...The tragedy of September 11 has increased the level of concern with regards to airport security. Despite having hi-tech security measures in place, terrorists can still find a loophole in the system. With thousands of people traveling by air every day, it is necessary that security measures, which are in place, be modified and improved to better ensure passenger safety, and to prevent tragedies such as September 11 from reoccurring. Air travelers are increasingly subjected to revealing full-body scans or enhanced pat-downs all in the name of keeping the sky safe. Nearly 500 advanced imaging technology machines, such as full-body scanners, are used in 78 airports around the country. Joe Sharkey’s article “The Loaded Gun in My Carry-On? Oh! I Forget” gives examples of the situation when people forget and bring their hand gun inside the airport. The airport securities don’t take it lightly, they involve law enforcement because carrying weapon inside the airport is violation of airport law. About half use backscatter technology, which emits a small dose of X-ray radiation to present a detailed image of the body, and any concealed weapons or contraband a passenger might be carrying (Sharkey). Security is not something that can be compromised, but it does not have to come at the expense of our privacy. It is possible to maintain our own identities, while guaranteeing the security of our nation. It is necessary to check I.D. and do backgrounds checks on suspicious persons; however...
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...According to the radiation experts and medical physicists body scanners which use at airports don’t cause real health risks .But effectiveness of body scanners depends on the amount of radiation dose, frequency and the duration a person expose to it. Airports use two types of scanning technology -- millimeter wave scanners, which use radio waves and do not expose people to X-rays, and backscatter scanners, which use very low levels of X-rays. It's the backscatter scanners -- which create an anatomically accurate image that reveals if anything is hidden under a person's clothing -- that have been the subject of controversy in the past week. .(http://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/publichealth/23614). It’s essential to discover the...
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...safety of U.S. airports from which commercial planes depart and land. More than any other component of the U.S. transportation system, air security has garnered the most attention because historically, in large measure, the adoption of counterterrorism policies and programs are in direct response to specific events (Waugh, 2004) in his article says that. Airplanes were used to carry out the events of September 11th, therefore the aviation sector has received a large amount of counterterrorism attention. Since 9/11 and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration, several measures have been implemented to enhance aviation security. Deployment of federal passenger screeners at the nation’s airports - Institution of 100% checked baggage screening; utilization of explosive detection systems or explosive trace detection equipment to screen checked baggage - Background checks on all airport personnel - Suspension of the Transit without Visa program (and the International-to-International transit program (ITI), eliminating terrorists’ ability to exploit such programs to gain access to U.S.-bound aircraft or the United States - Expansion of the Federal Air Marshal program so that thousands of protective air marshals are now flying on commercial aircraft Effectiveness In the article from Derek Guajardo d. (2002)( how 9/11 changed us) he says that ever since 9/11 happened security has been deteriorating through airports worldwide...
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...safety of U.S. airports from which commercial planes depart and land. More than any other component of the U.S. transportation system, air security has garnered the most attention because historically, in large measure, the adoption of counterterrorism policies and programs are in direct response to specific events (Waugh, 2004) in his article says that. Airplanes were used to carry out the events of September 11th, therefore the aviation sector has received a large amount of counterterrorism attention. Since 9/11 and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration, several measures have been implemented to enhance aviation security. Deployment of federal passenger screeners at the nation’s airports - Institution of 100% checked baggage screening; utilization of explosive detection systems or explosive trace detection equipment to screen checked baggage - Background checks on all airport personnel - Suspension of the Transit without Visa program (and the International-to-International transit program (ITI), eliminating terrorists’ ability to exploit such programs to gain access to U.S.-bound aircraft or the United States - Expansion of the Federal Air Marshal program so that thousands of protective air marshals are now flying on commercial aircraft Effectiveness In the article from Derek Guajardo d. (2002)( how 9/11 changed us) he says that ever since 9/11 happened security has been deteriorating through airports worldwide...
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...Airport Security On September 11, 2001, a terrorist group by the name of the “Al-Qaeda” set a plan to attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. There were nineteen people that were affiliated with this attack, fifteen of them were from Saudi Arabia, and the other four people were from United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Lebanon. There were four teams and each team had a highly trained pilot hijacker, all four of these hijackers were trained in South Florida before boarding the planes. United Airline Flight 11 from Boston hit the North Tower at 8:46am and United Airline Flight 175 from Los Angeles hit the South Tower at 9:03am. Both the North and the South Tower fell, many other buildings were burnt to the ground as well. On this horrific...
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...session with a total body scanner. The T.S.A. is using total body scanners in an attempt to reveal more hidden threats. The agency and the scanners manufacturer insist that passenger embarrassments are impossible due to features installed to prevent such from happening. Most of us would agree to a brief flash of quasi-nudity if it meant a safe flight. Body scanners and pat-downs are supposed to make passengers feel safer by detecting potential threats that could bring down an airplane. More than nine years after the 9/11 attacks, it seems that airport security may have crossed the line. Grassroots groups are calling on people either not to fly or to protest by refusing to submit to those full body scans, the ones that show everything. Major airline pilot unions are urging their members to avoid body scans. They are worried about health risks associated because of repeated small doses of radiation along with intrusiveness and security officer behavior. The T.S.A. insists that the machines are safe. And you believe what the government tells you, don’t you? A quote from security guru Bruce Schneier, a plaintiff in the body scanner lawsuit, calls this “magical thinking… descend on what the terrorists did last time and we will all be safe, as if they won’t think of something else”. Which of course they do. As of November of 2010, there are 373 body scanners in 68 U.S. airports, and another 1000...
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...Are Full Body Scanners Really Necessary? On December 25, 2009, a Nigerian man attempted to set off a bomb on a Northwest Airlines flight. Fortunately, the bomb failed to detonate, and the plane landed safely. Soon after, President Obama and the Transportation Security Administration responded by heightening airport security measures. They implemented a naked body scanner in addition to the pat-downs to prevent similar plots in the future. The legal controversy over the scanners has continued to grow throughout recent years. Many protestors have voiced their concerns on the scanners, some which include: a violation of privacy rights and the harmful exposure to radiation. Despite the negative views towards the body scanners, they should be used at airports because they are not harmful to our health, and they increase our safety, which is top priority. According to CNN NEWS “The Electronic Privacy Information Center argues that the scanners violate passengers Fourth Amendment rights because, the group claimed, the search is more invasive than necessary to detect weapons or explosives.” (Mike Ahlers) TSA officials have said numerous times that they have created and thought out ways to protect people’s privacy. In a fairly recent speech, “Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole said…the agency is looking at new technology such as body scanners that show passengers as “stick figures” and security methods…to make air travel security as minimally invasive as possible...
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...Keiah Vail Professor: Seitu Stephens COM/156 April 29, 2012 Research Paper: Airport Security Airport security includes the procedure of guarding public transportation by airplane, as well as the terminals from which passengers of aircraft arrive and depart. Airport security has drawn the attention of the American public for invasive pat-downs, body scans and various news reports on concerns from TSA on failures to catch contraband items. A lot of people often wonder what is the reason for pat downs and body scans. Pat-downs are used to resolve alarms at the checkpoint, including those triggered by metal detectors and units. Pat-downs are also used when a person chooses out of screening in order to detect potentially dangerous and prohibited items. Because pat-downs are specifically used to resolve alarms and prevent dangerous items from going on a plane, the vast majority of passengers will not receive a pat-down at the checkpoint. All passengers have important rights during a pat-down. You have the right to request the pat-down be conducted in a private room and you have the right to have the pat-down witnessed by a person of your choice. All pat-downs are only conducted by same-gender officers. The officer will explain the pat-down process before and during the pat-down. Instead of making everyone strip down, the TSA has organized a type of body scan screening machine that let passengers skip the undressing part. The machine “undresses” you by using either x-rays or millimeter...
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...1010 28 September 2010 Full Body Scanners are Safe Ever since 9/11 all airports have upped their security in order to prevent terrorist attacks from happening again, and some have proposed to use full-body scanners which will give a more thorough search of which some commend, and some criticize. The people who are for it say that it will give airports a more thorough search of passengers. Critics claim that this is an attack on privacy. Privacy is a natural right to all Americans, but safety is an asset for all living beings. Scanners should be allowed in airports due to their efficiency and protection they offer, and the statements that claim they are a threat to privacy are over-exaggerated. These new security machines will now offer a higher-class of protection, stopping terrorist plane hijacking. CNN's Jessica Ravitz reports that this new technology ''will detect both metallic and nonmetallic'' threat items to keep passengers safe (Ravitz). The most apprehensive situation that could be on a plane isn’t snakes or monsters, its hijackers with weapons and since the introduction of metal detectors terrorists have found ways to get around unnoticed. This will hopefully put a stop to it all. Moreover, the machines can ''reveal objects that metal detectors can miss, such as plastic firearms, ceramic knives, and, yes, possibly explosives hidden in a person’s underwear'', says the USA Today (USA Today). Full-body scanners are superior because unlike a standard detectors...
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... Page INTRODUCTION 4 BODY 4 History 5 Who We Are and What We Do 5 Screenings 6 Body Scanners 7 How the TSA Circumvents The Fourth Amendment 8 U.S. vs Marquez 8 CONCLUSION 9 REFERENCES 10 INTRODUCTION In the busy world there are many things to consider when it comes to people's rights and legal issues. The focus of this paper will be that of air travel, more specifically the new requirements set forth by the Department of Homeland Security and the TSA (transportation security agency). Since that horrible day on September 11, 2001 many new regulations have been have been set in motion in order to secure the travelers. The legal issues in which I will discuss will be that of the Fourth Amendment, which guards us against unreasonable searches and seizures. Many people felt that the new rules and regulations behind TSA violated our Fourth Amendment by the pat downs and new security scanners. TRANSITION PARAGRAPH According to the TSA website the mission of the TSA is “the transportation security administration protects the nation's transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce.” TSA employees nearly, 50,000 officers, screen more than 1.7 million passengers each day at more than 450 airports. Another component since the TSA's inception was utilizing and deploying federal air marshals every day on domestic...
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...main focal point of national security. Air travel is one of the most frequently used forms of transportation within the United States and is supported by over 400 airports across the country. During this attack, terrorists utilized the weakened state of security in airports to fulfill one of our nation’s most devastating events. Due to these events security measures have increased dramatically over the last ten years to include new technology and security programs to reduce possible terrorist threats from boarding plans. I would like to understand if the correlation between the increased aviation security measures and the deterrence of terrorist utilizing this form of transportation in a terrorist plot. Understanding whether or not aviation security measures are effectively deterring terrorist threats could help shape the future of transportation security within the United States. If effective then some form of these security programs can then be applied to other forms of transportation such as railways or buses. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) states We use layers of security to ensure the security of the traveling public and the Nation's transportation system that include intelligence gathering and analysis, checking passenger manifests against watch lists, random canine team searches at airports, federal air marshals, federal flight deck officers and more security measures both visible and invisible to the public. Terrorist threats of every form continue...
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...Everyone loves going on vacation, but not everyone loves going to the airport. This is mainly because of the long, winding security lines, the trouble of taking off your shoes and belt and taking out all liquids, and the fear of being questioned or detained by the TSA. The TSA stands for the Transportation Security Administration, and they’re the ones who make airport life less than pleasant. According to their website, the “TSA was created to strengthen the security of the nation’s transportation systems and ensure the freedom of movement for people and commerce” (tsa.gov). The TSA was founded on November 19th, 2001 in response to the tragedy of September 11th. They were created to make sure nothing as severe as the Twin Towers ever happened...
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...Tyus Franks Ms. Terry A.P Literature October 8, 2014 Airport Security Airport security is the name for techniques and methods used to protect staff, aircraft, and passengers from accidental or malicious harm, crime and other dangerous threats. People want to feel safe when they are traveling, so the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has many methods that they use to make sure that people who are traveling can actually be safe. The TSA works with other organizations so they can be successful as possible. “TSA uses a risk based strategy and works closely with transportation, law enforcement, and intelligence community’s to set the standard for excellence in transportation security” (tsa.org). They do not want to take any chances,...
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...security devices like X-Ray scanners, flying has become a little safer. These scanners help make sure that no weapons or hazardous items are lurking underneath the passenger’s clothes. This device I’m speaking of is called a “backscatter” X-Ray screening device. The number of airports that use these instead of the traditional magnetic field were once a large number, and even seemed to be getting larger, but are unfortunately thought to soon be extinct. Why, might you ask, are these devices given their...
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...The Problem with Airport Security: An Analysis of the Effectiveness and Cost of the Transportation Security Administration Since the beginning of air travel, airport security has been a problem because of matters such as terrorist attacks. Recently, the Transportation Security Administration has been in charge of security in American airports. Many problems plague the TSA though. Much research has been done on these issues. Although there are many threats of terrorist attacks since the 9/11 attacks, the TSA should be abolished because of its high cost and poor effectiveness. Before the attacks on the World Trade Center of September 11, 2001, airport security was not a large concern. The Transportation Security Administration was not established...
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