Carl Johnson

No. We should keep calm and carry on.

cynicAAl

No. They should be unemployed. Then we can hire actual security professionals who focus on actual security threats and not the illusion of security theater.

exilencfc

Me too. In fact i'd most likely avoid the USA altogether.

The mentality the TSA promotes and the type of person it employs are such that arming them would be a disaster. Quite apart from the potential for TSA weapons to find their way airside with horrific consequences. I don't think having armed personnel at checkpoints is unraesonable, especially not in such a heavily armed nation as the USA, but they need to be trained, reliable professionals.

sonofzeus

No. But public school teachers should be.

Gamecock

I don't trust them unarmed. Why should I trust them with a gun?

NoMiddleSeat

1. Some people when you give them guns become power mongers... do we need more of that?

2. They are unionized, in the event of salary arbitration they can seek Federal peace officer wages - they are overpaid as is and that would amount to a big pay raise for them.

sanfran8080

The American people will never allow it. They should but this country has become so liberal.

fwoomp

Absolutely not.

Yes, pretty much. It would make the job even more appealing to wannabe LEOs who, for whatever reason, aren't qualified for actual LEO jobs. I have, on occasion, met TSA employees who were pleasant, helpful, and possessed of common sense (at least one of whom was working on a degree to do something else--I suspect most, if not all of the good ones cycle out). If we must have this agency, we need more of this group. I suspect adding weapons would make the job even less appealing to them.

Emma1420

Absolutely not. At least not until the qualification standards and training are overhauled significantly. Right now, it would be like the person who mans the drive thru window carrying a gun.

Spiff

You are impugning the fine men, women, and teens who work at drive-thrus by your comparison.

astroflyer

It's funny to find this thread. I was just this morning reading an article, and I kept having this dread that someone would suggest arming the TSA.

Thankfully, no one that counts has made such a suggestion that I've seen.

I would argue that introducing more guns into the airport environment would make things more dangerous. Accidental shootings, the higher possibility of a service weapon going "missing", etc. That being said, when I've seen LEO's deployed at checkpoints, they're never paying attention....always looking down with a glazed, bored look. If there had been an LEO at the checkpoint, I imagine he or she would have been the first target.

Emma1420

Very true, but I believe the qualification standards are about the same.

tom911

I read a CNN article yesterday where mention was made of police officers being bored with checkpoint duty. The author cited instances where they read books, check e-mail and use their cell phones, implying they could not give 100% attention to the checkpoint when their attention is distracted. I haven't seen a police officer at an SFO checkpoint in years, though they are very visible throughout the airport, including on segways and bicycles. Sounds like LAX has the same strategy in place.

I think we're looking at some new armed security branch within the TSA down the line. That branch will provide armed guards at the checkpoints in place of local law enforcement and be responsible to TSA management versus the airport manager/police chief. I don't think they'll go the police officer route because of the training involved at that level (minimum 15 week academy on the federal side, much more if you use a local/regional academy here in CA). Maybe just the security guard route with a few weeks of training to keep their costs down. They'll also cost a lot less than police officers and could be funded by the TSA.

chollie

I'm not going to bother digging for a cite - it's easy enough to find, maybe on CNN. The LE staffing at LAX had been shifted very recently, apparently partly in response to complaints from LEs stationed at the sterile side of the checkpoints who were complaining about being bored. There were reports that they were often seen texting or reading. They were reassigned to roam around in the terminal instead.

I don't think they ever expected to be called upon to do anything more than arrest a pax found with a weapon, drugs or large sum of $ at the checkpoint - or possibly one who was accused of showing attitude to a TSO.

I've already seen discussion about the need to up the weaponry the police carry, perhaps arming them with AR-15s so they won't be outgunned.

sonofzeus

AFAIK this prohibits arming the screener.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act