Accelerate the scanners

Accelerate the scanners

Columbus Dispatch: Full-body scanners at airports will take some getting used to, but they are worthwhile. Those who oppose them are unreasonable. The ruthlessness of terrorists has made such measures necessary.

But the Transportation Security Administration has been moving at a snail’s pace in installing them. More than a year has passed since federal stimulus money was authorized to pay for the machines, and they’re just now going in. On Monday, one scanner debuted at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. This month, 10 other airports will receive the equipment, including Kansas City International Airport and three others in California.

Port Columbus is among the next group of 11 airports scheduled for scanners.

The agency plans to install 950 scanners around the country over the next two years.

The terrorist threat against civil aviation keeps evolving, and the security agencies need the full complement of tools to provide the protection that travelers expect and deserve.