administration (section)

=== Effectiveness of screening procedures ===
[[File:TSA Red Team logo.png|thumb|200x200px|The logo of TSA's [[red team]] which includes a [[Black swan theory|black swan]]]]
Undercover operations to test the effectiveness of airport screening processes are routinely carried out by the TSA's Office of Investigations,<ref name="Elias2010">{{cite book |last=Elias |first=Bart |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nW3kZay_eKEC&pg=PT11 |title=Airport Passenger Screening: Background and Issues for Congress |date=April 2010 |publisher=DIANE Publishing |isbn=9781437923223 |pages=11– |access-date=April 7, 2013}}</ref> TSA's [[red team]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=TSA Inspections |date=November 5, 2019 |title=TSA Inspection: Red Team Overview |url=https://alert.northeastern.edu/assets/adsa/adsa21_presentations/12_Pinegar.pdf |website=[[Northeastern University]]}}</ref> and the [[Department of Homeland Security]] [[Inspector General]]'s office.

A 2004 report by the [[Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General]] found that TSA officials had collaborated with [[Covenant Aviation Security]] (CAS) at [[San Francisco International Airport]] to alert screeners to undercover tests.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_07-04_Oct06.pdf |author=Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General |title=Review of Allegations Regarding San Francisco International Airport, OIG-07-04 |date=October 2006 |access-date=November 22, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527231442/https://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_07-04_Oct06.pdf |archive-date=May 27, 2010 |author-link=Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General }}</ref> From August 2003 until May 2004, precise descriptions of the undercover personnel were provided to the screeners. The handing out of descriptions was then stopped, but until January 2005 screeners were still alerted whenever undercover operations were being undertaken.<ref>[http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/17/BAG72MESP91.DTL San Francisco International Airport Screening tests were sabotaged]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114083057/http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2006%2F11%2F17%2FBAG72MESP91.DTL |date=November 14, 2011 }}, ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'', November 17, 2006</ref> When no wrongdoing on the part of CAS was found, the contract was extended for four years. Some CAS and TSA workers received disciplinary action, but none were fired.<ref name="sfgate2006">{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SAN-FRANCISCO-INTERNATIONAL-AIRPORT-Screening-2484529.php|author= Jim Doyle|title=San Francisco International Airport / Screening tests were sabotaged / Security workers were warned when undercover agent arrived  |work=The San Francisco Chronicle|date=November 17, 2006 |access-date=November 22, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Aaron C. Davis |url=http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Nov17/0,4670,SanFranciscoAirport,00.html |title=SF Airport Cheated Security Tests |publisher=FOX News |date=November 17, 2006 |access-date=November 22, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110730075020/http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Nov17/0%2C4670%2CSanFranciscoAirport%2C00.html |archive-date=July 30, 2011 }}</ref>

A report on undercover operations conducted in October 2006 at [[Newark Liberty International Airport]] was leaked to the press. The screeners had failed 20 of 22 undercover security tests, missing numerous guns and bombs. The [[Government Accountability Office]] had previously pointed to repeated covert test failures by TSA personnel.<ref>[http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=screeners28&date=20061028 Airport screeners fail to see most test bombs] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080131175452/http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=screeners28&date=20061028 |date=January 31, 2008 }}, ''[[The Seattle Times]]'', October 28, 2006</ref><ref>[http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/airlines/newark-airport-screeners-fail-to-find-hidden-weapons-in-federal-test-211044.php?mail2=true Screeners at Newark fail to find 'weapons'] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070301181902/http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/airlines/newark-airport-screeners-fail-to-find-hidden-weapons-in-federal-test-211044.php?mail2=true |date=March 1, 2007 }}{{spaced ndash}}Agents got 20 of 22 'devices' past staff. ''[[The Star-Ledger]]'', October 27, 2006.</ref> Revealing the results of covert tests is against TSA policy, and the agency responded by initiating an internal probe to discover the source of the leak.<ref>[http://www.whistleblower.org/content/press_detail.cfm?press_id=663 TSA seeks source of leaks on airport security tests], ''The Star-Ledger'', October 31, 2006 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927221915/http://www.whistleblower.org/content/press_detail.cfm?press_id=663 |date=September 27, 2007 }}</ref>

In July 2007, the ''[[Times Union (Albany)|Times Union]]'' of [[Albany, New York]] reported that TSA screeners at [[Albany International Airport]] failed multiple covert security tests conducted by the TSA. Among them was a failure to detect a fake bomb.<ref>{{cite news |title=Fake Bomb Eludes Airport Test |url=http://archives.timesunion.com/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=6466589 |work=Times Union |location=Albany, NY |date=July 4, 2007 }}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In December 2010, ABC News Houston reported in an article about a man who accidentally took a forgotten gun through airport security, that "the failure rate approaches 70 percent at some major airports".<ref name="quinn">{{cite news|last=Quinn|first=Kevin|title=Man boards plane at IAH with loaded gun in carry-on|url=https://abc13.com/archive/7848683/|access-date=May 12, 2011|newspaper=ABC News KTRK-TV/DT Houston|date=December 17, 2010|archive-date=June 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629051305/http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news%2Flocal&id=7848683|url-status=live}}</ref>

In June 2011, TSA fired 36 screeners at the [[Honolulu International Airport|Honolulu airport]] for regularly allowing bags through without being inspected.<ref>Poole, Robert (September 19, 2011) [http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/06/10/tsa.screeners/index.html Massive firing at HNL Honolulu Airport], [[CNN]]</ref>

In 2011, an artist, Geoff McGann, was detained by the TSA, arrested, and charged for wearing a watch which contained visible wiring and fuse-like elements, despite containing no explosive ingredients.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stampler |first1=Laura |title=This Adman Was Arrested At An Airport For Having A Bomb-Like Watch |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/geoff-mcgann-arrested-in-airport-for-his-watch-2012-11 |website=Business Insider |access-date=11 January 2023}}</ref>

In March 2012, American attorney Jonathan Corbett published video demonstrating a vulnerability in TSA's body scanners that would allow metallic objects to pass undetected.<ref>{{cite news |title=Blogger shows the world how to sneak anything past TSA's nude body scanners [video] |url=https://bgr.com/general/blogger-shows-the-world-how-to-sneak-anything-past-tsas-nude-body-scanners-video/ |work=BGR |date=March 7, 2012 }}</ref> TSA downplayed, though did not deny, the vulnerability,<ref>{{cite magazine |title=TSA Pooh-Poohs Video Purporting to Defeat Airport Body Scanners |url=https://www.wired.com/2012/03/bodyscanner-video/ |magazine=Wired |date=March 7, 2012 }}</ref> and researchers later confirmed its existence.<ref>{{cite news |title=Security Analysis of a Full-Body Scanner |url=https://radsec.org/secure1000-sec14.pdf |work=RadSec |date=August 20, 2014 }}</ref>

In May 2012, a report from the [[Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General]] stated that the TSA "does not have a complete understanding" of breaches at the nation's airports, with some hubs doing very little to fix or report security breaches. These findings will be{{update inline|date=September 2021}} presented to Congress.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/15/us/tsa-breaches/index.html?hpt%3Dhp_bn1 |title=Report: TSA security breaches mishandled |website=[[CNN]] |date=May 15, 2012 |access-date=May 16, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305091656/http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/15/us/tsa-breaches/index.html?hpt=hp_bn1 |archive-date=March 5, 2016 }} Report: TSA Security Breaches Mishandled</ref> Rep. [[Darrell Issa]], then-chairman of the [[House Oversight and Government Reform Committee]], and Rep. [[John Mica]], then-chairman of the [[House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee]], were reported in 2012 to have had several joint hearings concerning the cost and benefits of the various safety programs including full-body scanners, the [[Transportation Worker Identification Credential]] (TWIC), and the behavior detection program, among others.<ref>[https://archive.today/20130421173438/http://www.hstoday.us/single-article/joint-house-hearing-questions-effectiveness-of-tsa-aviation-security-measures/a25e6380c21445a2d31eb9d54b2b6f66.html Joint house hearing]- Retrieved August 19, 2012</ref>

A 2015 investigation by the Homeland Security Inspector General revealed that undercover investigators were able to smuggle banned items through checkpoints in 95% of their attempts.<ref>{{cite web |author=Fishel |first=Justin |last2=Thomas |first2=Pierre |last3=Levine |first3=Mike |last4=Date |first4=Jack |date=2015-06-01 |title=TSA failure: Investigators able to smuggle weapons past airport checks in 95 percent of tests |url=http://www.newsnet5.com/news/national/tsa-failure-investigators-able-to-smuggle-weapons-past-airport-checks-in-95-percent-of-tests |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150601165024/http://www.newsnet5.com/news/national/tsa-failure-investigators-able-to-smuggle-weapons-past-airport-checks-in-95-percent-of-tests |archive-date=June 1, 2015 |work=[[WEWS-TV|NewsNet5]]}}</ref>

Some measures employed by the TSA have been accused of being ineffective and fostering a false sense of safety.<ref>{{cite news |author=Robert W. Poole Jr. |title=False Security |work=[[New York Post]] / [[Reason Foundation]] |date=December 5, 2001 |url=http://reason.org/news/show/122531.html |access-date=August 3, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=[[Ron Paul]] (U.S. Congressman) |title=TSA- Bullies at the Airport |work=Ron Paul's Texas Straight Talk |publisher=house.gov |date=November 29, 2004 |url=http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2004/tst112904.htm |access-date=August 3, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080802162924/http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2004/tst112904.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = August 2, 2008}}</ref> This led security expert [[Bruce Schneier]] to coin the term ''[[security theater]]'' to describe those measures.<ref>{{cite book
  | last = Schneier
  | first = Bruce
  | author-link = Bruce Schneier
  | title = Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly about Security in an Uncertain World
  | publisher = Copernicus Books
  | year = 2003
  | isbn = 978-0-387-02620-6
  | page = [https://archive.org/details/beyondfearthinki00schn_0/page/38 38]
  | url-access = registration
  | url = https://archive.org/details/beyondfearthinki00schn_0/page/38
  }}</ref>

====Unintended consequences of screening enhancements====
Two studies by a group of [[Cornell University]] researchers asserted that increased airport security may have increased road fatalities, as would-be air travelers decide to drive and are exposed to the far greater risk of dying in a car accident.<ref name="cornell1" /><ref name="cornell2" /> In 2005, the researchers looked at the immediate aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001, and found that the change in passenger travel modes led to 242 added driving deaths per month.<ref name="cornell1">{{cite journal|last=Blalock|first=Garrick|author2=Vrinda Kadiyali |author3=Daniel H. Simon |date=February 10, 2005|title=The Impact of 9/11 on Road Fatalities: The Other Lives Lost to Terrorism|journal=SSRN Working Paper Series|issn=1556-5068|doi=10.2139/ssrn.677549|ssrn=677549|s2cid=166297695}}</ref> In all, they estimated that about 1,200 driving deaths could be attributed to the short-term effects of the attacks. The study attributes the change in traveler behavior to two factors: fear of terrorist attacks and the wish to avoid the inconvenience of strict security measures; no attempt is made to estimate separately the influence of each of these two factors.

In 2007, the researchers studied the specific effects of a change to security practices instituted by the TSA in late 2002. They concluded that this change reduced the number of air travelers by 6%, and estimated that consequently, 129 more people died in car accidents in the fourth quarter of 2002.<ref name="cornell2">{{cite web|url=http://aem.cornell.edu/faculty_sites/gb78/wp/JLE_6301.pdf |title=AEM.cornell.edu |access-date=January 16, 2012}}</ref> Extrapolating this rate of fatalities, ''New York Times'' contributor [[Nate Silver]] remarked that this is equivalent to "four fully loaded Boeing 737s crashing each year."<ref>{{cite news|last=Silver |first=Nate |url=http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/the-hidden-costs-of-extra-airport-security/?partner=rss&emc=rss |title=The Hidden Costs of Extra Security - NYTimes.com |publisher=Fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com |date= November 18, 2010|access-date=November 19, 2010}}</ref> The 2007 study also noted that strict airport security hurts the airline industry; it was estimated that the 6% reduction in the number of passengers in the fourth quarter of 2002 cost the industry $1.1 billion in lost business.<ref name="Blalock2007">{{cite journal|last=Blalock|first=Garrick|author2=Vrinda Kadiyali |author3=Daniel H. Simon |year=2007|title=The Impact of Post-9/11 Airport Security Measures on the Demand for Air Travel|journal=The Journal of Law and Economics|volume=50|issue=4|pages=731–755|issn=0022-2186|doi=10.1086/519816|s2cid=681649}}</ref>