The Transportation Security Administration has little evidence that an airport passenger screening program screens objectively, according to a report by the inspector general for the Homeland Security Department.
According to the New York Times, the TSA’s behavioral detection program relies on security officers who are supposed to pull aside passengers who exhibit telltale signs of terrorists for additional screening and questioning. It is illegal to screen passengers because of nationality, race, ethnicity or religion.
The DHS report says that the TSA has not assessed the program’s effectiveness, and that the program has 2,800 employees but no comprehensive training program. The report also claims that the TSA cannot “show that the program is cost-effective, or reasonably justify the program’s expansion.”