TSA screeners still have criminal pasts
Security May Have Lapsed With Screeners
Airports Question TSA After Workers' Criminal Pasts Are Discovered
By Sara Kehaulani Goo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 16, 2003; Page A03
More than two dozen federal airport screeners stationed at Los Angeles International Airport have been found to have criminal histories, prompting concern that the federal government did not complete required background probes of security personnel, people familiar with the matter said.
The airport said it will begin fingerprinting and conducting criminal background checks next week on its federal airport screeners. Similarly, in New York, police have uncovered that at least 50 security screeners have criminal pasts at John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).
"We believe fingerprinting all TSA employees is a prudent measure and will bring about an increase in the overall security of the airport," said Paul Haney, a spokesman at Los Angeles International, referring to the Transportation Security Administration.
Congress created the TSA after the terrorist attacks in September 2001 to ensure that a more educated, skilled and better-paid workforce would take over airport security screening. Like all other airport workers who have access to nonpublic areas, TSA screeners are required to pass thorough criminal history checks before they start.
The TSA said it completed name- and fingerprint-based criminal background checks on all of its screeners. But 40 percent of its workforce of 55,600 screeners has not undergone a more in-depth investigation by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
TSA spokesman Robert Johnson said he did not know when the final checks would be completed, but he emphasized they would take time because they require several months of interviews with references and document verification.
The background checks "are adequate to give us a feel for who's on the job," Johnson said. "But like everything else, it's evolving and we continue to implement the systems that are necessary to manage this program."
The Los Angeles airport stumbled upon a handful of screeners with criminal histories during a routine process to issue screeners identification badges. The airport required more than 2,600 TSA screeners stationed there to fill out a questionnaire required for all of its employees; questions about past criminal activity are included.
The questionnaire, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, asks whether employees have been convicted of numerous offenses, including "armed or felony robbery," "aircraft piracy," "violence at international airports," "kidnapping or hostage taking," and "carrying a weapon or explosive aboard an aircraft."
Airport officials were shocked to find that six TSA screeners answered "yes" as to whether they had been convicted of certain crimes within the past 10 years, according to a person familiar with the matter. The airport declined to name the screeners or to provide information about the crimes they committed, but the source said some of the six had records of felony gun possession, assault with a deadly weapon as well as a drug-related crime.
After the discovery in March, Bernard J. Wilson, the airport's police chief, asked the TSA for permission to conduct his own fingerprint-based checks. The TSA granted authority earlier this month. In other instances, the airport learned of TSA screeners with criminal pasts from the TSA itself. The agency has fired more than two dozen employees at the airport, some as recently as this month, for failing background checks, said sources familiar with the incidents who provided information on the condition that they not be identified. "It's alarming," one source said. "It's a vulnerability we've got to be aggressive about fixing."
TSA spokesman Johnson said the agency has terminated some employees who didn't pass the final background check and will continue to do so.
Congress required that screeners must be U.S. citizens and speak English. They also have to have earned a high school diploma and pass rigorous tests and employment and criminal background checks. Also, airports must, by law, conduct fingerprint-based background checks on all of their employees, even airport officials and workers in public areas such as restaurants.
"Most airports find it ironic that the government required airports to jump to get everything done by a certain deadline and they, the ones doing the screening, haven't done the background checks," said Ian Redhead, vice president for airport facilities and management at Airports Council International-North America, which represents airport owners. "We really don't know the magnitude of it. I'm hoping that it is a few isolated incidents."
Similar questions over background checks have surfaced at the three airports in the New York City area.
The police force for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which controls the airports, said it has been conducting fingerprint-based checks of screeners at JFK, La Guardia and Newark Liberty International to assist the TSA.
After an area television station aired a report about thefts at JFK, Sen. Schumer wrote to TSA chief James M. Loy last week inquiring why the agency did not complete criminal background checks. The TSA said it did not receive the senator's letter and declined to respond.
"Schumer is also concerned that since the Port Authority started investigating the backgrounds of the new screeners, more than 50 of those already working at JFK airport were found to have criminal records," noted a news release the senator's office issued with the letter.
Port Authority spokesman Kevin Davitt said he could not discuss the findings of the background checks.
