WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Contracted airport security screeners in the United States will be replaced by staff members from the Transportation Security Administration in coming weeks.
The announcement was made Sunday by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who said the TSA screeners would undergo training in psychological profiling, The New York Times said.
Under the new screening plan, contractors will take over the manual labor of handling checked bags and federal screeners will continue to view X-ray images for threats. Screeners would be freed up to do identity checks and behavior assessments of passengers, the newspaper said.
The TSA has lowered the threat level on inbound flights from Britain to "orange," or high, from "red," or severe, five days after British police arrested 24 people suspected in a plot to bomb aircraft headed to the United States from Britain.
Some restrictions on carry-on baggage were eased, although a ban on all liquids except medications and baby food remained for carry-on baggage.
