Washington – A $212-million federal program designed to spot suspected terrorists at American airports is “not capable of detecting what took place in Moscow,” according to the chairman of the House Transportation Committee, Rep. John Mica, R-Florida.
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The program, called SPOT, was created in 2006 by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and now has more than 3,000 “Behavior Detection” officers at 161 airports. The officers receive four days of classroom instruction on how to spot certain unusual behaviors.
But the Government Accountability Office says the TSA has relied on unproven behavioral science and Congressional critics say the program has done nothing to deal with the actual vulnerabilities of airport security.
“I see the classified results and it gives me great concern, I saw what happened [in Moscow] and I have even more concern,” Rep. Mica said today on the ABC News program Good Morning America.
The suicide bomb attack at the Moscow airport highlighted a physical vulnerability long recognized by both security officials and terrorists.
“Every airport in the world, including every airport in the United States, has virtually no security until you get to the security checkpoint,” said Richard Clarke, an ABC News consultant and former White House counter-terrorism official.
“Very large parts of all airports are inherently insecure.”
But for that price any big train station or shopping mall is at risk! Its obvious that we need to step up intelligence and not security at the airport!
instead of consulting with the TSA, consult with El Al.
they have everything covered.
not the the TSA that only takes security measures after there is a breach using that method…….
What the TSA is basically saying is that they are spending hundreds of billions a year throughout the US and have NO system to stop a bomber. Great Job
These knuckleheads will ultimately realize that the only way to go is the way Israel does it starting with a checkpoint before you even enter the airport
I was under the impression that the bomb went off at baggage collection. That means that suicide bombers targeted incoming flights. TSA covers outbound travel. It’s Custom and Border Protection (CBP) that ensures incoming. CBP should be addressing the lapses in security.
TSA’s job is to prevent bombs from entering flights. They are not airport security. This is a problem for any public place.
Who’s great idea was it to publicly announce to terrorist that such an attack would succeed in American Airports. He should be tried for aiding and abetting the enemy.
“The officers receive ***four days*** of classroom instruction on how to spot certain unusual behaviors.”
This itself explains volumes.