A new Transportation Security Administration behavioral
screening program will allow more air passengers who appear non-threatening to
enter special PreCheck airport security lanes, where travelers may not be
required to remove their shoes or their laptops from bags.
The program, unofficially called "managed
inclusion," is being tested in airports in Indianapolis and Tampa, Fla.
"We are looking to increase the population of people
who can use PreCheck," said TSA director of external communications David
Castelveter.
At present, those who may go through PreCheck lines either
are frequent flyers who have been invited to do so by an airline or those who
have applied and paid a fee to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Global
Entry Program.
TSA administrator John Pistole told The New York Times that the intent of managed inclusion is to make
sure that PreCheck lanes "are being fully utilized" throughout the
day, rather than just during peak hours.
Persons deemed non-threatening by TSA personnel will be
selected at random to enter the PreCheck lanes.
"It's not a guarantee," Castelveter said. "We
don't have the ability to put everyone through PreCheck."
"In general, we support their effort to be more
selective," said Steve Lord, U.S. Government Accountability Office
director of homeland security and justice issues. "I'd like to know how
the officers are identifying people for inclusion in the PreCheck lane. They're
being trained to look for high-risk passengers, not low-risk passengers."
Castelveter said behavior detection officers are trained to
determine whether it is necessary to take further action in investigating a
person demonstrating unusual behavior—sweating or fidgeting, for example.
Physical appearance, he said, will not be a factor.
In August 2012, TSA investigated internal allegations of
racial profiling at Boston's Logan International Airport. Following the
allegations, additional training was provided.
"All of our officers went through recurrent training to
ensure that there is no profiling as part of their observations,"
Castelveter said.
At present, GAO is not overly concerned about profiling,
according to Lord. "We'll have to look at the data." GAO hopes to
complete an overall analysis of the behavior detection program in late 2013,
Lord said.
Castelveter said TSA hopes to expand the program, but have
no set timeline for doing so at this time.