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$11.5 million buys little security at Newark Liberty Airport
Security gaps are so big at Newark Liberty International Airport you can drive a truck through them. Literally. Inside the terminal, the TSA goes through bags and confiscates oversized fluid containers, but no inspection occurs when trucks and vans drive through security checkpoints and out onto the tarmac. Security company FJC is responsible for protecting the airport, reports Fox 5, for which it is paid $11.5 million. The company is also responsible for security at New York area airports JFK and LaGuardia. According to Fox 5:
The exclusive Fox 5 video shows FJC security guards stopping trucks at the checkpoint, then walking around the truck using a mirror to look at the undercarriage of the vehicle, but never actually examining the cargo inside the truck. Over and over, FJC guards do nothing more than glance inside trucks that are filled with cargo. The cursory inspections of the trucks' contents lasted about 5 seconds and never actually involved a guard entering a single vehicle. After which the FJC guards simply waved through each and every truck. It is a security process that totally surprises counterterrorism expert Bill Vorlicek, who screened the video.
The range of risks to which the airport, passengers and employees are exposed is wide. Explosives, in particular, could cause mayhem. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives estimates that "an average delivery truck can carry anywhere from 10,000 to 60,000 tons of explosives," reports Fox 5.
Port Authority COO Ernesto Butcher told Fox 5 the security lapses were "unacceptable." The report continues:
"Vehicle inspections are just one of a series of multilayered checks to ensure the safety of cargo being brought to the secure side of the airport, but they are critical and will be continually monitored," Butcher said in a statement. "Port Authority officials have re-emphasized to all FJC security guards and their supervisors the need for continual diligence and proper inspection techniques during their shifts."
Filed under: North America, United States, Airports
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
dodah001 Sep 22nd 2010 8:31PM
The same huge error since Aircraft Highjacking first became popular, at least here in the U.S., is that Security Companies still hire minorities with very questionable education and training credentials, With the Minorities, (mostly Black) seemingly to have "attitudes", such as, "hey, my Ancestors were slaves and brought to this Country against their will". I won't do anymore than what I am told to do. So a Plane gets blown up, so what! This sounds kind of far out, but undercover people are still getting thru most Airports with weapons, etc. and so the Security person (minority) gets his hand slapped, or worst case, transferred to a less Security Risk area! In extreme cases He /She might get fired!
Joe Sep 22nd 2010 9:00PM
Typical FOX news. Their attitude is always: "It's sensational so
lets show it to the world instead of turning copies of the tapes
over to the Security Companies and the head of Security at the
airport." These appear to be serious flaws.
cat Sep 22nd 2010 9:14PM
Gee, great ... now everybody knows.
eml Sep 22nd 2010 9:23PM
The same occurs at Minneapolis International Airport. Sometimes the gate is unmanned and simply left open! That was exposed by CBS, so it is not just a Fox thing.
Cane Sep 22nd 2010 10:06PM
A serious threat yes however some facts are a way over the top. An average delivery truck can carry anywhere from 10,000-60,000 tons of explosives?
The US Navys top of the line Aegis Guided Missle Cruiser displaces a tad under 10,000 tons and the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise only displaces 94,000 tons.
P-Zazz Sep 22nd 2010 10:39PM
Come on, dummass. When they say it can carry 10,000 tons of explosives, they mean tons of explosive force, not actual weight! LOL!!
L.W. Clark Sep 23rd 2010 12:07AM
Probably meant pounds not tons. I assure you they can get far more than 60t of explosive force in such a van.
DJ Sep 22nd 2010 9:42PM
Anyone who uses Newark Airport
KNOWS that all this info is FACT!!!
I live 20 mins. away from it, and have
run into problems more than once. . .
ZaZapper Sep 22nd 2010 10:14PM
Thank Allah, they just gave us an idea how to get by the security! I just love the news...ROFLMAO...why bother to even put up fences?
Linda Sep 22nd 2010 10:30PM
Good thing they confiscated my 13 year old's 7 ounce tube of Clearasil when she went to camp. Wouldn't want that stuff to get near an airplane! I wonder who gets to take home all those high priced toiletries picked out from carry on luggage while terrorists are plotting the next real threat.
js Sep 22nd 2010 10:33PM
53' semi-trailer 40 -to-45,000 lbs;;;;;;; maybe they don't
know their tons from their lbs,,,,what a bunch of bull....
P-Zazz Sep 22nd 2010 11:02PM
As I said to Cane about the comment above, they're talking about TONS OF EXPLOSIVE FORCE, not actual weight.
js Sep 23rd 2010 12:43AM
if they were talking about tons of force,,why didn't they say
tons of force ... maybe were reading different post....
Yon Sep 22nd 2010 10:43PM
That is right, publicize which airports are safe to blow up!
Joe Sep 22nd 2010 11:50PM
11.5 Million in security, but the bulk of that money goes into the company's pockets. when you pay the security guards $8 an hour, you get $8 an hour's worth of work.
Anonymous Sep 23rd 2010 12:00AM
Very True! I worked for Gateway Security in Newark. We used to handle the pre-boarding screening right after 9-11. The airport paid the company $17 per person per hour when we did our job. We got paud $6.50 per hour. I quit after being repremanded for not "Randomly" "hand-wanding" down more random minorities just because of their race and my boss's predudicial ways of thinking.
Charlie Johnson Sep 22nd 2010 11:54PM
The article clearly says that the truck can contain 10000-60000tons of explosive....not that they can contain items that have that potential explosive power....if that was the case even a small nuke device would put out far more power than that and easily fit in a van. ATF as usual FUBAR'd the report.....A triple trailer tractor trailer rig her in FL only carries about 150,000 pounds (or thereabouts) How frigging big would a truck have to be to carry 60,000 tons...LOL
As to what happens to stuff confiscated by TSA its thrown away in the dumspters....if its a "weaponlike" device, its turned over to the Sheriff's Office and its shredded or in some other way rendered unsuable and disposed of. Been there seen that.
lee Sep 23rd 2010 12:07AM
Any more vulnerabilities the author would like to point out? Sheesh.
J.E.B. Sep 23rd 2010 12:23AM
So, they walk AROUND a delivery truck at the airport, but never actually check the cargo inside? So, somebody like another Timothy McVeigh could drive in, park a cargo van loaded with ammonium nitrate next to an idling, loaded passenger jet, walk away, and make a 100 foot crater where the plane USED to be? Only in New Joisey.
Andy Sep 23rd 2010 2:04AM
As Joe stated, that particular company pay their guards nothing next to what they can charge the Port Authority. I know first hand of the practices in and around sensitive areas that require security, its not what you know but who you know to get these jobs. I screen plenty of potential security guards, most do not pass the screening. Many have not completed high school so a lack of education is evident.
You get what you pay for in the quality or absence of work.