"SFO security risks continue on the job"

Tuesday, December 18, 2001

SFO security risks continue on the job
By Tanya Pampalone
The San Francisco (CA) Examiner


    The 29 convicted felons who work at San Francisco International
Airport still have their jobs, until their individual employers decide
what to do.

    The employees, who were found to have felony convictions including
kidnapping, robbery and sex offenses, have not been let go even though
their security badges have been revoked, according to SFO spokesman Ron
Wilson.

    A screening process that was stepped up following Sept. 11,
uncovered the backgrounds of the 29 mechanics, cleaners, caterers and
baggage handlers who work for various airport vendors. 

    Wilson said they have screened only 3,000 and still have 13,000 more
workers to review. He said it is up to the individual employer whether
they will reassign the employee to a non-secure part of the airport or
fire them.

    Prior to the terrorist attacks, employees were screened from a local
database. Now their fingerprints are processed through an FBI list of
federal convicts. 

    "All employees with access to the secure side of the airport must go
through a background check within the next year," he said. "Anyone with
a felony in the past 10 years ... cannot have access to the secure side.
(We are) mandated to pull the ID."

    David Stempler, president of Air Travelers Association, an advocacy
group for airline passengers, said this is just one of many problems
with airport security.

    "It just shows you how broken our airline security system is," he
said. "I'm sure we are going to find this at a lot more airports, I
don't think it's isolated by any means."


 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?conf=DCConfID8

*****************************************