U.S. to Increase Number of Armed Air Marshals

Sep 2, 2003
By Deborah Charles

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge will announce plans on Tuesday to make 5,000 more armed law enforcement agents available to act as federal air marshals, officials said.

Ridge will announce a reorganization of resources within his sprawling department that will result in cross-training of other federal agents who can be deployed to serve as air marshals on commercial airlines.

He will also transfer the federal air marshal's service and explosives unit to the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement from the Transportation Security Administration.

Thousands of air marshals, who are armed and authorized to deadly force, have been deployed on U.S. airlines since the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked airliner attacks.

In addition to the transfer, ICE agents will be cross-trained in air marshal's duties so they can be called on during times of heightened terror alert or if there is intelligence that shows increased vulnerability to U.S. airlines or specific routes.

"This move means we will be able to cover more flights when the intelligence says we need to," said one Homeland Security official. He said the cross-training will allow 5,000 additional armed federal agents to be deployed.

In a speech at the American Enterprise Institute later on Tuesday -- a week before the two-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks -- Ridge was also due to announce that all U.S. states and territories will be provided with secure video and telephone communications to better share classified information about terrorist threats.

Officials said Ridge will say the shuffle will facilitate better coordination and information sharing of law enforcement information between ICE and the air marshals. It will also allow for a "surge capacity" to respond to specific threats.

The announcement will come about a month after reports that the government was cutting back on the number of air marshals deployed on U.S. flights to save money.

The department denied there were any planned cutbacks. But the reports surfaced as the department warned airlines that al Qaeda could be planning new suicide hijackings and bombings in the United States and abroad during the summer.

They sparked an angry reaction on Capitol Hill, particularly by Democrats who have accused the Republican administration of underspending for homeland security.

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