Nearly all airports in the world are so vulnerable. B http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070520/cops_airports_0 70520/20070520?hub=Canada
New studies show that there are still major gaps in airport security that can be exploited by terrorists. New studies show that there are still major gaps in airport security that can be exploited by terrorists. (file) Airport checkpoints vulnerable to attack: report Updated Sun. May. 20 2007 5:19 PM ET Canadian Press OTTAWA -- Canada's major airports are vulnerable to terrorists and attackers bent on storming through preboarding checkpoints with weapons, says a newly released report. The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority wants a beefed-up police presence, and faster response times by airport cops, to protect lives put at risk by this "critical gap'' in security. "Typically the police response at (major) airports occurs in less than five minutes,'' says an internal CATSA report obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act. "However, even within a one- or two-minute time period, a terrorist or other attacker can cause significant damage and fatal and non-fatal injuries to people at the screening line. "CATSA's screening officers face this threat every day. There are few possible options to respond to this threat.'' The security authority, a Crown corporation created in 2002 to improve and standardize airport passenger screening after the 9-11 attacks, has no policing function. Its 4,400 screening officers, under contract at 89 Canadian airports, lack any powers of arrest and detention whenever a screening incident occurs. Instead, they rely on local airport police to respond to alarms within a minimum number of minutes mandated by Transport Canada regulations, though the actual time frame is kept secret for security reasons. CATSA wants to shorten the minimum response time and have an "enhanced police presence'' at checkpoints, says the heavily censored 2006 report. Currently, CATSA helps subsidize a hodgepodge of air-terminal policing, from city cops at some airports, to provincial police and RCMP at others. A consultant hired by the security authority to review policing reported in late 2005 that "each airport functions completely in isolation of the others and there is no national reporting standard or training associated therewith. ... "Consequently, in an operational crisis, one could not reasonably expect a consistent response from one airport to another.'' The consulting firm questioned why the federal government standardized passenger screening but left policing to local airport authorities, an issue also raised in a 2003 Senate committee report. CATSA officers intercepted 650,000 prohibited items last year, some of them dangerous weapons, says the newly released report. "Passengers carrying prohibited items such as knives, bullets, kubatons, and pepper spray routinely try to go through PBS (preboard screening) and might challenge screening officers.'' A kubaton is a truncheon with a key ring on one end. In a September 2005 meeting with about 50 Winnipeg airport employees, the agency was told of "a rise in unruly passengers and verbal abuse directed towards screening officers from both passengers and non-passengers.'' A spokeswoman for CATSA said the agency called in the cops about 300 times last year because of threatening passengers. On at least one occasion several years ago, a passenger threw a cup of scalding coffee at a screening officer, said Anna-Karina Tabunar. But so far, there have been no injuries directly resulting from slow police response times. "There has not been any incident where anyone was put in danger because of delayed response,'' Tabunar said in an interview. Even so, the current minimum needs to be tightened, she said. "This is an area that could be improved. ... The time could be shortened.'' Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon is currently reviewing a series of proposals to improve airport security, including making his own department primarily responsible for airport policing as well as reducing response times for CATSA checkpoint incidents. A spokeswoman for Cannon, Natalie Sarafian, said the minister is still reviewing the recommendations. She could not say when he plans to announce his decisions. Last week, Transport Canada proposed new regulations that would give airlines more legal clout to bar abusive passengers from flights. The government says about 250 disruptive incidents take place on Canadian planes annually. "There is nothing more dangerous and difficult or more doubtful of success, Than an attempt to introduce a new order of things in any state. 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