NCJ Number
201008
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 70 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2003 Pages: 48,51,53
Date Published
June 2003
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article discusses recent expansions of the Federal Air Marshal Service.
Abstract
The events of September 11, 2001, convinced President George W. Bush to sign the Aviation and Transportation Security Act on November 17, 2001, creating the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). This Act moved the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) from the Federal Aviation Administration to this new agency. The mission of the TSA is to ensure freedom and movement for both people and commerce, while promoting confidence in the United States civil aviation system. Describing the development and implementation of new strategies for the FAMS, the article highlights the FAMS’s initial goals of increasing air marshal presence on more and more commercial flights. The development of the TSA resulted in 197,000 applications for FAMS positions. Prior to the events of September 11, 2001, only one FAMS training facility existed in Atlantic City, NJ. The establishment of more FAMS training facilities throughout the United States is currently underway. In addition to hiring more Federal air marshals and developing more training facilities, the FAMS is committed to leveraging technology in aggressive ways in order to produce real-time intelligence to share with law enforcement communities for use in detecting and deterring terrorist criminal activities.