A review by the Transportation Security Administration reflected the many proposed changes at the department's security policies in a response to the shooting incident that happened last November at the Los Angeles International Airport. The Associated Press said that the review was a result of going over security policies of nearly 450 airports across the US.
A recommendation is the installation of armed security guards at screening checkpoints during the airports' peak hours, Politico said. The review reportedly came just a couple of days before a special panel of the House is expected to hold a hearing in Los Angeles regarding the nonsensical shooting.
Pennsylvania, New Jersey native Paul Ciancia began shooting random people at LAX, killing one TSA agent, Gerardo Hernandez, and harming three others, among them is a teacher, Politico said. Ciancia has been since charged by federal prosecutors with murder in relation to Hernandez's death and argued that the defendant was specifically targeting TSA agents on that day of unnecessary violence. Ciancia, said AP, has pleaded not guilty to the 11 federal charges filed against him by the state.
The 26-page report said that TSA has adopted 14 recommendations that will improve security in airports. Among them were the increased presence of VIPR teams, or specially-trained special units of the TSA whose services are tapped at major events like political conventions for example, and a bolstered active-shooter training program for employees. Politico noted that the TSA has rejected a call for creating a new class of armed agents by the TSA officers' union.
On the other hand, Politico said the question of where TSA will be positioning the armed guards has been the subject of a debate months before the deadly shooting incident. The armed guards, who are typically airport or local police officers not working for the TSA initially had them patrolling throughout airport terminals as oppose to standing at security checkpoints.
