TSA nominee impresses Senators with wide knowledge of transportation security concerns
President Barack Obama's nominee to head the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) encountered only a little turbulence during a fairly smooth confirmation hearing in the Senate Tuesday, emphasizing his security experience with different modes of transportation as well as general aviation.
Erroll Southers, currently serving as assistant chief of police for intelligence at the Los Angeles airport authority, generally impressed members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee with his deft understanding of the issues facing TSA, while acknowledging a need for comprehensive security measures across mass transit as well as aviation and endorsing a collaborative approach to federal rulemaking.
A few surprises turned up in the hearing, however. First, Susan Collins (R-Maine), ranking member of the committee, questioned Southers about a letter of censure he received while an agent of the FBI more than 20 years ago. Collins did not disclose the exact details that provoked the censure, but Southers revealed, in written answers to the committee, that he had inappropriately used his position in the FBI to discover an arrest warrant for his ex-wife's boyfriend in 1988.
Southers was contrite and apologetic over the situation, vowing that he would never misuse any personal information to which he may have access as head of TSA. Collins complimented Southers' sincerity and appeared satisfied with his responses to the situation.
Southers also voiced a commitment to putting the needs of national security before TSA unions and collective bargaining rights, impressing George Voinovich (R-Ohio), who warned him not to rush into granting collective bargaining rights to airport screeners. Several members of the Obama administration and Congress have expressed support for granting collective bargaining to screeners, but Southers was cautious.
Southers said he would like to meet with a cross-section of TSA employees to see how collective bargaining would impact them but he also emphasized that costs and timelines must be considered when weighing a decision to grant collective bargaining rights to TSA employees.
"I want to review it but not endorse or recommend anything that would compromise our mission," Southers stated, vowing that he would not "bargain on security."
Years of experience
Southers responded eloquently and knowledgeably to a wide range of questions concerning challenges facing TSA. The nominee underscored his 30 years of experience in counter-terrorism and public safety at the federal, state and local levels of government.
"This has given me the important perspective to understand how partnerships are critical to success," Southers remarked. "The crucial need to effectively share information, be it threat information, intelligence, coordinated response planning, or best practices, is something that I have lived with, practiced, and experienced. If confirmed, I will bring this same dedication and commitment with me to TSA."
As assistant chief for Homeland Security and Intelligence at the Los Angeles World Airports Police Department, Southers works with TSA on a daily basis at Los Angeles International (LAX) and three general aviation airfields. Working at LAX also has provided Southers with sharp insights into surface transportation security while attending to the needs of the connecting light rail system and transit buses, he said.
In addition, Southers serves as an administrator at the University of Southern California and its Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE)--a program funded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Southers underscored that his experiences with the LAX airport police and CREATE have provided him with an opportunity to foster international relationships that would prove useful at TSA to share best practices in combating terrorism.
If confirmed, Southers said his first priorities at TSA would involve addressing the dynamic threat environment facing transportation systems. Specifically, he voiced an interest in enhancing TSA's relationship with the DHS Science & Technology Directorate to address advancements in explosives.
"The change that is occurring is that these explosives are able to be put in forms that are non-metallic; they are able to be concealed; the ingredients are readily available; and they are quite destructive," Southers warned. "So the challenge then comes in being able to detect those types of explosives with technology and/or training before they are introduced into the environment."
The nominee enthusiastically endorsed the use of whole body imaging, noting that the technology could catch ceramic knives and other weapons that other screening equipment could not. He promised to protect the civil liberties of passengers who voluntarily go through whole body imaging and to offer alternatives to those who object to the imagers during secondary screening.
Southers also declared an interest in building resiliency by engaging the public and making Americans aware of various threats before incidents happen and by strengthening continuity of operations after incidents happen. He said he would closely study the methods of the United Kingdom and Israel, where capacities for resiliency in transportation security are relatively strong.
Additional priorities
Southers acknowledged a need to address the security concerns of trains and buses--particularly as rail systems have been a preferred target of terrorists in the United Kingdom, Spain, and elsewhere in recent years.
Enhancing the security presence at transportation stations considered most at risk would help to deter attacks on rail lines as terrorists often look for a lack of security personnel or technology when scouting targets, Southers commented. Increased use of Visible Intermodal Protection and Response (VIPR) teams--consisting of federal air marshals, screeners, and canine units--would be one way to boost TSA's presence at transportation hubs, he added.
Southers agreed that TSA screeners required more consistently when applying airport security rules to passengers traveling through security checkpoints. Collins complained that travelers in LAX were required to place their shoes in a bin while travelers at Boston Logan International Airport were told to place their shoes directly on a conveyer belt.
Even small inconsistencies, such as the way shoes are screened, erode public confidence, Southers asserted. He would address inconsistencies with a strong, uniform national training program but also provide management support to staff when anomalies arise, creating a need for departures from the routine.
Finally, Southers indicated he would reach out to the general aviation community to build support for additional security measures at their airfields.
Agreeing that a set of security regulations proposed in 2008 for general aviation airports did not go over well due to a lack of collaborative rulemaking, Southers said he would improve outreach to the general aviation community.
TSA should educate stakeholders at general aviation airports and give them the opportunity to participate in a 24-hour general aviation hotline, Southers said, invoking measures established for the three general aviation airports under Los Angles World Airports. The general aviation airports can report suspicious people or activities through the hotline, which feeds into local fusion centers.
The Los Angeles airport police also randomly move security resources such as VIPR teams to the general aviation hubs to create a dynamic security scheme and to make it more difficult to detect weaknesses in airport security, Southers said, adding that he would study duplicating that strategy nationally.
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