Profiling At Airports
Profiling and Security Screening at US airports
Since 9/11, security has become a major issue in the United States. For the last ten years security has become one of the top priorities of the US government. Airports, sea ports, government departments and even private institutions have planned and implemented security programs all over the country to ensure the protection of the citizens of the US.
Airports are the main gates used by most of the travelers to enter a state from abroad or to travel from one city to another within a country. In this era of war, terrorism and retaliation, airports have to strictly monitor the individuals entering or leaving the country through air travel. The attacks of 9/11 have increased pressure on the aviation …show more content…
Later, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was established. In accordance with TSA, government employees were given the charge of airport security all over the country. The TSA has implemented programs for screening passengers and the baggage that they carry.
X-rays scanners, metal detectors, and bomb detectors were initially used for the screening. Later on, during 2010, full body scanner, pat downs and strip searches were also introduced by the TSA which led to much rage and criticism amongst the passengers.[ http://www.cfr.org/publication/23673/debate_over_airport_security.html]
Some questions were raised by experts over the effectiveness of such security programs which led to the introduction of profiling. Profiling uses the available information about passengers to judge whether they are low risk or high risk. Information such as behavior, criminal record, ethnicity, religion and travelling history is used to determine the level of risk of a passenger. High risk passengers are questioned and made to go through full body scans or pat downs. Low risk passengers usually face lesser problems during their journey from the entrance of the airport to the waiting …show more content…
Well, we need strong arguments to agree or disagree. The advocates of the profiling and security screening programs argue that such security procedures are helpful in keeping the country safe. They insist that full body scans and pat downs can make it difficult for the terrorists to conduct their activities in the country and so it will be better to implement such programs. While making such arguments, they tend to forget that the terrorist organizations are very capable of using other tactics to conduct terror attacks. Terrorists usually have a strong network of intelligence and so it’s not that easy to catch them. The terrorists are not foolish enough to walk through the airport gates knowing that the security programs implemented there are very much advanced and there are chances that they will be caught. Many countries are profiling their citizens, including the US. The terrorists have another option of employing people from countries where profiling is not implemented yet, to conduct attacks. Profiling also includes noticing the general behavior of the individual while being interrogated. Terrorists can easily pretend to be someone else while such interrogations take place. Remember the “underwear bomber” Umar Farouk ? who was caught in December 2009 carrying explosives attached to his under garments. Well, a US government report showed that there was confusion about whether x ray
Since 9/11, security has become a major issue in the United States. For the last ten years security has become one of the top priorities of the US government. Airports, sea ports, government departments and even private institutions have planned and implemented security programs all over the country to ensure the protection of the citizens of the US.
Airports are the main gates used by most of the travelers to enter a state from abroad or to travel from one city to another within a country. In this era of war, terrorism and retaliation, airports have to strictly monitor the individuals entering or leaving the country through air travel. The attacks of 9/11 have increased pressure on the aviation …show more content…
Later, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was established. In accordance with TSA, government employees were given the charge of airport security all over the country. The TSA has implemented programs for screening passengers and the baggage that they carry.
X-rays scanners, metal detectors, and bomb detectors were initially used for the screening. Later on, during 2010, full body scanner, pat downs and strip searches were also introduced by the TSA which led to much rage and criticism amongst the passengers.[ http://www.cfr.org/publication/23673/debate_over_airport_security.html]
Some questions were raised by experts over the effectiveness of such security programs which led to the introduction of profiling. Profiling uses the available information about passengers to judge whether they are low risk or high risk. Information such as behavior, criminal record, ethnicity, religion and travelling history is used to determine the level of risk of a passenger. High risk passengers are questioned and made to go through full body scans or pat downs. Low risk passengers usually face lesser problems during their journey from the entrance of the airport to the waiting …show more content…
Well, we need strong arguments to agree or disagree. The advocates of the profiling and security screening programs argue that such security procedures are helpful in keeping the country safe. They insist that full body scans and pat downs can make it difficult for the terrorists to conduct their activities in the country and so it will be better to implement such programs. While making such arguments, they tend to forget that the terrorist organizations are very capable of using other tactics to conduct terror attacks. Terrorists usually have a strong network of intelligence and so it’s not that easy to catch them. The terrorists are not foolish enough to walk through the airport gates knowing that the security programs implemented there are very much advanced and there are chances that they will be caught. Many countries are profiling their citizens, including the US. The terrorists have another option of employing people from countries where profiling is not implemented yet, to conduct attacks. Profiling also includes noticing the general behavior of the individual while being interrogated. Terrorists can easily pretend to be someone else while such interrogations take place. Remember the “underwear bomber” Umar Farouk ? who was caught in December 2009 carrying explosives attached to his under garments. Well, a US government report showed that there was confusion about whether x ray