TSA behavior-profiling at airports yet to nab 'potential terrorist' even after 7 years of implementation

U.S. Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) behavior-profiling programme at airports has yet to identify any potential terrorists, despite being in effect for seven years.

Chief of the TSA John S. Pistole is fighting to save its profiling programme at the airports, under threat from the government over not nabbing any potential terrorists since 9/11, the Washington Times reports.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recommended discontinuing the 200 million dollars per year funding to the programme, saying that the amount could be spent elsewhere required, and that proposal has the support of several members of Congress.

Pistole said that if Congress halts the programme, he will have to order his agents to do more pat-downs, stiff screenings and this will lead to long queues at the airports.

A new government-watchdog report has claimed that the Behavior Detection Officers (BDOs) are trained for a random chance in picking up potentially dangerous passengers posing threat to the U.S. aviation.

Although Pistole acknowledged that most of the people who are referred by the BDO programme to law enforcement agencies are illegal immigrants, drug traffickers or those with outstanding arrest warrants, but not terrorist, he said there hasn't been a successful terrorist attempt to board an aircraft from within the U.S. since September 11, 2001.

The BDO program is separate from the screenings of luggage and passengers performed by security officers, as the BDOs are trained to look for 94 different tell-tale behaviors that could signal a dangerous intent.