Ethics of TSA



Ethics of TSA

Introduction

The security organization of USA known as TSA (Transportation of Security Administration) has a huge task of ensuring security at different check points of the country. Over the last few years, they have maintained strict security measures because of the few incidents that took place at different intervals of the year. Their major task is to ensure security at the airports and they conduct security checks of the passengers with the help of various procedures. The security officers cannot afford to make mistake during the process because it can have negative consequences for them. The chance of any terrorist activity increases due to security lapse. However, there are some issues that have ethical concerns regarding the security check from TSA officers. Over the last few months, many incidents have taken places that have prompted TSA organization to review its security measures. They need to have a strict security control because it is in the interest of people but at the same time, they need to take care of ethical aspects as well. Therefore, all the issues related to recent ethical aspect of TSA in terms of legal, economic and regulatory concerns will be discussed in detail.

Discussion

An incident took place around six months ago that caused a serious ethical concern for Transportation of Security Administration. A security officer in the blue uniform wanted to know about the passenger known as Felipe Mejia that where he was going and why. He held Mejia's gaze, as well as his boarding pass. He said, 'Who are you to ask me these questions?' recalls the medical company executive, who was waiting at Boston Logan International Airport on his way to Charleston, S.C. “It is none of your business. I do not think you have a right to ask me these things. The man who questioned Mejia in late August was a Transportation Security Administration officer taking part in a pilot program aimed at identifying suspicious characters as they inch through airport security lines. Since August some travelers at Logan's Terminal A have been directed to an additional queue for a brief interview with an officer before they reach the conveyor belts and screening machines. A reporter was permitted to observe these interactions, which usually lasted less than a minute, from a distance of about 25 feet. Some passengers, like Mejia, grew visibly angry at the questions. Others, like Mark Aaron, a logistics manager at Ryder System in Raleigh, N.C., did not seem much bothered by the latest hassle passengers must endure on the way to the gate. He says his conversation with a TSA officer went something like this: “Why were you here? Where are you from? What brought you here?” (Bolkcom, 2003, 62)

Over the last decade the TSA has largely focused its efforts on detecting dangerous objects instead of dangerous people, says Kip Hawley, the agency's director from 2005 to 2009. X-rays and walk-through detectors begat explosive-sniffing machines and naked body scanners as the agency tried to ...