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| TSA skips body scanners at many airports |
| By usatoday.com |
| Published: 01/20/2010 |
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WASHINGTON — The Transportation Security Administration's plan to install body scanners at hundreds of security checkpoints still could leave many U.S. airports inadequately protected against terrorists carrying explosives, aviation experts say. The TSA plans to install 300 machines that look under passengers' clothing for hidden weapons. That will leave about 500 checkpoints at U.S. airports without the technology, raising concerns that terrorists would choose a checkpoint with a metal detector to sneak plastic or powder explosives past security. "It's just too easy for a terrorist to know where the technology is fielded and where it's not and to make modifications accordingly," said Richard Bloom, head of terrorism and security studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona. The body scanners, used in 19 U.S. airports, are about 10 feet tall and easily visible from public areas. Another potential weakness is that TSA policy allows passengers to refuse to go through a body scanner search, provided they agree to undergo a pat-down by a TSA officer. "There is a limit to how far screeners will go looking underneath someone's bra or digging around someone's crotch," former Homeland Security Department inspector general Clark Ervin said. Scanners should be installed "at every airport and every checkpoint," he said. The Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up an airliner over Detroit on Dec. 25 hid powder explosives in his underwear as he went through security at Amsterdam's airport, according to the charges against him. Ervin said that after the alleged bomb attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the TSA should "do away with the option" of passengers bypassing body scans. TSA spokeswoman Kristin Lee said the scanners improve aviation security and are effective in conjunction with other equipment and tactics. "They don't stand alone," Lee said. Wednesday, a key lawmaker urged the Obama administration to buy more than the 300 scanners it plans to install this year. "The American public appears ready and willing to undergo more intensive security screening," Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., a senior member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, wrote in a letter to President Obama. Read More. |
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