According to the Newark Star-Ledger local managers for the Transportation Security Administration acknowledged on Thursday that deep-seated security problems plague Newark Liberty International Airport. The airport is one of three, along with JFK and LaGuardia, that services New York City and the surrounding environs.
A TSA document obtained by the Star-Ledger notes that
over the course of the past few years, the performance of the TSA here at Newark Liberty International Airport has been on a gradual decline. [Embarrassing, high-profile lapses have] produced a lack of faith in our ability to provide world class security.
The document provides a lengthy list of recommendations that would help local TSA management and employees "re-attain our focus, re-gain our confidence, and re-obtain the trust of those above us and more importantly [the trust] of today’s airline passengers."
Among the specific factors that have contributed to the decline, the report notes, are
understaffing, complacency and lack of focus, lack of direction and guidance, insufficient flow of communications, poor physical design of checkpoints, lack of sufficient down time to conduct training, [and] lack of prioritization skills.
The TSA and its performance have been in the national spotlight since last November, when the Department of Homeland Security, of which the TSA is a branch, began implementing new and more stringent screening techniques. Among the controversial practices that have caused consternation and public outrage are the use of scanners that emit potentially dangerous levels of ionizing radiation and pat-downs so invasive as to prompt members of Congress to propose legislation designating them as sex crimes.
Specific incidents in New York have prompted local scrutiny as well. In one recent example, a passenger boarded a plane at JFK carrying undetected box cutters identical to the ones used by the 9/11 highjackers. Just last week, a woman accused security checkpoint agents of groping her breasts, inner thighs, and crotch while performing a redundant pat-down.
Questions about the earnestness of the TSA’s efforts to improve its performance arose with the agency recent decision to discontinue its opt-out policy, which would allow airports to hire private security companies to do checkpoint screening in place of TSA personnel.
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