Given that they spend a large amount of time checking passengers and throw away a number of passengers’ personal items, should airport transportation security officers have a hard time finding weapons? With an annual budget of $7 million, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials believe that they set the standard for excellence in transportation security. According to ABC News, after an internal investigation with the Department of Homeland Security red teams, reports have shown otherwise. In fact, the results were so shocking that it led to the resignation of the head of the department.

Red team agents posed as passengers and conducted a series of tests to see just how secure this system really is. TSA agents did not pass 67 out of 70 tests, failing to find several mock weapons and explosives. Homeland Security discovered that the TSA fails to stop fake weapons or explosives from being smuggled through security checkpoints 95 percent of the time at some of our nation’s busiest airports. One red team investigator was stopped after setting off a magnetometer. Shockingly, after a pat-down, TSA agents still failed to find the fake explosive device taped to the investigator’s back. Frustrated by these results Jeh Johnson, the Homeland Security Secretary, set out immediately for a detailed briefing at the TSA Headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. DHS officials stated,

Secretary Johnson immediately directed TSA to implement a series of actions several of which are now in place, to address the issues raised in the report.

Melvin Carraway, the head of the TSA, resigned from his position as the acting administrator upon hearing these reports. He was appointed to this position in January of 2015 and was a veteran of the TSA for 11 years, holding many positions within the organization. Carraway was reassigned to serve in the Office of State and Local Law Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security headquarters. There doesn’t appear to have been official word from Carraway on why he has resigned yet. Mark Hatfield will be his replacement until a new acting administrator is appointed. In regards to how the TSA will be dealt with moving forward, Johnson stated,

We take these findings very seriously in our continued effort to test, measure and enhance our capabilities and techniques as threats evolve.

Unnamed officials spoken to by ABC News admitted that these results were disappointing. Government officials claim that because red team agents are familiar with TSA procedures these results are not realistic and they are able to get past security in ways that terrorists could not. The TSA requires every passenger to go through various security checks before boarding a plane. Many believe that this process is nothing but an unnecessary and insulting ritual that does not protect anyone’s safety. It seems as if the TSA is more concerned with throwing away harmless personal items than finding weapons that threaten the lives of others.

The @TSA may not be able to find any bombs, but they sure as hell can find my shampoo..

— Larry Kraus (@lsk0334) June 2, 2015

The TSA has been failing to detect mock weapons for years and studies like this spark concerns that airline security is no safer than it was during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. With very few improvements, TSA has to figure out how to change their security procedures and stop these incidents from occurring.

Taelor Bentley

Taelor is a member of the Hampton University Class of 2017 and was a Law Street Media Fellow for the Summer of 2015. Contact Taelor at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Acting Head of the TSA Resigns After Shocking Test Results appeared first on Law Street.

If you’re like me flying can be kind of scary. Yes, I am well aware of the fact that I am significantly more likely to die in a car accident than in a horrific plane crash. Unfortunately that morbid statistic does nothing to quell my intense phobia of heights combined with a general distaste for spaces that I can’t escape. It makes me nervous, playing with my hands and fidgeting more than unusual. According to The Intercept, I should stop doing all of these things because they are all quirks that TSA agents look for and classify as suspicious behavior via a designated point system detailed in a newly acquired TSA document.

This checklist is part of a controversial TSA program to identify potential terrorists based on behaviors that “indicate stress or deception.” The program is known as the Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques, or SPOT. SPOT is operated by trained individuals known as ‘Behavior Detection Officers’ who observe and interact with passengers during screenings.

Nerves aren’t the only thing that can apparently make someone look suspicious to a TSA behavior agent. In the “Spot Referral Report,” a number of behaviors are divided into two categories: one point for “stress” factors and two points for “fear” factors.

Here are a few signs that TSA thinks might make you a terrorist:

• Exaggerated yawning
• Excessive throat clearing
• Widely open staring eyes
• Wearing improper attire for location
• Gazing down
• Exaggerated or repetitive grooming gestures
• Face pale from recent shaving of beard
• Rubbing or wringing of hands
• Arriving late for a flight
• Bulging adams apple

Now some of the behaviors listed make sense–like bulges under clothes–but others like excessive yawning and arriving late for a flight are hardly out of the ordinary or threatening for that matter. There were also some that are just outright weird, i.e. “bulging adams apples.” Why?

Apparently this document was not classified, but rather closely guarded by the TSA. The Intercept only received a copy after a concerned source questioned the quality of the program.

I can understand why. Behavioral science has been critiqued as not being an actual science, and therefore unreliable. According to the article, the Government Accountability Office found that there was no evidence to support the idea that “behavioral indicators” can be used to determine if someone is a threat to aviation. GAO concluded that:

The human ability to accurately identify deceptive behavior based on behavioral indicators is the same as or slightly better than chance.

According to The Intercept, the ACLU sued TSA last week to obtain records related to its behavior detection programs, alleging that they lead to racial profiling. They could have a point. Using a checklist that makes almost any passenger susceptible to suspicion has the potential to be used as a catchall to interrogate or search any individual who is supposedly threatening. When racial stereotypes begin to come into play it is only a recipe for disaster. While airport security is a serious concern for Americans, programs like SPOT that depend solely on contrived behavioral factors is hardly reliable. In the mean time I’ll be mindful to keep my nerves to a minimum while going through airport security.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post TSA Has Secret Checklist to Spot Terrorists. Hint: Don’t Yawn at Security appeared first on Law Street.