A New TSA Program Looks Good?Should Other DHS Agencies Pay Attention?

By Bill West

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has just issued new regulations allowing limited general aviation (GA) flight traffic in and out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) near Washington, DC. The new rules should become effective and operational by the end of the year. Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, general aviation flights have been restricted from DCA due to the special security concerns around the Nation�s capital.

The new TSA regulations require all such GA flights to have on board what will be called an Armed Security Officer (ASO). Uniquely, ASO personnel will not be Federal Air Marshals, but will be private security officers employed by either the general aviation air carrier or the Fixed Base Operator servicing one of the designated gateway airports allowed to fly GA flights into DCA. Essentially, these ASOs will be private Air Marshals.

A review of the ASO program information, which is available on the TSA Web site at http://www.tsa.gov/public/, indicates this may be one of the potential success stories of the TSA. The qualification requirements for Armed Security Officers are substantial. Among others, they include the requirement that applicants be either active duty law enforcement officers, qualified retired law enforcement officers (retired in good standing) or former law enforcement officers who served at least four years and left under honorable conditions, completed a certified basic law enforcement training course, submit to and pass a TSA background/fingerprint check and FAA medical exam, and pass, at their own expense, a training course provided by the Federal Air Marshals Service.

This will be a limited program employing well-screened, experienced and trained security personnel working aboard general aviation aircraft flying into and out of DCA. It should cost the taxpayers little, since application and training expenses are covered by the applicants and their general aviation employers. The ASO personnel will, in fact, be experienced law enforcement officers, even though they will be acting as private security officers in their ASO capacities. The positions are likely to attract many retired officers wanting to do the work on a part-time or temporary basis, or active duty officers working off-duty assignments. Either way, the ASO cadre should be a solid, competent group of professionals and not low-paid, low-skilled and quickly hired security guards with guns aboard the private airplanes. In this regard, the public should feel secure, and it appears TSA has worked this one correctly.

And that brings to mind the ever-festering issue of border security and now, in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Federal Government�s disaster response capabilities. How might all this be related? TSA, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security (at least still for now), has just demonstrated that it can put together a common sense plan for incorporating professional private sector security resources, at little expense to the Government, for a significant security sensitive program involving the Nation�s capital. That program, admittedly, is just beginning; but it looks good so far.

The utilization of retired law enforcement officers as a reserve or auxiliary Homeland Security Force is a concept that has been proposed by several sources since 9/11. There are several variations of such plans, and while there is some interest in Congress, none so far have received serious consideration by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The Administration has noted its aversion to private border surveillance groups such as The Minutemen, even though that organization has arguably succeeded in reducing illegal border traffic where it set up operations. Would not a Government sponsored and controlled Border Patrol Auxiliary composed of experienced volunteer law enforcement retirees work well to augment the understaffed active duty Patrol with such duties as fixed observation, detention work and administrative duties? And do so with minimal taxpayer expense? Shouldn�t such a program at least be explored?

And what about a similar Homeland Security Reserve Force that could be deployed in the event of large-scale disasters? Such Reserve Officers could conduct activities as static security and detention control duties and free regular active officers for more aggressive patrol and investigation duties. Again, shouldn�t there at least be some �thinking outside the box� on such matters?

The much-maligned TSA has actually displayed some forward thinking with its ASO program. Hopefully it works as well as it sounds. Perhaps other branches of DHS should take heed.

TrackBack