Requirement lifted for random vehicle checks at airports WASHINGTON (AP) =97 Random vehicle checks on airport roadways are being=20 discontinued now that the terror alert has been downgraded, Transportation= =20 Security Administration officials said Thursday. The checks, imposed after= =20 the alert level was raised from yellow to orange on Feb. 7, were criticized= =20 by civil libertarians who questioned the need to pull over people who had=20 no done anything to attract attention. "There will no longer be a=20 requirement for random vehicle searches," said TSA chief James Loy, who was= =20 speaking at a conference on homeland security. It's possible some airports= =20 may still conduct the searches if intelligence indicates some parts of the= =20 country could be more at risk of an attack, he said. "We may want to make=20 adjustments," Loy said. Some airport managers complained that the TSA=20 failed to give proper notification and guidance and either only recently=20 began checks or never got started. For example, Denver International=20 Airport began conducting random searches Monday. Steve Snyder, airport=20 spokesman, said it took that long to sort out the legal issues involved.=20 Seattle-Tacoma International Airport officials didn't comply with the order= =20 because they said such searches violate their state's constitution. Airport officials recently asked the TSA for a formal opinion on the=20 legality of the searches. The TSA said the federal law that created the=20 agency after the Sept. 11 terror attacks gives it the authority to order=20 such inspections for security reasons. The checks were to be carried out by= =20 local law enforcement in some cases, and by airport security in others. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.dbombo.net/muddyangels/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************