Federal agency announces plan to step up airport patrols

WASHINGTON -- The new government agency responsible for airline security said Saturday that it will place armed law enforcement officers -- uniformed and plainclothes -- throughout the public areas of airports.

The Transportation Security Administration made the announcement in response to a shooting at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday when three people, including the gunman, were killed. An armed El Al security guard shot the attacker.

"This incident, even if isolated and regardless of motive, emphasizes that we cannot be complacent about any of the security measures that we put in place at our airports and at the other modes of transportation," TSA officials said in a statement. "Had this event occurred at another airline counter without armed security guards, the situation unfortunately would have been worse."

The officers will patrol all public areas of the airports, including ticket counters, the TSA said. The agency declined to discuss how many officers would be deployed, where they would be stationed or how soon the changes will take place.

The agency is hiring thousands of new employees to perform a variety of security functions at airports.

The undercover investigators, who have transferred to the new agency from the Federal Aviation Administration, will look for suspicious individuals and intervene when necessary, the TSA said.

The head of an airline passengers' advocacy group welcomed the TSA's actions Saturday.

"We would certainly support more law enforcement officials in all parts of the airport, but we would expect there would be a tremendous amount of coordination with the multiple police forces that are going to be functioning in this environment," said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association.

The TSA took over responsibility for screening passengers from the airlines in February, and faces a Nov. 19 congressional deadline for replacing checkpoint screeners with federal employees.

The TSA said it would put uniformed officers and undercover investigators throughout airports, both beyond the checkpoints and in the public areas. Initially, the law enforcement officers will be local police working with the agency.

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