Questions about TSA's approach to security technology

security contractor.

Part of the problem is that experts disagree about what constitutes an effective airport security system, and policy makers are reluctant to embrace some techniques — such as profiling — that American society finds objectionable.

“Since the introduction of metal detectors in the 1970s, technologies have been bought and cobbled together in a somewhat piecemeal approach,” said Tom LaTourrette, a security expert at RAND Corp., a nonprofit research institute.

“No one has been able to provide a satisfactory answer to the question of how to best structure aviation security,” he said.

Quick solutions

The rush to improve security and quickly protect the public has also led to some shortcuts in contracting procedures, according to government reports.

A March audit from the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general looked at twenty-nine support service contracts that the TSA had issued to buy new technologies for baggage and passenger screening equipment, worth a total of $662 million. It found that the agency “did not provide adequate management and oversight” on the contracts.

It concluded that the TSA “did not have reasonable assurance that contractors were performing as required, that it contracted for the services it needed, that it received the services it paid for, or that taxpayers were receiving the best value.” The TSA said it has made improvements in its contracting process and oversight efforts.

Although big companies have been quick to respond to the new government market for air security, smaller firms — which often are incubators for cutting-edge technologies — say they have faced frustrations. Clint Seward of Acton, Massachusetts, started trying in the late 1980s to sell the government a device about the size of a laptop called a BCT (bottle content tester) that would detect hazardous liquids in bottles and allow people to carry water bottles or sodas on planes.

“We were trying to convince them this made sense, but you couldn’t get a consensus to get them to roll it out,” Seward said. Then 9/11 happened.

“The day after they said, ‘Can you give us a quote for 1,500 of these?’” Seward said. “I’m thinking, ‘Sure.’” He did the quote, but he said that the TSA did not have the money to fund it at first, and then he faced competition on the idea.

“By the time TSA got the money for it, the big guys took over,” Seward said. “They realized it was big money to be made with TSA. They pushed their way in.”

Last year, the TSA bought 500 bottled-liquid scanners in a $22 million contract with Smiths Detection. It has deployed more than 600 of the scanners to airports nationwide and expects to deploy more next year.