Posted on 10/22/2001 6:37:06 PM PDT by Sparticle
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today released initial results of an ongoing review of background checks of security screeners employed by Argenbright Security, Inc. at 14 airports. The special security assessment was begun Friday, October 12 by joint teams composed of officials from OIG and FAA.
The assessment was initiated after the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania filed a petition October 11 to order Argenbright to answer charges that they continue to violate a probation agreement regarding the hiring of screeners at Philadelphia International Airport without appropriate background checks or training. A court hearing is set for October 23 in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia.
Argenbright was sentenced on October 20, 2000 in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia on charges of making false statements to FAA concerning the training, testing and background verification of employees. An OIG investigation found that in some cases, convicted felons had been hired as security screeners. Argenbright was placed on three years’ probation and was ordered to pay $1,550,000 in fines and restitution, including: 1) a $1 million fine; 2) $350,000 payment to airlines Argenbright provided services to as reimbursement for fraudulent billings; and 3) $200,000 for investigative costs.
A subsequent FAA audit of Argenbright’s operations at Philadelphia International Airport and other airports found possible violations of FAA regulations, including the continued badging of new employees prior to completing their background checks and allowing them access to secure areas of the airport. Argenbright was also not conducting nationwide criminal background checks as previously ordered, according to the U.S. Attorney’s filing.
At the request of Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, a joint OIG-FAA team was dispatched to Philadelphia on October 11 to scrutinize screening operations and ensure that Federal standards are being enforced. The team was also to ensure that the court's compliance order is adhered to by Argenbright Holdings, with specific focus on verifying employee background checks, testing and training.
Subsequently, OIG and FAA, in cooperation with the Justice Department, initiated assessments for other airports cited in the U.S. Attorney’s filing. A copy of the filing is available on the U.S. Attorney’s web site at http://www.usao-edpa.com/press.htm.
Preliminary findings of the assessment have found that:
Screeners at some airports had a prior criminal record that should have disqualified them from employment in security sensitive positions. For example, a screener at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was removed from his post and had his secure area identification badge revoked after investigators learned he had been convicted on charges of being a felon in possession of a handgun.
Investigators have also worked with the Immigration and Naturalization Service to determine whether employees who were foreign nationals had authorization to work in the U.S. INS detained seven screeners at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport after finding they were illegally working in the U.S.
An individual was arrested by OIG special agents at Washington Dulles International Airport on October 13 after he passed through a security checkpoint with a concealed pocketknife on his person. The individual was detained and was arraigned October 15 in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, VA on charged of attempting to board an aircraft with a concealed weapon. A preliminary hearing was set for October 23.
Also at Dulles, 7 out of 20 screeners re-tested during a spot check at a security checkpoint by OIG were not able to pass the skills tests required as a condition of employment. To be employed as a screener, applicants must complete 12 hours of instruction, pass a written test and be re-tested on an annual basis. The employees were removed from their screening positions.
Separately, Secretary Mineta announced October 12 that separate FAA teams will begin auditing background checks of all U.S. airport security screeners, starting with those employed at the nation's 20 largest airports.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia has accused the nation's largest airport security company of failing to conduct proper background checks, hiring people with criminal backgrounds to staff airport checkpoints, and lying to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Argenbright Security, an Atlanta-based company, pleaded guilty last October to falsifying the criminal background checks of its employees at Philadelphia International Airport, a lapse that led to more than a dozen people with criminal backgrounds working at the security checkpoints. One screener had been arrested 23 times. (Screeners are posted at airport security checkpoints, where they operate X-ray machines and metal detectors and perform searches.) Argenbright was fined $1.6 million, put on probation and ordered to clean up its internal problems. But the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia said Thursday that shoddy background checks persisted at 13 airports.
The charges come at a time of alarm over airport security. Congress is deciding whether to make screeners federal employees or to continue use of private companies such as Argenbright but with new federal controls, new training requirements and much higher pay for screeners. The Senate voted last week to federalize screeners at major airports while the House Republican leadership prefers a private enterprise solution.
The Air Transport Association, which represents major airlines, has called for the nationalization of airport security, and President Bush is asking Congress to let the federal government take over the background checks of airport screeners.
The Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix just told Argenbright to leave. Argenbright's starting pay there was $6.75 per hour, a wage rivaled by fast-food restaurants. Several current and former employees say the low standards and poor-quality technology have created a security screen that is more cosmetic than effective.
I can only assume the DOJ is deliberately plotting with other elements in the government to make sure that "private" airport security fails sufficiently to ensure federalization of the service. There is no other logical explanation.
THE DOJ REEKS WITH THE STENCH OF CORRUPTION! THE BIGGEST THREAT TO THIS NATION IS NOT TERRORISM. IT IS CORRUPTION AND INCOMPETENCE IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!
Bush CANNOT sucessfully combat terrorism until he cleans up the federal government, especially the DOJ.
right now, airlines foot this bill
... and the gig goes to the lowest bidder
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