Airport screeners have seized more than 4.8 million items – including guns, knives, a kitchen sink pipe and a circular saw – in the 13 months the federal government has been in charge of security. The Transportation Security Administration on Monday gave its most thorough accounting of seizures at the nation’s 429 commercial airports. At the same time, the Justice Department released an audit that said foreign terrorists and known criminals could still slip past U.S. immigration officials at major airports because of gaps in a system aimed at singling them out. The audit by Justice Inspector General Glenn Fine found that frontline inspectors do not always enter passenger data into a computer that could help ferret out people who have been convicted of felonies or attempted to use false or stolen passports. In mid-October 2002, there was a backlog of some 1,800 names of these “lookouts” waiting to be entered, the audit found. It also found no proof that some 2,800 travelers singled out initially as raising potential concern ever underwent a required second inspection before boarding aircraft. Full Story
About OODA Analyst
OODA is comprised of a unique team of international experts capable of providing advanced intelligence and analysis, strategy and planning support, risk and threat management, training, decision support, crisis response, and security services to global corporations and governments.