TSA Screeners Get New Uniforms and Badges

Transportation Security Agency screeners -- 48,000 strong -- will be dressing more like law-enforcement officers

If a royal blue shirt and badge communicates "police" to you, screeners at the nation's airport checkpoints who are going to start wearing police-style badges are projecting an intentionally misleading image. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is outfitting its screeners with 3-inch-by-2-inch, silver, copper and zinc badges to be worn on "police blue" shirts after just two days of procedural training, including how to communicate with the flying public in a non-confrontational manner.

The TSA's idea is to convey an image of authority to passengers, who, understandably, are weary of arbitrary and inconsistent screening procedure. The TSA blames the public for harassing and being disrespectful of screeners, occasionally even pushing or punching, according to reports. The TSA probably prefers to believe that their screeners treat passengers even-handedly and politely, but anyone who flies more than occasionally has had less than pleasant experiences. And some airport police are not thrilled that the screeners might be, to put a snarky spin on it, impersonating officers.

Extending this, the Transportation Security Agency has had a high employee turnover rate since it was created as part of the post-9/11 Department of Homeland Security. According to the TSA's own Employee Retention Report released in July 2007, the agency "had an attrition rate of 17.6 percent in 2005 and 14.6 percent in 2006, according to the report. TSA says that decrease is evidence of an attrition rate that continues to fall. The administration said its turnover rate is 16.5 percent, higher than 2006, but still a 13.6 percent reduction since 2005." Even if it were falling comparably to, say, 10 percent, that's still somewhere around 4,800 former TSA screeners every year. Given the efficiency of other Department of Homeland Security agencys (FEMA comes to mind), who knows what happens to all those very official looking badges. Will the agency require and track their return?

Airport police officers are armed and have the power to arrest, which screeners do not. Some are concerned about confusion that can cause unforeseen problems. Other agencies,including some stationed at airports, also give badges to their employees.