Combatting Terrorism on Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Posted: December 12th, 2018

By Patricia Cogswell

Patricia F.S. Cogswell is the Acting Deputy Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration. In addition to guiding the implementation of the Administrator’s strategic goals, she oversees the day-to-day operations of TSA. Cogswell provides leadership, direction and guidance to further the Administrator’s goals for the agency and assists in determining TSA policies, objectives and priorities. Prior to joining TSA, Cogswell served in several positions within the Department of Homeland Security, including Assistant Director for Intelligence at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Acting Undersecretary within the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, Acting Assistant Secretary for Policy Integration and Implementation, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Screening Coordination.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) released a 23-page report in October outlining proposed major changes for how it wants to screen passengers at airports to help keep them safe from terrorism. The changes include far greater reliance on biometric technology and intelligence analysis to move people through screening points more quickly.

This comes after the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General reported in September that TSA failed to detect more than 70 percent of fake explosives, firearms and other prohibited items during snap testing earlier this year. Yet the testing also showed that TSA is getting better at detection, improving greatly from an early test in 2015.

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