Transportation Safety Administration Research Paper

Transportation Safety Administration - Research Paper Example Keywords: 4th Amendment, AIT Scanner, Pat downs. Transportation Safety Administration Screening at U. S. Airports The Bill of Rights and the 4th Amendment 2001 and Now Introduction: September 11, 2001 will never be forgotten by anyone who is an American citizen. It became a day that the â€Å"light came on† for many people who had before taken security for granted. To the major portion of Americans, terrorism was something that happened in other countries, never their own. A total of 19 terrorists were able to evade security checkpoints and personnel and board four commercial airline planes. The results of that day were a â€Å"wake up call† for security in America but particularly for airline security. (Taylor; Steedman, 2003). After 9/11 security professionals have been seen as a major defense to managing the terrorism threat. The security industry has seen a boom after September 11, 2001. The airline industry has been the fastest to upgrade their security measures, s ince the hijackings occurred on commercial airlines. Immediately following the attacks, President Bush poured $20 billion dollars into intelligence and security. The airlines had to enact new security measures so that people would feel safe flying. Stricter background checks and heavier security for baggage checks were the first placement measures. (Taylor; Steedman, 2003). The following research covers the new airline laws, the TSA and how it effects the Bill of Rights and the 4th Amendment. The New Security Measures: The new security laws were put into place on November 1, 2001. They needed to be in place before the heightened traveling season of Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2001. On November 19, 2001 Congress passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA). The Homeland Security Act was passed on November 25, 2002 and the TSA was moved to the Department of Homeland Security, which had formerly been directly under the Department of Transportation. (Taylor; Steedman, 20 03). Security officers are very important in an airport that caters to millions of people traveling from different parts of the world. They are employed to assure the safety of assets; â€Å"they are on the front line.† (Taylor; Steedman, 2003). A security officer takes his position more personal and is able to detect little things that others would not normally see by observation. These officers are well versed on baggage checks, vehicle checks, screening passengers and personnel and operating detection equipment. Shortly after the TSA was formed, 65,000 new federal employees were hired. (Taylor; Steedman, 2003). They were offered higher wages and better benefits, and increased training from 12 hours to 100 hours on all baggage and passenger screeners. (Blalock; Kadiyali; Simon, 2007). The immediate short term upgrades to security included criminal background checks on 750,000 airport employees, screening of all checked baggage with whatever equipment was available. This inc luded x-ray machines, personal hands on inspections, presence of more air marshals on board, and prescreening of suspicious passengers with the FBI. By 2003 5,000 more air marshals were placed on domestic and international flights. Long-term upgrades included 28,000 airport baggage screeners being equipped with explosive