On Nov. 1, 2013, gunman Paul Anthony Ciancia entered Terminal 3 at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), approached the nearest security checkpoint, pulled a rifle from his bag and opened fire, killing Transportation Security Officer Gerardo Hernandez and injuring two of his colleagues, plus a traveler.
Five months later, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has released a report — titled “Enhancing TSA Officer Safety and Security at Airports: Agency Actions and Path Forward” — detailing the steps it has taken to improve employee and traveler safety since the incident, as well as recommendations for additional actions based on an extensive review of the incident.
“Following the incident at LAX last year, which shocked and saddened us all, I ordered a comprehensive review of policies and procedures at LAX and airports across the country,” TSA Administrator John S. Pistole said yesterday in a statement. “The report released today outlines the actions TSA took immediately following the shooting and new procedures to enhance the safety and security of TSA employees nationwide, especially those who work on the frontlines each and every day to protect the traveling public.”
Since the shooting, TSA has implemented several actions focused on improving officer safety and security, including:
• Mandating active shooter training and exercises for TSA employees;
• Requiring bi-annual evacuation drills;
• Acquiring additional duress alarms to close existing gaps;
• Ensuring that all airports have explicit maximum response times; and
• Having an increased Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) team presence at airports.
TSA also has issued recommended standards to airports for law enforcement presence at checkpoints and ticket counters during peak travel times and further recommended bi-annual active shooter training and exercises.
Based on feedback from TSA employees, law enforcement and travel industry stakeholders, TSA plans to take several additional steps to build upon these efforts going forward. Among its planned actions, for instance, are providing ongoing access to grief counseling, improving Federal Air Marshals notification regarding active shooter incidents, support training of first responders in active shooter incidents, routinely testing duress alarms and encouraging linkage of duress alarms to CCTV systems.
“The American economy can’t function without the ability to travel, travel can’t happen unless it’s safe, and safe travel can’t happen unless TSA personnel are secure on the job,” U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow said in response to TSA’s report. “The incident at LAX was a horrible tragedy, but history shows that when there is a tragedy in the travel sphere, U.S. policymakers adapt quickly to address any issues so that our travel infrastructure can continue to function without significant interruption. That is absolutely the case here — Administrator Pistole and Congress deserve our praise and gratitude for treating the LAX shooting with exactly the care and sensitivity it warrants. The travel community has every faith that our security policies will be the better for the deliberations surrounding what happened at LAX.”