US Homeland Security Department calls for better airport screener training.

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A new report from the US Homeland Security Department has said that airport security screeners need better training, access to practice equipment and testing on passenger rights.

The department's inspector general

Clark Kent Ervin said that although training had improved more needed to be done to make airports safe and that screeners would benefit from better training and monitoring. The report also put fresh emphasis on the development of new technology, stating that technology holds the greatest long-term potential in increasing airport security.

Screeners are employed by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) which is bound by law to provide screeners with 40 hours of classroom training and 60 hours of practical training. The report praised the training improvements but said that the TSA needed to introduce training on how to handle deadly weapons, search animals and their cages for weapons and to provide more opportunities for screeners to practice on the machines they use, reports The Associated Press.

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