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To: steve who wrote (21679)	12/12/2001 1:08:05 AM
From: steve	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 26039

Hadn't seen this posted... Check the highlighted text... FAA Gets Help for Criminal Checks By Lauren Terrazzano STAFF WRITER December 7, 2001 The Federal Aviation Administration announced yesterday it will use a national clearinghouse to aid in the massive task of completing criminal background checks on 750,000 airport workers nationwide. The news came on the same day a federal rule mandating the checks went into effect for the nation's 450 commercial airports. FAA officials said the agency would use the Alexandria, Va.-based American Association of Airport Executives to electronically collect fingerprints from employees who have unescorted access to an airport's secure areas, including ramps, terminals and baggage areas. The organization will then forward them to the FBI for processing. "This is a major effort we're requiring of the aviation industry and we appreciate the [organization] stepping forward to help us get this done in a very short time," said Rebecca Trexler, a spokeswoman for the FAA. In recent years, fingerprinting has become widely used to check criminal backgrounds of anyone from bank tellers to welfare recipients. But while turnaround time could be as little as a day from the FBI, the new system could take several months to a year to become fully operational. Spencer Dickerson, a spokesman for the Airport Executives Association, said yesterday that his group won't be able to begin processing the prints until after Jan. 1. And while about 20 of the nation's largest airports, including Kennedy, already have fingerprint machines in place, hundreds of other airports and airlines have yet to purchase them. The machines, sold by a number of vendors across the country, can range in cost from $20,000 to $30,000. Trexler said the FAA will make funds available to help purchase the equipment. Dickerson said airports could begin receiving them in 30 to 90 days. The FAA is giving employers at airports a year to complete all background checks. The results will be submitted to the FAA and posted on a secure Web site, available only to airlines and airports through secure access codes. Airlines and airports will be able to view results only for their own submissions. Trexler said an employee's criminal history will be matched against a list of 35 disqualifying crimes, ranging from felonies including murder, assault, espionage, kidnapping, rape, burglary and theft. Committing one of the crimes is a fireable offense. Any employee who has had a criminal background check within the past five years will be exempt from the requirement. Aviation safety advocates question the effectiveness of fingerprinting, saying loopholes could still exist, particularly for employees who are from other countries and whose backgrounds may be untraceable. "A background check only counts when there's a background to check," said one aviation security official who asked not to be identified. "If someone is in the country only a few years, we cannot [sufficiently] check them out." Others are concerned about the length of time it will take to get the fingerprinting program off the ground. "The technology is there. But the time frame is far too long," said Paul Hudson, the head of the Washington-based Aviation Consumer Action Project. "There's no reason for that type of delay." Copyright © 2001, Newsday, Inc. newsday.com steve