TSA to conduct random screenings beginning Dec. 22

Three days before Christmas, airline travelers can expect more random screenings by the Transportation Security Administration, which will soon implement updated security procedures.

TSA officers, however, will allow passengers to carry small tools and scissors when the agency begins implementing the revised security procedures beginning Dec. 22. The TSA will continue to ban lighters from aircraft cabins and checked-in baggage.

Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Kip Hawley disclosed the changes in a recent media release, saying that they allow the TSA to focus resources on more serious threats.

“It is paramount to the security of our aviation system that terrorists not be able to know with certainty what screening procedures they will encounter at airports around the nation,” Hawley said. “By incorporating unpredictability into our procedures and eliminating low-threat items, we can better focus our efforts on stopping individuals that wish to do us harm.”

The TSA clarified that passengers would continue to walk through metal detectors and have their hand-carried and checked-in baggage screened.

Additionally, new security procedures will include brief body and property searches on randomly selected passengers. In particular, examples of the additional searches include explosive screening of shoes, hand-wanding of passengers, enhanced pat down searches and inspection of carry-on bags.

“These searches will be generated at random and will take only about a minute to complete. They will allow Transportation Security officers to better screen passengers for explosives and other threats to the aviation system,” the TSA said.

The TSA added, though, that scissors with a cutting edge of four inches or less and tools such as screwdrivers, wrenches and pliers smaller than seven inches would be permitted on the aircraft.

“Scissors longer than four inches and tools such as crowbars, drills, hammers, and saws will continue to be prohibited from carry-on bags. Lighters will continue to be banned from the cabin of aircraft and in checked baggage,” the TSA said.

Meanwhile, the TSA also announced the reclassification of TSA screeners to Transportation Security officers, saying that the lawmen would be more empowered to use their knowledge and training to detect terrorists.