"Gaming the System: Concerns raised over Mississippi airport security probe"

Thursday, October 5, 2006

Concerns raised over airport security probe
Congressman has concerns about reprisals for workers who tell
By Chris Joyner
The Jackson (MS) Clarion Ledger

  
Several weeks after calling for an investigation of federal security
measures at the Jackson-Evers International Airport, 2nd District U.S. Rep.
Bennie Thompson said he is concerned about the manner in which the
investigation is being conducted.

Thompson, the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee,
sent a letter Wednesday to the head of the U.S. Transportation Security
Administration voicing his concern over "the worsening situation at the
Jackson-Evers International Airport."

In the letter to TSA director Edmund "Kip" Hawley, Thompson said he is
talking to a growing number of TSA workers in Jackson who are fearful they
may lose their jobs for blowing the whistle on security problems at the
airport.

TSA investigators came to Jackson last month to look into claims by current
and former workers that TSA management used inside information to cheat
undercover tests of security procedures.

The alleged security breaches were outlined in a story in The Clarion-Ledger
following a two-month investigation.

The workers also said attitudes toward federal security regulations were so
lax that dangerous items sometimes were allowed to pass through into
supposedly secure areas of the airport.

But Thompson said he has learned that only selected employees were
interviewed by the investigators and the interviews often were held in rooms
adjoining the offices of Federal Security Director Larry Rowlett and other
top TSA managers.

In a letter last month to Hawley, Thompson called for Rowlett to be put on
administrative leave for the duration of the investigation to make sure
employees could speak without fear of reprisals.

TSA officials instead issued a statement of support for Rowlett, citing his
long career in federal service, including a stint as chief Secret Service
agent for Mississippi.

"The (TSA) Office of Investigations will never get to the bottom of the
problems at Jackson if Mr. Rowlett and his management team are able to keep
their ears to the keyhole and eyes on the door," Thompson wrote.

TSA spokeswoman Sari Koshetz would not comment on the letter on the grounds
that it involved "personnel issues." TSA also offered no comment on whether
investigators were able to substantiate the claims made by current and
former TSA employees.

In earlier statements, TSA spokespersons have denied any dangerous items
have made it past security checkpoints and suggested that any warnings of
upcoming tests were the result of workers at one airport gossiping with
screeners in Jackson.

Bill Gillam, a former TSA screener, said he was interviewed away from the
airport by two investigators.

Gillam and others claim that TSA management would brief workers before
supposedly secret tests where undercover agents - known as "red teams" -
would attempt to sneak dangerous items into the airport.

Gillam said he provided a list of names of other workers willing to be
interviewed under oath about airport operations.

"There are some people who want to know why they have not been interviewed,"
he said.

One TSA worker said he does not believe the promise of confidentiality was
entirely kept.

He said his confidence in the investigation is "extremely low."

The worker would not go on the record for fear of retaliation.

Many workers with legitimate complaints about the management of airport
security were not interviewed, he said.

"It has all the appearance of another TSA whitewash. I don't have any
confidence in what TSA does for that reason," he said.

Thompson said he does not want that to happen.

"I've assured everybody concerned that, to the extent I can get the
department to do a thorough and unbiased investigation, I will do that," he
said.

Claims of security problems at the airport are not new.

In January, TSA officials in Washington told their Jackson counterparts that
Jackson Mayor Frank Melton was no longer allowed to bring his personal
firearms aboard commercial flights leaving the airport.

Melton had flown armed several times since becoming mayor last year by
showing a badge and a letter signed by Police Chief Shirlene Anderson.

Related Story:

Fired SFO Security Manager Alleges 'Serious Breaches'
http://archives.californiaaviation.org/airport/msg34038.html

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