TSA agents must focus on flight security

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has changed it regulations to require its agents to focus entirely on flight security matters, an official said.

Steven Bierfeldt, the director of development for the Campaign for Liberty, said his lawsuit against the federal agency resulted in TSA officials requiring their airport screeners to avoid policing airport crimes not related to flight security, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said Thursday.

"It's a huge victory for civil liberties that TSA agents no longer have free rein to conduct sweeping, baseless searches and detain passengers who don't pose a threat to flight safety," Bierfeldt said in a statement.

Bierfeldt, who was represented in his lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union, filed suit after being stopped and questioned by TSA screeners at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport in March.

The airport incident was prompted by a metal box containing $4,700 that Bierfeldt attempted to transport through an airport screening checkpoint.

The Post-Dispatch said TSA spokeswoman Lauren Gaches confirmed the federal agency's policy regarding cash was altered, but would not offer details of agency directives.