Administrator Ne Demek
Itaete Roberson
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within, and connecting to, the United States. It was created as a response to the September 11 attacks to improve airport security procedures and consolidate air travel security under a combined federal law enforcement and regulatory agency.[1]
The TSA develops key policies to protect the U.S. transportation system, including highways, railroads, bus networks, mass transit systems, ports, pipelines, and intermodal freight facilities. It fulfills this mission in conjunction with other federal, state, local and foreign government partners. However, the TSA's primary mission is airport security and the prevention of aircraft hijacking. It is responsible for screening passengers and baggage at more than 450 U.S. airports, employing screening officers, explosives detection dog handlers, and bomb technicians in airports, and armed Federal Air Marshals and Federal Flight Deck Officers on aircraft.[2]
At first a part of the Department of Transportation, the TSA became part of DHS in March 2003. It is currently led by Administrator David Pekoske and is headquartered in Springfield, Virginia. As of the fiscal year 2023, the TSA operated on a budget of approximately $9.70 billion and employed over 47,000 Transportation Security Officers, Transportation Security Specialists, Federal Air Marshals, and other security personnel.
The TSA has screening processes and regulations related to passengers and checked and carry-on luggage, including identification verification, pat-downs, full-body scanners, and explosives screening. Since its inception, the agency has been subject to criticism and controversy regarding the effectiveness of various procedures, as well as incidents of baggage theft, data security, and allegations of prejudicial treatment towards certain ethnic groups.[3]
The TSA was created largely in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which revealed weaknesses in existing airport security procedures.[4] At the time, a myriad of private security companies managed air travel security under contract to individual airlines or groups of airlines that used a given airport or terminal facility.[5] Proponents of placing the government in charge of airport security, including Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, argued that only a single federal agency could best protect passenger aviation.
Congress agreed, and authorized the creation of the TSA in the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush on November 19, 2001. Bush nominated John Magaw on December 10, and he was confirmed by the Senate the following January. The agency was initially placed under the United States Department of Transportation but was moved to the Department of Homeland Security when that department was formed on March 9, 2003.
The new agency's effort to hire screeners to begin operating security checkpoints at airports represents a case of a large-scale staffing project completed over a short period. The only effort in U.S. history that came close to it was the testing of recruits for the armed forces in World War II. During the period from February to December 2002, 1.7 million applicants were assessed for 55,000 screening jobs.[6]
When TSA was part of the Department of Transportation, the head of the agency was referred to as the Undersecretary of Transportation for Security. Following the move to the Department of Homeland Security in March 2003, the position was reclassified as the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration.
There have been seven administrators and six acting administrators in the TSA's 19-year history. Several have come to the job after previously serving as Coast Guard flag officers, including Loy, Neffenger, and Pekoske.
Following the passage of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, which included a provision known as the TSA Modernization Act, the administrator's term was set as a five-year term retroactive to the start of current Administrator David Pekoske's term. It also made the deputy administrator a politically appointed position.[7]
At the helm of the TSA is the Administrator, who leads the organization's efforts in safeguarding the nation's airports, railways, seaports, and other critical transportation infrastructure. Assisting the Administrator is a Deputy Administrator, whose role is to provide support and guidance in executing the agency's mission. In addition, the TSA benefits from the expertise and leadership of several Deputy Assistant Administrators and other executive officers, who contribute their knowledge and skills to various aspects of the agency's operations. Together, this structured leadership team forms the backbone of the TSA, working collectively to uphold and enhance the security of the nation's transportation networks. The Executive Assistant Administrator for Law Enforcement is also the Executive Director of the Federal Air Marshal Service.
In August 2017, the General Services Administration announced a new headquarters for the TSA would be built in Springfield, Virginia. The new, 625,000-square-foot headquarters was built near the outskirts of Fort Belvoir and the Franconia-Springfield Metro station, and cost $316 million.[20]
As of September 2019[update] the salary range for a TSO is at least $28,668 to $40,954[35] per year, not including locality pay (contiguous 48 states) or cost of living allowance in Hawaii and Alaska. A handful of airports also have a retention bonus of up to 35%.[36]
This program has led to concerns about, and allegations of racial profiling.[38][39] According to the TSA, SPOT screening officers are trained to observe behaviors only and not a person's appearance, race, ethnicity or religion.[40]
In 2008, TSA officers began wearing new uniforms that have a royal blue duty shirt, dark blue (almost black) pants, and black belt.[55] The first airport to introduce the new uniforms was Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Starting on September 11, 2008, all TSOs began wearing the new uniform. One stripe on the outer edge of each shoulder board denotes a TSO, two stripes a Lead TSO, and three a Supervisory TSO.
On Friday, November 1, 2013, TSA officer Gerardo I. Hernandez, age 39, was shot and killed by a lone gunman at the Los Angeles International Airport. Law enforcement officials identified the suspect as 23-year-old Paul Anthony Ciancia, who was shot and wounded by law enforcement officers before being taken into custody.[56] Ciancia was wearing fatigues and carrying a bag containing a hand-written note that said he "wanted to kill TSA and pigs". Hernandez was the first TSA officer to be killed in the line of duty.[57]
On March 21, 2015, 63-year-old Richard White entered the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport armed with six Molotov cocktails, a gasoline lighter, and a machete. White began assaulting passengers and Transportation Security Administration officers by spraying them with a can of wasp killer, then started swinging his machete. A TSA agent blocked the machete with a piece of luggage, as White ran through a metal detector. A Jefferson Parish deputy sheriff shot and killed White as he was chasing a TSA officer with his machete.[58]
TSA continued working throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. As of December 31, 2020, TSA cumulatively had 4,978 federal employees test positive for COVID-19: 4,219 of those employees recovered, and 12 died as a result of the virus.[59]
The TSA requires passengers 18 and older to show a valid ID at the security checkpoint before boarding their flight. Valid forms of identification include passports from the U.S. or a foreign government, state or tribal-issued photo identification, or military ID. Passengers that do not have ID are often still allowed to fly if their identity can be verified through alternate means satisfying a certificate of identity.[60]
Passed by Congress in 2005, the Real ID Act established minimum security standards for state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards and prohibits federal agencies, like TSA, from accepting licenses and identification cards for official purposes from states that do not meet these standards.[61] Implementation has been deferred for over a decade by DHS, and enforcement has never begun.
Passenger names are compared against the No Fly List, a list of about 21,000 names (as of 2012[update]) of suspected terrorists who are not allowed to board.[63] Passenger names are also compared against a longer list of selectees; passengers whose names match names from this list receive a more thorough screening before being potentially allowed to board.[64] The effectiveness of the lists has been criticized on the basis of errors in how those lists are maintained,[65] for concerns that the lists are unconstitutional, and for its ineffectiveness at stopping Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who attempted to detonate plastic explosives in his underwear, from boarding an aircraft.[66]At the airport security checkpoint, passengers are screened to ensure they are not carrying prohibited items. These include most sorts of sharp objects, many sporting goods such as baseball bats and hockey sticks, guns or other weapons, many sorts of tools, flammable liquids (except for conventional lighters), many forms of chemicals and paint.[67] In addition, passengers are limited to 3.4 US fluid ounces (100 ml) of almost any liquid or gel, which must be presented at the checkpoint in a clear, one-quart zip-top bag.[68] These restrictions on liquids were a reaction to the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot.
The number of passengers who have been detected bringing firearms onto airplanes in their carry-on bags has increased in recent years, from 976 in 2009 to 4,239 in 2018, according to the TSA. Indeed, a new record high for firearms found in carry-on bags has been set every year since 2008.[69] In 2010 an anonymous source told ABC News that undercover agents managed to bring weapons through security nearly 70 percent of the time at some major airports.[70] Firearms can be legally checked in checked luggage on domestic flights.[71]
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