Private Screening Progresses
By Tom Shoop | Monday, June 25, 2007 | 10:12 AM
By Tom Shoop | Monday, June 25, 2007 | 10:12 AM
The expansion of private security screening forces at airports continues apace, with the announcement Friday that Trinity Technology Group, Inc., of Fairfax, Va., would take over screening at Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County (Calif.) Airport under the Transportation Security Administration's Screening Partnership Program. The program has been in place since late 2004, after TSA completed a pilot program to test private screening at five airports: San Francisco International; Kansas City International; Greater Rochester International; Jackson Hole, Wyo.; and Tupelo (Miss.) Regional. All five of those airports opted to continue using private screeners at the end of the pilot phase. Since then, Joe Foss Field in Sioux Falls, S.D., Key West International Airport, and the Florida Keys Marathon Airport also have chosen to go the private sector route.
TSA is now using a streamlined acquisition process under which any interested vendor can apply to an airport's request for proposals for screening services. Previously, companies had to be pre-certified to participate in the program.
Comments
Isn't private contractor screening part of what lead to 9/11 to begin with? Federal employees are not only cheaper, but centrally, more reliable. The private contractors appear nice right now but soon they'll start cutting back on hours and wages and quickly they'll be hiring the bribable, neglectful people. We'll be back to the situation before 9/11 soon. And then they'll hit us.
Alfred | Tuesday, June 26, 2007 | 04:07 PMIts about time!! There is nothing inherently governmental about screening and private screeining has been shown to work at large aiports as well as it does at small ones - even better. TSA must not continue to perpetuate its conflict of interest between its needed oversight role and screening operations. TSA screening costs are so heavilly subsidized and unrecognized as to make any economic comparison suspect. The conversion back to private performance needs to be mandated through repeal of the law that created it.
Washington | Monday, June 25, 2007 | 04:31 PMIts about time!! There is nothing inherently governmental about screening and private screeining has been shown to work at large aiports as well as it does at small ones - even better. TSA must not continue to perpetuate its conflict of interest between its needed oversight role and screening operations. TSA screening costs are so heavilly subsidized and unrecognized as to make any economic comparison suspect. The conversion back to private performance needs to be mandated through repeal of the law that created it.
Washington | Monday, June 25, 2007 | 04:31 PMIt's a shame that the Bush Administration simply doesn't care what the people want. All they want to do is privitize the government to enrich his cronies.
George | Monday, June 25, 2007 | 04:24 PMWhat a bad idea to use private screeners. Paying 5.1 million dollars of tax money for 4 years of screening at a very small airport is ludicrious. Give the taxpayers a break and quit enriching private contractors who give campaign contributions. Do it right, and cheaper by using Federal Employees!!!!
Greg | Monday, June 25, 2007 | 02:40 PMNothing really new here. I would suspect that it's alot cheaper than federalizing an airport this size. Makes fiscal sense!
Eire | Monday, June 25, 2007 | 11:57 AMGod help us. Here we go again...
Us Citizen | Monday, June 25, 2007 | 10:39 AMABOUT THIS BLOG
Government Executive Editor Tom Shoop takes a look at news and events affecting the federal bureaucracy, from the perspective of a longtime observer of government.
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