According to the article, more than three dozen federal air marshals have been charged with crimes. This, believe it or not, is not the part that really concerns me. Any agency is going to have problems with a small percentage of their officers and the air marshals are no exception. The important thing is that they deal with the problems quickly and decisively.

The serious problem is not that a small few are stupid, but that the Federal Air Marshal Service does not seem to do enough to weed problems out before they are hired. They also have lessened their hiring standards to the point where it can create a dangerous situation.

According to USA Today, they dropped the requirement that required new recruits to prove speed and accuracy with firearms in close quarters such as an airplane. They still train, but do not need to prove proficiency

Also, they are hiring those with no law enforcement experience at all. This is a dangerous practice because new officers make more mistakes than their seasoned counterparts. That is dangerous enough on the streets, but it can be deadly at 30,000 feet where a marshall must make a split-second decision whether the person he or she is about to shoot is a passenger or a hijacker.

They have suspended requirements that air marshals pass a written psychological test and an interview with a psychologist or psychiatrist. These practices are standard for the hiring of a patrol officer, so they should much more be demanded by those in charge of our safety in the air. There is no backup at 30,000 feet.

Federal air marshals should be the best of the best, an elite force with more law enforcement experience than anyone else. They need to be decisive, fast and accurate with their weapons, and confident. They need to be of impeccable character and professional. They need to be as close to perfect as humanly possible. I don’t think that is asking too much.

The TSA has answered this article in their blog at www.tsa.gov.

Other TSA blog links:
Trollkiller’s World
Official TSA Blog