A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned how TSA screeners at some airports had failed miserably at detecting decoy explosives, missing between 60% to 75% of the decoys. Well, it seems the TSA lacked confidence in its screeners' abilities long before those results came out. The Associated Press reports that, in an April 2006 e-mail, a TSA official warned a dozen recipients, including airport security staff, about an upcoming undercover security screening test. The e-mail included descriptions of the testers' physical appearance and alterations they had made to their travel documents.
Once this information became public, the TSA responded that they are "confident in the overall integrity of the program" and that tip-offs are not a systematic problem because they "do so much testing." Frankly, I think the easier response would've been, "If we were cheating, do you really think our test results would be this bad?"
Let's all hope not.
