The U.S. Government Accountability Office has recommended
limiting future funding for the Transportation Security Administration's
behavioral detection program, citing limited evidence for its effectiveness.
A GAO report issued this month concluded that TSA reports on
the effectiveness of the Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques program are not "scientifically validated." For example, it concluded
that TSA in an April 2011 study that found SPOT was more likely than random
search to detect passengers with fraudulent documents "collected the study
data unevenly," making the report potentially biased. While TSA late last
year developed a plan to measure SPOT's effectiveness, results will not be
available for another three years, according to GAO.
"I do see the value of using behavioral analysis to
bolster aviation security, but only when we can prove that taxpayer dollars are
being spent in most effective manner possible," U.S. House transportation security
subcommittee chairman Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) said Thursday during a hearing on
the program. "Perhaps reinforcing local law enforcement officers at
airports, who are well-equipped to detect suspicious behavior, would make more
sense than having 3,000 employees directly employed by the TSA."
TSA Administrator John Pistole in prepared remarks for the
hearing noted that in 2012, behavior detection officers referred more than
2,000 screenings to law enforcement, resulting in 30 passengers being denied
boarding, 79 investigations and 183 arrests. He added that the GAO report
failed "to recognize all the available research" and that the program
"should continue to be funded at current levels" as TSA seeks to
improve it.
TSA began deploying the SPOT program, which reroutes
passengers showing signs of excessive fear or stress for extra screening, in the
2007 fiscal year, and it has cost about $900 million to run since that time,
according to GAO.