When John Pistole was tapped to become the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Administrator, while serving at the Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), many had high hopes for his leadership of the controversial and poorly guided agency. Prior to joining the TSA, on the 25th of June 2010 Pistole was highly respected…
A week ago Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator John Pistole made a bold public statement regarding his decision to not review further airport applications to participate in the Screening Partnership Program, a decision that is a potential conflict with an Act of Congress. As of today it appears that a number of the TSA’s upper…
This morning in Las Vegas, where people go to roll the dice and play their luck, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) began testing L3 Systems ProVision ATD software loaded into their Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) millimeter wave technology scanners. The current generation of AIT scanner software in use in by the TSA has been highly…
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has frequently found itself pushing the boundaries of its original mission and facing criticism for its actions. A few days ago however the TSA pushed a new boundary … that of publicly stating it was ignoring an Act of Congress. To make matters more complex, TSA Administrator John Pistole is…
During a rare moment of clarity in the creation of Public Law 107-71 (The Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001), which created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), an often overlooked provision was included … the provision for airports to be allowed choose a private security contract firm, under the guidance of the TSA, called…
“Opt Out” is a popular term from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). For passengers ‘opting out’ means that they can avoid the advanced imaging technology (AIT) scanners in favour of a thorough pat down, for airports ‘opting out’ means that they have chosen to utilize a private security firm to handle their front line passenger…
Before I delve into this post, I must first say that I am in favour of passenger profiling and the use of human security assets to detect those who may be a risk to the flight they’ll be boarding. While my research has lead me to the opinion that human security assets are effective ……
Well I’m back from my few days away from Flying With Fish. A lot of things have happened, as they always do, and a lot of topics have come up, so I am going to do my best to spend the next few days writing about stories that I wanted to get to in the…
The last day of the year is a good time to stop, take a moment, and think back over the past year. It’s also probably not the best day to write about the year in review because you’re likely to forget a lot of things … but I’ll give it a shot anyway. 2010 was…
Just in time for Christmas, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has added a new directive to its front line playbook. This morning, the 23rd of December, the TSA began mandatory explosive trace detection (ETD) on all thermoses and insulated children’s’ sippy cups. While thermoses and sippy cups must be empty when passing through an airport…
