Changes

In addition to the Security Officers employed by the TSA in all airports nationwide, the administration also employs a specially-designated security officer as part of this team, who is known as a, "Behavior Detection Officer". BDO's are trained to stand by at the checkpoint and observe the behavior of passengers as they wait in line to proceed through the checkpoint. Passengers which the BDO has indicated to be a potential threat are selected for "additional screening" (regardless if they have set off the body scanner or not) which will include a full body pat-down, a thorough hand search of all of the passenger's items and carry-on luggage and a "chat down" by officers (in which the passenger is interrogated by security with questions including their address, age, home town/country, purpose of travel today to their intended destination and if they hold any connections to terrorist organizations. If the passenger has been determined to be a threat, TSA officers will contact law enforcement officers.  

In addition to the Security Officers employed by the TSA in all airports nationwide, the administration also employs a specially-designated security officer as part of this team, who is known as a, "Behavior Detection Officer". BDO's are trained to stand by at the checkpoint and observe the behavior of passengers as they wait in line to proceed through the checkpoint. Passengers which the BDO has indicated to be a potential threat are selected for "additional screening" (regardless if they have set off the body scanner or not) which will include a full body pat-down, a thorough hand search of all of the passenger's items and carry-on luggage and a "chat down" by officers (in which the passenger is interrogated by security with questions including their address, age, home town/country, purpose of travel today to their intended destination and if they hold any connections to terrorist organizations. If the passenger has been determined to be a threat, TSA officers will contact law enforcement officers.  

The TSA does employ the usage of Federal Air Marshalls in addition to their security officers, who had previously been in place for longtime years prior to the events of September 11th. Federal Air Marshalls are armed federal law-enforcement agents who ride on-board departing flights from the airport and serve as protection of the aircraft in the event that a terrorist threat emerge. The TSA also employs an armed team of special ops law enforcement known as VIPIR, which has been utilized in the past for heightened-security events such as the Super Bowl and the 2012 Summer Olympics. Finally, the TSA employs the usage of a team of inspectors, which utilize drug-sniffing dos used to search the gates and terminals of airports, as well as the inside of the air craft itself for items such as weapons and explosives.

The TSA does employ the usage of Federal Air Marshalls in addition to their security officers, who had previously been in place for longtime years prior to the events of September 11. Federal Air Marshalls are armed federal law-enforcement agents who ride on-board departing flights from the airport and serve as protection of the aircraft in the event that a terrorist threat emerge. The TSA also employs an armed team of special ops law enforcement known as VIPIR, which has been utilized in the past for heightened-security events such as the Super Bowl and the 2012 Summer Olympics. Finally, the TSA employs the usage of a team of inspectors, which utilize drug-sniffing dos used to search the gates and terminals of airports, as well as the inside of the air craft itself for items such as weapons and explosives.

The TSA's equipment and screening procedures in place at the checkpoint have additionally evolved over time since the agency's creation. Following the events of 9/11 in 2001, the TSA strategized plans to upgrade the bag x-ray machines already in place at airports by allowing the machines o detect harmful objects more clearly and specifically, as well as the requirement that any passenger who sets off the metal detector (also in place in the pre 9/11 days) be given a full body pat-down from a security officer, in addition to the new policy that every fifth person in line be pulled aside to be given a random full body pat-down, a 'chat-down' and hand search of their bags and belongings. Beginning in 2005, after TSA was moved into the DHS, then-TSA Director Kip Hawley ordered the installation of a new type of screening device to major airports, known as 'puffers'. Puffers, which did not serve to replace the metal detectors but rather supplement them so that passengers would pass through a puffer prior to a metal detector, were tunnel-shaped machines used to check passengers for explosive-material by spraying a blast of air in their face. Following the failed "Underwear Bomber" attack on Christmas Day 2009, the TSA rushed to quickly install full-body scanners and backscatter machines into airports nationwide, replacing both the puffers and the metal detectors. The Body Scanner is used to x-ray the body of all passengers before displaying an image of their naked body to a security officer, who will alert their fellow officers of the areas in their body which will require a pat down. Due to concerns over the health related effects of radiation caused by this device, passengers do have the option to "opt-out" of the body x-ray, and instead receive a full body pat-down from a security officer. Passengers who refuse both the scanner and the pat-down procedures will not be permitted onto the plane. Due to the controversial nature of the back scatter x-ray machines, which, unlike the body scanners, display a naked image of the passenger's body to the TSO, these devices were completely removed from all airports throughout 2013, and were replaced by the body scanner device instead, which displays a simple stick figure to the security officer, with a highlighted yellow area indicating where in the body the passenger will require a pat down.

The TSA's equipment and screening procedures in place at the checkpoint have additionally evolved over time since the agency's creation. Following the events of 9/11 in 2001, the TSA strategized plans to upgrade the bag x-ray machines already in place at airports by allowing the machines o detect harmful objects more clearly and specifically, as well as the requirement that any passenger who sets off the metal detector (also in place in the pre 9/11 days) be given a full body pat-down from a security officer, in addition to the new policy that every fifth person in line be pulled aside to be given a random full body pat-down, a 'chat-down' and hand search of their bags and belongings. Beginning in 2005, after TSA was moved into the DHS, then-TSA Director Kip Hawley ordered the installation of a new type of screening device to major airports, known as 'puffers'. Puffers, which did not serve to replace the metal detectors but rather supplement them so that passengers would pass through a puffer prior to a metal detector, were tunnel-shaped machines used to check passengers for explosive-material by spraying a blast of air in their face. Following the failed "Underwear Bomber" attack on Christmas Day 2009, the TSA rushed to quickly install full-body scanners and backscatter machines into airports nationwide, replacing both the puffers and the metal detectors. The Body Scanner is used to x-ray the body of all passengers before displaying an image of their naked body to a security officer, who will alert their fellow officers of the areas in their body which will require a pat down. Due to concerns over the health related effects of radiation caused by this device, passengers do have the option to "opt-out" of the body x-ray, and instead receive a full body pat-down from a security officer. Passengers who refuse both the scanner and the pat-down procedures will not be permitted onto the plane. Due to the controversial nature of the back scatter x-ray machines, which, unlike the body scanners, display a naked image of the passenger's body to the TSO, these devices were completely removed from all airports throughout 2013, and were replaced by the body scanner device instead, which displays a simple stick figure to the security officer, with a highlighted yellow area indicating where in the body the passenger will require a pat down.

*[http://www.tsa.gov/ TSA website]

*[http://www.tsa.gov/ TSA website]

[[category:United States Department of Homeland Security]]

[[Category:United States Department of Homeland Security]]

[[Category:List of Law Enforcement Agencies]]

[[Category:List of Law Enforcement Agencies]]

[[Category:Police State]]

[[Category:Police State]]