By Calvin Biesecker
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently launched a new security initiative aimed at enhancing coordination among the various security authorities that operate on the secure, or airside, of airport terminals.
The Airside Vulnerability Reduction Team program will be led by Willie Williams, the former chief of police for both Los Angeles and Philadelphia and since 2002 the federal security director at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Williams will also be TSA’s liaison to law enforcement organizations around the country.
With 44 years of law enforcement and federal security experience, “Willie is truly one of the nation’s leaders in law enforcement and an experienced innovator in community policing,” Mo McGowan, TSA assistant administrator for Security Operations, said in a statement.
Using the community policing model and applying it to airports, TSA, law enforcement, airline and airport employees and officials, all of whom have been vetted through security background checks, will work to build closer relationships.
“By continuing to strengthen the relationships we have with local law enforcement and airline and airport security partners, we can better leverage our existing resources to address potential security threats,” Williams said in a statement.
Ramp personnel working for the airlines see things that law enforcement officials might not, TSA spokesman Christopher White told Defense Daily. “Now we’re going to formalize those relationships,” he said.
Separately on Wednesday, TSA said it has begun to expand its random screening to airline gates. The screening is part of the agency’s Aviation Direct Access Screening Program and can include checking passenger identification and boarding passes, conducting physical searches of carry-on luggage, using handheld explosive detection units and screening of individuals.