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Report describes security lapses
at O'Hare, including unsecured uniforms |
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Associated Press
Uniforms belonging to U.S. Transportation Security
Administration officers were left in the open at an
O'Hare International Airport checkpoint last month, as
was a cash box, officials said Monday. TSA spokesman
Elio Montenegro said the items were in an area past
security checkpoints, insisting that someone wearing a
TSA uniform still could not get into a secure area
without the proper identification. "First and foremost,
at no time was security or safety breached," Montenegro
said Monday. "At all times, the items in question were
in the secure area of the airport ... and at no time
were they accessible to the general public." Still, one
aviation security expert said that the incident could
have posed a risk, saying the uniforms could have been
stolen and used by people trying to get through security
without being checked. With a stolen uniform, "you could
do anything the checkpoint is designed to protect
against," said Mary Schiavo, a former U.S. Department of
Transportation inspector general. A Chicago Department
of Aviation document dated March 14 indicated unsecured
items were found at six O'Hare checkpoints. The Aviation
document said the items included multiple TSA sweaters
and jackets, one TSA shirt and a pair of uniform pants.
Montenegro could not detail all the items found but said
they all were immediately removed. The TSA won't conduct
an investigation and won't alter procedures based on the
incident, he added. "There's no reason to change any
procedure," Montenegro said. "Everything was followed."
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