Effectiveness Of Transport Security Administration Essay

Effectiveness Of Transport Security Administration - Essay Example As part of the efforts to improve the effectiveness of screening, TSA launched improved, highly technological screening equipment that would be able to detect all forms of explosives including liquids. The effectiveness of these new equipment has been put to the test by an investigator who put coins into his pocket and passed undetected through the checkpoints. Kerley (2015), also reported that other investigators who were undercover were able to smuggle mock explosives and other weapons undetected. This challenges the effectiveness of screening and poses the question of whether TSA is doing their job or not. The equipment used is very expensive and has not proven to be effective so far. Security threats still go undetected despite all these new measures being put in place. Perhaps the time has come for the work of airport security to be assigned to people who can do a better job. In a commentary by Inserra (2015), 19 airports in the U.S have joined the SSP program, private companies overseen by TSA that allows them to replace TSA with more effective and cheaper screening methods. One of the airports that has shifted to the private sector is the Orlando- Sanford International Airport (SFB). Most airports prefer the private option as it is cost-effective, offers flexibility regarding hiring and better security. A study on Transportation and Infrastructure indicates that up to $1 billion could be saved over a period of five years if the top airports were to adopt the SSP program.