The Washington Posts’ Spencer S. Hsu and Carrie Johnson report that a March 2008 Transportation Security Administration memo detailing airport security practices has been leaked online. The memo does reveal some interesting airport practices like the settings used to test and operate metal detectors, the minimum number of TSA officers needed at a security checkpoint, and what countries’ passports receive automatic scrutiny.

But airport/airline security simply isn’t as sacred as it was right after 9/11. TSA takedowns — like a Jeffrey Goldberg piece in the Atlantic last year — have exposed an expensive  system of “security theater” where the appearance of top-notch security is what seems most important. One serious concern that the Post article does raise about TSA is that it doesn’t have an agency leader. Barack Obama nominated Los Angeles airport security executive Erroll Southers for the position. But the Senate, as its tendency, still hasn’t got around to voting on whether to confirm Southers.

Comment RSS - You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.