"Airport security needs upgrades, report says"

Sunday, June 27, 2004

Airport security needs upgrades, report says
By Angeles Negrete Lares and Lluvia Mares
The Brownsville (TX) Herald


The Transportation Security Administration is not doing enough to
control the perimeters and secured areas at U.S. commercial airports,
according to a General Accounting Office report released this month.

The report by GAO - commonly called the investigative arm of Congress -
said the TSA has not determined how to identify security weaknesses at
commercial airports, nor has it prioritized its funding to address
critical needs.

Despite the report, Larry Brown, aviation director for the
Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport, said TSA has
performed an admirable job in Brownsville.

"Their personnel are perfectly trained for the job, and they are very
responsible," Brown said. "So far, we have not had any problems with
passengers bringing any concealed weapons on the planes or to the
airport."

Police records indicate otherwise.

On April 7, Omirime Francois Mairesse was arrested by Brownsville police
at 6 a.m. after he tried to board a plane to Houston carrying a black
butterfly knife, which flips open its handle to expose a blade.

Mairesse, a 24-year-old Israeli man, told police he bought the knife
while visiting South Padre Island and was planning to take the knife
home to Tel Aviv as a gift.

Mairesse was charged with a Class C misdemeanor for possessing a
prohibited weapon.

TSA spokeswoman Andrea McCauley said prohibited items are carried onto
airplanes on a daily basis at airports across the country, not just
Brownsville.

When asked if concealed weapons have passed through personnel and
baggage screenings, McCauley said: "I am not going to say that it has
not happened. I am sure it has occurred at the airport before. But we do
have it under control."

GAO's report also said that although the agency has taken some steps to
reduce security risks posed by airport workers with access to secured
areas, it has limited security checks of fingerprinting due to cost and
complexity.

A joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the
Federal Aviation Administration, among others, last November concluded
that fingerprinting failed to stop 4,200 airport workers from falsifying
immigration, social security and criminal information to gain access to
secured areas.

"Obviously, fingerprinting is not a fail safe," said Senate Governmental
Affairs ranking member Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., who requested the GAO
investigation a year ago.

The report notes that TSA has generally concurred with GAO's findings
and has started implementing many of its recommendations.


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