TSA union calls for arming some airport employees

[Omaha Steve]

Source: WQAD

BY SHELLIE NELSON

WASHINGTON (CNN) — In the wake of a violent machete attack at a airport security checkpoint, the union that represents Transportation Security Administration officers is calling for a new elite force that would be armed and authorized to use deadly force at airports across the U.S.

Currently, the union says, those powers are relegated to a patchwork of local police forces who don’t report to the TSA.

J. David Cox, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said TSA employees are banned from carrying weapons despite being on the front lines of aviation security.

In the Friday night New Orleans attack at Louis Armstrong International airport, a local sheriff’s deputy shot suspect Richard White three times after he stormed a checkpoint waving a machete and spraying security personnel with wasp repellent. He was also found to be carrying a bag full of molotov cocktails. In his car police found smoke bombs and gas cylinders.

FULL story at link. Video: http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/03/23/lead-pkg-marsh-tsa-officers-armed.cnn


(MGN)


Read more: http://wqad.com/2015/03/24/tsa-union-calls-for-arming-some-airport-employees/

[jberryhill]

1. Duplication of effort

I can't see anything gained here over local law enforcement which has operated just fine in several airport emergency situations, and which also has the advantage of having a single communication and command system.

The money spent on training armed agents and having them do mostly nothing would be better spent on increasing the security checkpoint throughput at peak times, so there is not a huge gaggle of people at the checkpoint which makes the checkpoint itself a target for miscreants.

[Omaha Steve]

2. LAX shooting kills TSA officer, wounds others

Like this? This isn't the only case.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/lax-shooting-kills-tsa-officer-wounds-others/

CBS/APNovember 1, 2013, 10:35 PM

A gunman walked into Terminal 3 at Los Angeles International Airport Friday morning, pulled an assault rifle out of a bag and opened fire,killing a Transportation Security Administration officer at a security checkpoint and wounding two other TSA officers, authorities said.

Late Friday evening, the TSA identified the slain officer as Gerardo I. Hernandez, 39, the first officer killed in the line of duty in the agency's 12-year history. TSA Administrator John Pistole said in a message to employees Friday evening that "no words can explain the horror that we experienced today."

The gunman was wounded in a shootout with airport police and taken into custody, authorities said. His condition was not disclosed.

U.S. law enforcement officials confirmed to CBS News correspondent Bob Orr that the suspect has been identified as Paul Ciancia, 23, of Pennsville, N.J. Officials said he also spent some time in the Los Angeles area.

FULL story at link.

[jberryhill]

3. Yeah, like that

If some guy shows up, pulls a gun out of a bag, and starts shooting, he's going to have the drop on the "armed TSA agent" as well. It's first-mover advantage, no matter who has a gun. And if you are talking about putting an armed agent at each checkpoint, then (a) that's a lot of people, and (b) potential miscreants know "there is a gun at each checkpoint".

Adding guns to the situation, particularly where there are crossed lines of command and communication, doesn't necessarily help and could, in another scenario, hurt.

There's also no magic that keeps the armed TSA agent from going off the reservation. It's not as if they aren't people too.

First guy shot at the Holocaust Museum was an armed guard:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/10/museum.shooting/

[Omaha Steve]

4. In wake of LAX shooting, TSA recommends checkpoint changes

After the LA gunman put 14 shots into the agent, he didn't have the drop on the other unarmed agents that chased him. And they had trouble communicating with armed police.

It has been a year since this article and most of it has not been implemented.

Story highlights
TSA wants more police at its checkpoints during busy times
Agency review was conducted after fatal November 2013 shooting at LAX
Security personnel must practice their contingency plans over and over, says one expert

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/26/travel/tsa-airport-security/

By Katia Hetter and Steve Almasy, CNN
Updated 10:38 AM ET, Thu March 27, 2014

The Transportation Security Administration is recommending a beefed-up police presence at TSA checkpoints and ticket counters during busy times at airports, the agency said in a report released Wednesday.

The review, which was compiled after a deadly November 2013 shooting at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), listed 14 recommendations to improve safety and security at the nation's airports.

In addition to the call for an increased law enforcement presence, the report's recommendations include more active-shooter training, the reinforcement of emergency procedures and briefing TSA employees on actions taken to improve security.

Paul Anthony Ciancia, 23, has been charged with murder in the shooting death of TSA officer Gerardo Hernandez at the airport's Terminal 3. He faces 10 other charges, including attempted murder. Two other officers and a passenger were wounded in the shooting on November 1.

FULL story at link.

[pasto76]

14. then put more SWORN OFFICERS into the airports. the TSA is NOT the answer

look at that last article you linked. LAW ENFORCEMENT. not TSA. Hire more Sheriff's deputies, state police or city cops. You want an armed response? I want people who live and breathe in that profession.

Multi-agency operations are all the rage these days. Im serious - nothing beefs up a resume in EM like putting what agencies you coordinated with. The commo issue is pretty fucking simple. Go to the same frequency! Oh no maybe the cops use an 800mhz trunk system and the TSA uses VHF. then they carry both. Unless you are darren wilson, then you worry less about capabilities on the job, and more about 'comfortableness'.

Id rather have national guard MPs on that job than TSA.

[Omaha Steve]

16. Congress hasn't even approved $ for the year old recommendations

Think the conservatives will all of a sudden put up for sworn police?

[marble falls]

5. One more reason to eliminate the TSA.

[Action_Patrol]

6. How would that help?

It would have just been a private security screener that got hit with a machete instead of someone in a TSA uniform.

[marble falls]

9. Theres been such a rash of perfectly sane people attacking TSA agents with machetes.....

TSA, the fore front in the battle against edged weapons. By the way, aren't these agents actually employees of of private companies with contracts to the gubmint?

[Action_Patrol]

10. I'm not sure how that works.

The jobs listings are posted on USA Jobs. I wouldn't think contract work would be. I've no honest idea though

[hack89]

11. No. TSA employees are unionized government employees

there is a program that allows airports to opt out of federal screening and use contractors but there are only 18 airports that have done so.

[marble falls]

7. What has it accomplished?

[Action_Patrol]

8. Who knows? Not me

Maybe a lot, I've no idea what it has or hasn't deterred.
I don't enjoy them but all it did was standardize a system that was already in place.

[jberryhill]

12. This week?

http://blog.tsa.gov/2015/03/tsa-week-in-review-41-loaded-firearms.html

45 Firearms Discovered This Week – Of the 45 firearms, 41 were loaded and 13 had rounds chambered.





Those were all in carry-on bags this week.

[pasto76]

15. this isnt really indicative of how safe TSA keeps us, just highlights our gun culture

how many videos have been posted right here on DU over the years of people sneaking shit past TSA.


why would you bring a gun into an airport unless it was locked in a safe and in checked baggage. Because, AMERICA!

[HassleCat]

20. Cop Guns?

At my airport, we discovered firearms quite frequently, probably three or four times a week. Most of the time, they belonged to a cop who forgot one of his off-duty guns was in his carry-on bag. We also discovered plenty of loaded and empty magazines, loose rounds, edged weapons, batons and ASP type clubs, etc. in police officers' carry-on bags. It always disturbed me a little that so many cops could be so absent-minded about their firearms and ammunition when they were responsible for protecting us against criminals.

[Omaha Steve]

13. Star here for several articles

[Hoppy]

17. Twelve years, one employee gets killed. It is sad.

But how many more teachers have been shot and assaulted. Let's arm teachers instead.
















Yes, Arlene. It's scarcasm.

[Omaha Steve]

18. Some states already allow that

With no training. Do you really want to go there?

[HassleCat]

19. My Perspective

I used to work as a TSA officer, and I support the union most of the time. In fact, I was an officer in my local. But this is a bad idea. At my airport, we relied on the airport police to intervene in confrontations that were headed toward violence. This was not ideal, because the airport cops didn't spend much time at the security checkpoint, and it typically took them two or three minutes to respond to a call. Many TSA officers believed we should have been armed at the checkpoint, particularly since the Immigration people were armed at their checkpoints. The problem is, firearms are not what you want when someone gets violent in a crowded place. We have too many incidents where police open fire on a suspect and spray bullets all over, sometimes wounding or killing bystanders. TSA is not a well managed agency, and it would be very difficult for them to perform adequate personality profiling to weed out the Dirty Harry wannabees. Their turnover rate is high, and they have trouble retaining experienced people, so they would be hard pressed to avoid arming a number of inexperienced, untested personnel. If they were talking about tasers or pepper spray, that would be one thing, but they're proposing firearms, and that's another level altogether.