Wed, Mar 08, 2006
Older Marshals Say No
If you ran a law
enforcement agency... would you take the greenest of recruits and
put him undercover? That question comes from at least one federal
air marshal, who says the TSA is recruiting people with NO law
enforcement experience to protect commercial passenger flights from
would-be hijackers.
The Federal Times reports veteran air marshals are worried that
the quality and experience of recruits who apply after reading
want-ads in newspapers and on websites isn't comparable to what it
was just after 9/11. Older marshals say that is when the agency had
its pick of applicants with lots of prior law enforcement
experience.
Especially troubling to some of these older air marshals was an
internal job posting inviting TSA employees with no previous police
experience to apply
"TSA/FAMS is just looking for as many warm bodies as they can
find to hurriedly fill in the hemorrhaging losses we are currently
experiencing," one marshal wrote in an e-mail to Federal Times
after the internal job announcement went online at USAjobs.com. "It
almost seems like they are quitting every week now. The only FAMs
that are going to be left are former screeners and admin
personnel... with guns on planes... and zero former law enforcement
experience. God help us all."
FAMS spokesman David Adams says the air marshal program isn't
seeing a staggering attrition rate, citing a rate of about 6.5
percent. The total number of air marshals is classified, although
most estimates put the total at about 3,000.
So what does it take to
be an air marshal? According to one of the more recent job
postings, you have to meet the minimum requirements for physical
ability and education; have three years experience doing just about
any kind of work; or have a bachelor's degree. Notice that no
mention of previous law enforcement experience is made; in fact,
it's not required.
"When you’re a police officer on the street, you have a
field training officer showing you the ropes every day," said one
marshal. "You learn to react and to deal with different situations.
Air marshals get thrown in the mix right when they get on the
plane."
The TSA maintains all its marshals are qualified, upon
completion of two seven-week training courses. Adams adds that so
far, five TSA employees have taken advantage of the program.
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