Questions about TSA's approach to security technology
tests conducted during 2004 and 2005 on earlier [puffer] models suggested they did not demonstrate reliable performance in an airport environment,” according to a GAO report from October 2009.
TSA officials told the GAO that they had deployed the puffers to “respond quickly to the threat posed by a suicide bomber” after incidents on Russian airliners in 2004.
The agency stopped buying and deploying the puffer machines to airports in June 2006 (“Puffer machine, RIP,” 27 May 2009 HSNW). The GAO said in its October 2009 report that 116 puffers were in storage. A TSA spokesman said the agency had “since disposed of” the machines or transferred them to other agencies.
The government auditors expressed similar concerns that the TSA has not done good assessments of the risk, cost benefits, or performances of other new technologies for screening at checkpoints.
The GAO has said that the TSA has “not conducted a risk assessment or cost-benefit analysis, or established quantifiable performance measures” on its new technologies. “As a result, TSA does not have assurance that its efforts are focused on the highest priority security needs.”
In other cases, equipment to trace explosives and other devices for screening passengers have had technical problems and projected cost overruns, according to a recent GAO report.
The Post notes that the full-body scanners that have made headlines in recent weeks for their revealing images of passengers were tested more thoroughly than the puffer machines before being deployed, the GAO has found. The auditors, though, faulted the agency for not fully justifying their cost, saying that the agency’s plan to double the number of body scanners in coming years will require more personnel to run and maintain them — an expense of as much as $2.4 billion.
“They’re adding layers of security and technology, but they need to do a cost-benefit analysis to make sure this is worthwhile,” said Steve Lord of the GAO’s Homeland Security and Justice team, who has reviewed the TSA’s purchases. “They need to look at whether there is other technology to deploy at checkpoints. Are we getting the best technology for the given pot of money? Is there a cheaper way to provide the same level of security through other technology?”
John Huey, an airport security expert, said the TSA’s contracts with vendors to buy more equipment and devices often aren’t done in a “systematic way.”
“TSA has an obsession of finding a single box that will solve
