PLAN FOR REORGANIZING THE TSA
Abstract
Transport Security Administration is a body that was created to prevent reoccurrence of attacks in the transport system. Due to its inefficiency in the current years, plan for reorganizing it have been proposed so that it can be effective as required. The legal issues associated with the system will be discussed, current issues, plan to privatize the body, benefits of privatization and recommendations will be discussed. Published literature will be the source of information which will guide on the expected benefits of reorganizing TSA. The conclusion will compare the current TSA with the planned one and decide in the best way possible for transport security.
Introduction
Transport Security Administration (TSA) is a system that was created to ensure secure U.S transportation system and enhancing freedom of movement from one nation to another. TSA was created after the attack that occurred on September 11, 2001 which was a way to prevent reoccurrence of such an attack. The agency was created to satisfy the needs of protecting air travels that was a challenge at that moment since most airlines used private companies to ensure security of travelers. Before it was created, the air travel security was managed by private security firms. A single agency was necessitated which could offer security to all airlines and that is why Transport Security Administration was created. Despite the duration the system has been in operation, it has slowed down its effectiveness with time which require changes so that it can meet its duties as required. Lieberman (2016) cites the tests done by the Department of Homeland Security in 2015 as one of the reasons TSA has failed to meet its mandate on transport security. According to the report, Homeland security officers went undercover as passengers and were successful in sneaking banned items among them handguns and fake bombs (Syasadmin, 2015). A similar test was done in 2013 when an officer was able to sneak a fake bomb. The agency have had 95% failure rate in detecting weapons with long search lines which is an indication that reorganizing it may improve its efficiency. Long lines also necessitated reorganization of TSA structure which can facilitate better outcomes.
Legal/Policy Issues
Transport Security Administration is expected to ensure the security of all airline travelers by screening them to ensure no weapon is allowed in the airway. The agency has failed in the recent years where it is unable to detect weapons during the screening process. The agency is expected to conduct checks within a short period so that travelers do not overcrowd in the airport. By 2015, TSA proved to be less effective in the screening of travelers where more time was spent on screening while fewer weapons were disclosed. This indicates that the agency is unable to achieve its expected duty which creates the need to have a private body to take care of transport security. TSA uses screening officers, mobile teams of dogs, explosive specialist and armed Federal Air Marshals who ensure that all travelers are safe when taking the flight. There are among the employees who are well trained to carry out their responsibility effectively. Lack of cooperation of the workforce is the reason why the TSA fails to achieve security and detect weapons a large percent. The employees of TSA lack proper training and so that they can commit to the mission statement of the organization.
Proper tools are expensive to afford by the agency which is an issue that has led to lack of detection of many weapons during the screening. Bearing the fact that TSA is a government body, less fund is allocated to cater for the services offered which is an issue that has contributed to ineffective tools used. The activities assigned to each employee of the TSA do not align with the training which makes it hard for the employees to use the tools given appropriately in the screening. The employees are reluctant in the activities assigned which leads to long lines when conducting searches. Many workers in the organization have been laid off while the rest are less effective which has contributed to the inefficiency of the agency. This is because the available employees are assigned to tasks that do not align with their skills which make it hard for them to apply the tools available in screening.
Current Issues
Transport Security Administration has been faced with current issues including problem on implementing risk assessment rules. The agency has challenges in implementing the rules which should guide the employees how to handle a risky case. The rules can give the workforce the ability to identify and address fear and threat without retribution. The organization has also failed in the management of TSA precheck which has led to failure in detection of harmful tools when screening the passengers. There is delayed passenger check while in the airport which discourages many travelers to take flights to other countries. According to Levi (2016, December 06), each passenger take more than twenty minutes for the check which leads to long lines in the airport. The employees of TSA are not flexible and since most of them have been laid off, the remaining are not efficient for the agency. Lack of proper training of the employees make them inefficient in detection of harmful gadgets which have led to most of the weapons go undetected. Since the passengers pay a security fee, the agency should work on ensuring that the weapons are detected and risks of the weapons mitigated.
According to Levi (2016, December 06), Transport Security Administration failed to detect weapons and explosives 67 times. This indicates that the agency has failed 95.7 percent which is an impressive failure of TSA part. The recent data shows that most of the weapons were not detected during the checks where a figure of 59,044 weapons was not found in the year 2015 (Levi, 2016). Better training of employees is believed to be the solution to failure rate detected in the TSA. The tools and equipment used are also not perfect as they cannot detect items of low density like powders, liquid, and plastics. The scanners used are ineffective in detecting products of high density which is also an issue in the current system of TSA. The regulations used in the organization are weak as well as technology which has led to high percentage failure of the organization. The failure rate of the TSA is alarming which require reorganization so that the security of travelers is enhanced as well as the creation of a good reputation for the organization.
The recent report by Lieberman, E. (2016, July 31), Agents of Department of Homeland Security wanted to test the effectiveness of TSA employees where they disguised themselves as normal passengers and came with different forbidden weapons like handguns and fake bombs. After a thorough search by the employees, only 3 out of 70 weapons were detected which was a 95% failure rate. The report also includes that the U.S’s cybersecurity is also at risk besides the physical security which creates the need for reorganization of TSA. The recent data shows that despite the fact that America leads in many events, the security is not among them which is an indication that physical security requires more interventions.
TSA Changing to Private
For the past four year, airport officials are pushing Transport Security Administration to allow airports to use private security companies as security source. This is an indication that the airport officials and government have seen the ineffectiveness of the TSA in the provision of security to all airline travelers. Most airport companies have started outsourcing their security from private companies. An example is Stanford International Airport located in Florida which is among the other airports which have started outsourcing security from private companies. Before the incidence of September 11, 2001, airport security was privatized. Creation of TSA was a way to foster safe and more secure travel administration.
Airport Director Larry Dale hopes that all airports can choose their security without being forced to use TSA. The director believes that private industry can offer more security than the TSA as compared to how it was predetermined before its implementation. Outsourcing security from private companies is believed to be the best option which will offer security to all passengers using airline services. The management of private companies is more flexible in scheduling workers which assist in the reduction of lines during the checks.
Despite the fact that changing TSA to private companies can take a longer period for implementation, it will be the best option where the whole agency will be privatized, or airports outsource security from private companies. The transition is believed to take long though it will be worth to ensure the security of passengers. Privatization of TSA will require approval by the TSA administrator which can take a longer period or become impossible for total privatization. Hiring private company employees is an option for some airports while others consider the use of private companies completely rather than the ineffective TSA. The recent operation of TSA has created the urge for total privatization as the system was before which will offer more security to travelers.
According to Inserra, D. (2017, July 19), time to privatize TSA is now where the United States airport should adopt the private models in Canada and Europe which will offer aviation screening workforce. This will minimize the cost of TSA while maintaining security levels required by the passengers in the United States. Privatization of TSA will lead to more savings for the company which can be reinvested in the programs of Homeland security programs.
Benefits of going Private
TSA privatization will be of benefit to the company itself as well as the travelers. This is because the use of private companies will save more money for TSA which can be used for reinvesting other programs in the agency. TSA has been charging passengers a significant amount of security fee to cater for the funds required for security of the travelers. Privatization will lead to reduced cost where the passengers will pay less for their security. TSA privatization will lead to saving more money than before which can be used to develop other programs within the firm.
According to Harnett S. (2016, August 11), privatization does not necessarily mean escaping TSA, but it will still be in charge of selecting contractors and follow other procedures as done before the privatization. The agency will be responsible for managing labor only that it will have privatized security to ensure that passengers are safe during their travels. Privatization will lead to reduced lines for the check which will translate to a reduced delay of planes (Harnett, 2016). Privatization will lead to the more flexible workforce since private contractors offer flexible workforce when outsourcing. Management will be easy with privatized TSA since any reluctant worker will be fired without compromise.
Privatization will lead to convenience where more workers will be employed to reduce long line waits. This has been a problem with the current TSA, but if contracting of private securities will be enhanced, this will no longer be a challenge since more workers will be employed. This will also ensure that only effective workers are employed. This is because TSA will be free to fire any reluctant employee which will ensure only effective employees are working for the airports. More effective equipment and tools will be added to the security sector which will enhance searching of weapons. This will ensure smooth search, as well as all weapons, will be detected.
Recommendations
To ensure that security of passengers is enhanced, the current TSA structure should be eliminated and a new one implemented. This is because it is ineffective and has led to increased risks for the travelers using the United States airlines. Despite the duration and risk of changing the current structure to privatization, it would be the best idea since the current structure has failed as confirmed by the previous research. Since TSA is a government body, most of its advancements take long to be implemented. Change in structure to a privatized body, more funding will be expected as well as less time spent in the advancement of projects. The current structure is lowly funded because it is a government body which requires restructuring so that more benefits are received.
TSA should implement outsourcing functions and structurally improvements. This is because outsourcing ensures that right pool of workers is achieved and it is easy to drop them if they are ineffective. Outsourcing structures will be necessary so that the latest technology can be achieved which will be the best for detecting all weapons and explosives that cannot be identified by the currently used tools. Its operations should be changed including employees due to their inflexibility nature. Flexible workers should be hired for effective screening of passengers which will ensure security to airlines as well as cybersecurity.
Conclusion
It will be necessary to privatize TSA since this might be the required change to make the agency as effective as it was before. Due to the failure rate of 95% experienced in the current structure, privatizing the body may minimize the failure rate which will lead to improvement of the system. This will lead to a changed feeling of travelers using the airlines’ services. Due to increased drawbacks with the current system, change will be required to reduce the failure rate of the system. Making the failure rate more public will lead to a need for quick action which can mean privatization of the system so that it can be effective. The possible outcome of privatization will be reduced long line waits, reduced cost, and reduced detection failure, comfortable searches, and accuracy which will ensure the security of all passengers.