GAO calls TSA behavior detection including chatdowns waste

Published November 13, 2013 5:00am ET



U.S. Transportation Security Administration efforts costing $200 million a year to spot potential terrorists by observing behavior are ineffective and lawmakers should limit funding, the Government Accountability Office said.

TSA’s techniques couldn’t be validated in a review of 400 studies of behavior detection spanning 60 years, the GAO said. A review of the program’s referrals and resulting arrests — none of them related to terrorism — showed it’s barely more effective than chance, the GAO said.

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