TSA Airport Screeners Fail To Detect Explosives And Weapons 95% Of The Time After Undercover Internal Investigation

Airport screeners were tested in different airports all over the United States in a undercover internal investigation led by the Homeland Security and they found out that these screeners fail at least 95% of the time in detecting explosives and weapons.

According to a report by CNN, the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General was able to bring in banned items through the screening process. There were 70 tests conducted and out of these tests, the Office of the Inspector General was able to get the banned items pass through the airport screeners 67 times.

Although the results of the tests are yet to be released later this summer, different government officials already confirmed the said findings abovementioned to the publication. A spokesperson for Homeland Security released a statement saying that the numbers in the reports are not good and that this is a critical element in the evolution of the nation's aviation security.

Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Representative Jason Chaffetz said in a statement that the failure rate is very alarming as for the past six years, his office has seen that the TSA used a lot of resources in order to improve the aviation security but it seems that these improvements are not enough. He added that they spent $540 million on baggage screening equipment and yet the failure rate is much higher than it was back in 2007.

This is not the first time that TSA is under hot water as in the recent months, their security programs have been criticized. The agency's behavior detection program was a laughing stock as airport agents tried to pinpoint terrorists and immigration violations.

Chaffetz added that he wanted to use low-tech and bomb-sniffing dogs in airports all over the U.S. in order to detect weapons and explosives as he reiterated that the government needs to recognize the fact that some of the most effective solutions do not require to be expensive.

TSA is yet to respond and release any information regarding their plans into making airport screening more effective.