Behaviour-based airport checks are dismissed as useless
Behavioural screening at US airports is little better than guessing and has wasted $1 billion since 2007, a report has found.
The report by the Government Accountability Office found that the TSA scheme, where agents spot suspicious passengers and engage them in conversation, is not effective in screening potentially dangerous travellers.
"In the wake of last week’s tragic shooting at LAX, we have a responsibility to re-examine existing TSA security policies and programmes, in order to identify practical, risk-based steps that can be taken to strengthen coordination between local law enforcement and TSA, and to prioritise security measures more effectively," said the subcommittee chairman Richard Hudson in a statement today.
The SPOT programme puts 3,000 behaviour detection officers at 176 airports, and costs more than $200 million a year.
The House Subcommittee on Transportation Security is due to hold a hearing about the report today (Thursday).
by Cheryl Rosen, Editor TravelMole US
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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