United States airport security workers have discovered that many people still pass through the security point while carrying dangerous weapons with them. To help curb the issue, the Transport Security Administration (TSA) has changed the policy of body searches for a more rigorous screening process.
The Bloomberg has reported that in the past, US airport security workers opt to choose among the five different types of physical pat-downs when screening travelers at the check point. Now, there will be just one type of physical search to which the TSA has described it to be a lot more "comprehensive."
TSA spokesman Bruce Anderson told the media last week: "I would say, people, who in the past would have gotten a pat-down that wasn't involved will notice that the [new] pat-down is more involved." The new policy was introduced two weeks ago in smaller airports and now was being rolled out in the entire country.
The Denver International Airport has integrated the new system and has informed their crew and employees that they will be implementing more meticulous body searches. They also said that it "will be more thorough and may involve an officer making more intimate contact than before."
About two million people are screened daily at US airports and have found pat-downs as intrusive to their privacy. Many people also decline to pass through an imaging scanner, which brings TSA to a question on how to have more effective body searches that the public won't deny. Moreover, the pat-down would slow a person's travel time because it will take much longer.
The sudden change in policy was because of a study made by the organization in its screening procedures. The Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General has audited airport personnel where they have failed in uncovering people carrying guns and knives. You can find a record number of firearms discovered by the agency here.
