Minnesota TSA official: PreCheck status handed out "like candy"

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Michael Fein | Bloomberg

TSA agents failed 67 of 70 in-house security tests to spot undercover agents carrying… more

Security at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport doesn't come off very well in a new report that says the Transportation Security Administration is emphasizing speed over caution.

The New York Times has an interview with new TSA head Peter Neffenger, who is pledging to step up training and refocus the agency on prioritizing security. Much of the story, though, focuses on the TSA's recent fumbles, like failing 67 of 70 in-house security tests to spot undercover agents carrying concealed weapons, and conflicting internal communications over whether agents should concentrate on screening passengers or moving them through security.

Minneapolis comes up a lot. A security official at MSP Airport notes that an internal TSA performance report gave more attention to wait times than security; he says that when he reported concerns to TSA headquarters, the agency tried — unsuccessfully — to transfer him. The TSA denied the move was retaliatory.

The agency's PreCheck program, which pre-screens travelers for a speeded-up line, is also called out. Rebecca Roering, a TSA assistant security director in Minnesota, says she raised concerns about the practice of ushering people who weren't actual participants in the program onto PreCheck lines to speed things up. "TSA is handing out PreCheck status like Halloween candy," she said in a June hearing.

In one case, Sara Jane Olson, the Minnesotan convicted in a 1970s plot by the Symbionese Liberation Army to bomb police cars, was allowed through the PreCheck line even after being recognized; a supervisor overruled the Minneapolis screener who flagged her.