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Under the Homeland Security Act of 2002 , air marshals were transferred to the Department Of Homeland Security (DHS). In 2005 , DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff ordered the realignment of the FAMS from Immigration And Customs Enforcement (ICE) to a division within the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). TSA is also proposing to expand the use of Federal Air Marshals within the entire public transit sector. In a pilot program announced in December 2005 the TSA stated they will implement a program to have air marshals cover buses, light rail, passenger rail systems and ferries across the country. {Link without Title} TRAINING Federal Air Marshals go through an intense, two-phase training program. The first phase of the program is a seven-week basic law enforcement course. This training is completed at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, New Mexico ; Air Marshals also receive follow-on training at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in New Jersey . Their training is tailored to the role that the Federal Air Marshals will be performing while on the job. Some of the specific areas covered in this training include constitutional law, marksmanship, physical fitness, behavioral observation, defensive tactics, emergency medical assistance, and other law enforcement techniques. The second phase trains the candidates for tasks that they will be expected to carry out in the field. This training places an emphasis on perfecting the marksmanship skills of the candidates. A necessity of the job due to the tight confines of an aircraft, as well as the number of bystanders. Candidates that successfully complete this training will be assigned to one of 21 field offices, where they will begin their missions. EQUIPMENT AND PRACTICES The Air Marshals may be deployed on as little as an hour's notice. The Associated Press reported on December 9 , 2005 , that undercover Air Marshals were deployed on flights in and out of New Orleans during Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002; flights coming near Salt Lake City during the 2002 Winter Olympics ; and cities visited by President George W. Bush while he is in town. Federal Air Marshals carry the SIG-Sauer P229 service pistol in a .357 SIG chambering. Each magazine of the pistol carries 12 Rounds . As noted above, Air Marshals must be recertified on their firearm quarterly. According to an anonymous Air Marshal, they are trained to "shoot to stop", typically firing at the largest part of the body (the chest) and then the head to "incapacitate the nervous system". {Link without Title} Under the service's original policy which has now been rescinded, Air Marshals were required to conform to a strict dress code, well-shaved and with a conservative haircut. They also boarded before other passengers to scan the aircraft for weapons and explosives. The Federal Air Marshal Association complained that the dress code and priority boardings made Marshals targets for any possible hijackers, making them stand out as possible government agents and thus reducing their effectiveness. The policy seems to have changed, as early reports of the Alpizar incident (see below) indicated that one of the Air Marshals involved was wearing a Hawaiian Shirt . FAMS UNDER IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT According to one of the original air marshals, air marshals were originally designated as US Customs Security Officers assigned by order of President John F. Kennedy on an as-needed basis, and later were specially trained FAA personnel. The service was formally established in 1968 and was expanded during the administration of President Ronald Reagan . After the authorized thousands of new Air Marshals to be hired. Many were agents from other federal agencies, such as the U.S. Customs Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and many others. Budgeting issues within the TSA created tension between funding for airport screeners versus the FAMS, and in time the FAMS was realigned to Immigration And Customs Enforcement (ICE). The reasoning was that the FAMS could be redesignated as Criminal Investigator/ Special Agent s and would have a career path. ICE also had an investigative division with Special Agents specializing in investigating immigration and customs violations. Those immigration and customs agents would be cross trained to serve as supplemental FAMS in the event of a national emergency or in response to intelligence requiring additional marshals on flights. Ultimately, one of Asa Hutchinson's final decisions before resigning as head of DHS's Border and Transportation Security Directorate was the issuance of a Memorandum determining that Air Marshals would not also be ICE Special Agents. In 2005, Secretary Chertoff conducted a second-stage review of DHS' organization and ordered the FAMS to be moved from ICE and back to the TSA. The move to TSA was effective October 1 , 2005 . INCIDENTS On December 7 2005 Federal Air Marshals shot and killed a passenger of American Airlines Flight 924 named Rigoberto Alpizar , a 44-year-old U.S. Citizen , on a boarding bridge at Miami International Airport . According to initial media reports of the incident, a witness, Mary Gardner said that a fight broke out between Alpizar and his wife. Gardner said that after everyone on the plane was seated, Alpizar suddenly ran up the aisle from the back of the plane. Gardner said she did not hear him say anything as he ran by, although she was seated in the third row of the Economy section. John McAlhany [http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1138965,00.html , who was seated in the middle of the plane, said: "I heard an argument with his wife. He was saying 'I have to get off the plane.' She said, 'Calm down.' ... I never heard the word 'bomb' until the FBI asked me did you hear the word 'bomb.'" The '' Orlando Sentinel '' reported that seven passengers, seated at both the rear and front of the Economy section, said that Alpizar did not say anything as he ran past them Another passenger, Mike Beshears [http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/08/airplane.gunshot/index.html , also said he did not hear the man say anything: "He just was in a hurry and exited the plane." Beshears said Alpizar's wife pursued him only part of the way, then turned back and said her husband was sick and she needed to get his bags. While Alpizar's wife was going back toward her seat, passenger Jorge Borrelli says he very clearly heard "Stop!" [http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-planefolo0905dec09,0,3421926.story], and shots were heard. Dave Adams a spokesman for the Federal Air Marshal Service, said that the passenger had run up and down the aisle yelling, "I have a bomb in my bag." Adams said that when Alpizar reached the boarding bridge of the aircraft, two Air Marshals confronted him at gunpoint, identified themselves as Police , and ordered him to get down on the ground. Adams said that Alpizar "continued approaching the Air Marshals claiming he had a bomb in his bag." Brian Doyle , a spokesman for the Department Of Homeland Security , said Alpizar reached into his bag before at least one of the Air Marshals fired at the passenger, who later died from his injuries [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/08/national/08plane.html . James Bauer, the special agent in charge of Federal Air Marshals in Miami, said that Alpizar had "uttered threatening words that included a sentence to the effect that he had a bomb" [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/08/national/08plane.html]. Security footage shows Alpizar, while waiting at the boarding area with passengers at the airport in Quito , Ecuador , wearing a backpack over his chest with a front-facing fanny pack, although other footage also shows him removing this backpack and it being checked through security {Link without Title} . It is not clear what Alpizar was wearing at the time of the shooting, although none of the published witness accounts have described Alpizar as wearing the backpack over his chest when he left the plane. Reportedly, four to six shots were fired. It is also not clear if the Air Marshals had confronted Alpizar at his seat, or if they had followed Alpizar after he began leaving the plane, although the sum of witness reports suggests it being the latter. Lonny Glover, national safety coordinator for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, said: "As the man came forward it was obvious that he was upset ... That's when one of our attendants at the front of plane told him, 'Sir, you can't leave the plane.' His response, she said, was 'I have a bomb.' It was at that point that the air marshals gave up their cover and pursued him out the door and up the jetbridge." {Link without Title} It was reported on , 2005 , Doyle said of the shooting, "This is the first time that air marshals have used a firearm during a mission since 9/11" {Link without Title} . Alpizar's wife and mother-in-law have said that Alpizar had criminal investigations unit said that Alpizar's wife told him that Alpizar had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder about a decade earlier. Sister-in-law Kelley Buechner said she had only known that Alpizar had a "chemical imbalance" for which he took "vitamins". She said that this was characteristic of Alpizar's wife's not telling her, as "She's the type who doesn't want to burden people with her problems." She said she had never known Alpizar to stop taking his medication. The sister-in-law said Alpizar's wife had been robbed while the couple were in Peru , losing a passport, wallet, notebook computer, and cell phone: "That really upset Rigo ... Anne was robbed in Peru, and it was very unsettling to them both." {Link without Title} After the incident, all passenger luggage was checked by Bomb-sniffing Dog s, and at least two other bags were "disrupted" with a remotely-operated water spray under controlled conditions. No bomb was found. Federal officials have said that there is no evidence so far that suggests that Alpizar had any connection to Terrorism . The Miami-Dade Police Department is in charge of the Homicide investigation. Lt. Veronica Ferguson issued a statement saying early indications point to Alpizar running frantically from the airplane "with a backpack strapped to his chest, yelling that he had a bomb." Det. Juan Del Castillo said individuals on the plane (other than the Air Marshals) also heard the bomb threats, although police would not say at what location(s) the bomb threats were made. Police said Alpizar turned around in the jetway and walked in a threatening manner toward the Air Marshals, who stepped back before firing. Del Castillo said Alpizar's threats and the Air Marshal's commands were in English. {Link without Title} It has been reported that the , 2005 {Link without Title} . On December 8 , 2005 , White House spokesman Scott McClellan said that the President was satisfied that air marshals acted appropriately in the Alpizar shooting. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS SOURCES |
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