Transportation security chief seeks shift from law enforcement focus

The Transportation Security Administration needs to do a better job of focusing not just on law enforcement, but also on customer service, the agency's new leader said Friday.

In his first interview as acting administrator, retired Adm. James Loy told Government Executive that TSA has to "swing the pendulum slightly" towards customer service.

"I will take the edge off of that [law enforcement] reputation by reminding people first and foremost that [Transportation] Secretary [Norman] Mineta challenged us to set up an organization with world-class security and world-class customer service. To whatever degree that I need to get that pendulum to swing over to a customer service piece, we will."

Airport directors, others in the aviation industry and members of Congress have accused TSA of being too insular and not listening to concerns about how new security measures will disrupt life at the nation's airports. Industry officials were especially critical of John Magaw, former head of the Secret Service, who resigned from the top slot at TSA on July 18.

"I don't want the image of the pure cop on the street," Loy said. "And I don't mean that in a negative sense. Where we need cops doing that work, we have to have it. But we have to twist a little bit from the law enforcement notion."

Loy, who retired as commandant of the Coast Guard on May 30, earned kudos during his four-year tenure as head of that agency as someone with strong leadership and management skills and the ability to reach out to various constituencies.

TSA has had difficulties dealing with stakeholders, especially in Congress. During hearings this past week, Mineta received a skeptical response from both House and Senate committees when he said funding cuts will diminish TSA's ability to meet year-end deadlines for screening passengers and checked baggage. During a June 20 House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, Magaw was criticized for not fully detailing the agency's need to hire nearly 65,000 employees.

"That is what we have done the least well-let people know what the business plan was and remains," Loy said. "One of the things I found here, despite very good effort from ex-Federal Aviation Administration employees and initial TSA hires, was that the legislative affairs and public affairs world wasn't, I believe, given the resources necessary to adequately do their jobs. The legislative affairs office is really an empty locker." He continued, "If you don't tell your story well, the story won't be there … you won't have credit in the bank."

Having that credit will certainly come in handy as Loy rethinks the agency's business plan. He said funding cuts approved by Congress in the fiscal 2002 supplemental spending bill are forcing the agency to reconsider how it deploys screening technology and employees. He has directed his staff to study three alternatives: no change in the business plan, minor changes and drastic changes. He said there are likely to be considerable changes, but would not detail what those may be.

Reiterating comments that Mineta made at a July 25 Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing, Loy said about 20 airports may have trouble meeting year-end deadlines to screen all checked baggage. In those cases, the agency will offer some flexibility for meeting the deadline.

As he tackles other management issues at TSA, Loy said his primary goal is to create a performance-based culture. "I want a set of core values that each member of the TSA workforce can not only recite, but truly understand what each of us means when we say those words and how it connects to an organizational culture that, at the end of the day, won't accept anything other than excellence as the performance measure," he said.