The Federal Air Marshal Service ( FAMS ) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States that operates as part of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA ) Department of Homeland Security ( DHS ). Service agents - federal air marshals - incognito are on civilian flights in order to detect and combat hostile acts against the United States, including hijacking [1] .
| Federal Air Marshals Service | |
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| general information | |
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| date of creation | |
| Parent agency | Transportation Security Administration |
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Agency employees often travel and are professional shooters (armed with semi-automatic weapons) [1] . Marshals mingle with regular passengers aboard an airplane [1] .
Content
History
Initially, law enforcement officers began to work on some flights in accordance with the order of President John F. Kennedy of 1961 [2] . On March 2, 1962, the first 18 employees were trained as part of the FAA Peace Officers Program . They were recruited from the FAA Flight Standards Division and trained at the US State Border Service in Port Isabel , Texas. As early as 1963, in an FAA Horizons Magazine article, these officers were called Sky Marshals , although the name was widely used in the media about a decade later. The officers were trained in Brownsville , Texas , and then part of the weapons and melee training began at the FBI Academy , at the training base of the U.S. Navy in Quantico , Virginia .
Since October 1969, due to the increasing incidence of aircraft hijackings in the Middle East, the US Marshals Service established the Sky Marshal Division at its Miami office [3] .
The Sky Marshal Program in the 1970s was developed jointly by the United States Border Patrol and the FAA. On September 11, 1970, due to the increasing incidence of air piracy by Islamic radicals, President Nixon ordered the immediate start of escorting civilian flights by armed federal agents. Initially, this was done by agents of the US Department of the Treasury , then the Division of Air Security from the United States Customs Service . About 1,700 people were trained at the Treasury Air Security Officer (TASOS) in Fort Belvoir, Virginia . Officers accompanied commercial flights operated under the US flag, both domestic and international. They were aboard in groups of two or three.
Prior to the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Federal Air Marshals Service was provided with funding for 50 marshals, but in September 2001 only 33 marshals served in fact. [4] After the attacks, President George W. Bush ordered a sharp increase in service. Many people who previously served as agents in the United States Border Patrol , UBN (DEA), NPS, FBI, CBP, US Housing and Urban Development OIG, US Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), ATF, IRS CID , and other agencies were hired [5 ] . Within a month, training began for 600 air marshals. A significant number of employees were hired later, their total number is classified. As of August 2013, there is an estimate of 4 thousand marshals [6] . Federal Air Marshals are currently the primary law enforcement officials in the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Training
Federal Air Marshals undergo intensive training. In Phase 1, they learn a basic seven-week course for law enforcement officers at the Federal law enforcement training center in Artes, New Mexico . Then they undergo special training at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in New Jersey , during which they study constitutional laws, monitoring behavior, defense tactics, emergency medical care, and receive shooting training.
The second phase of training is related to the tasks that agents must solve during their service. Particular attention is paid to shooting, as marshals are required to perform their work in the confined space of airliners, near civilians. After successful completion of training, the candidate becomes a marshal in one of 21 offices.
Marshals are armed:
- Semi-automatic pistol SIG Sauer P229 .357 SIG with a short barrel
- Telescopic baton ASP
- Handcuffed
According to an anonymous marshal, they are trained to shoot in order to stop completely, usually at the largest part of the body, and then at the head [7] .
In art
- oil marshal (2014, USA)
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 Federal Air Marshals . Date of treatment March 29, 2013. Archived April 11, 2013.
- ↑ Price, Jeffery C., and Forrest, Jeffery S., Practical Aviation Security (Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2009), 138
- ↑ The United States Federal Air Marshal Service: A Historical Perspective, 1962–2012: “Fifty Years of Service”: Clay W. Biles: 9780615826523: Amazon.com: Books
- ↑ Air marshals grounded over 'security' , news.bbc.co.uk (June 23, 2003). Date of treatment August 25, 2006.
- ↑ Archived copy . Date of treatment November 13, 2006. Archived November 22, 2008.
- ↑ Charles, Deborah . Air marshals to go native; dress code relaxed , news.yahoo.com ( Aug 25, 2006). Date of treatment August 25, 2006. (unavailable link)
- ↑ Thomas Frank, Mimi Hall & Alan Levin . Air marshals thrust into spotlight , USA Today (December 8, 2005). Date of treatment August 25, 2006.
Literature
- The United States Federal Air Marshal Service: A Historical Perspective, 1962-2012 - 2013
- Unsecure Skies - 2014
Links
- tsa.gov/about-tsa/office-law-enforcement - the official website of the Federal Air Marshals Service TSA Office of Law Enforcement / FAMS
- Federal Air Marshal News Archives & Links
- History of the Federal Air Marshal Service