Screeners on job but Terror fears persist at LAX. (Up Front).

The numbers are impressive. Last month, the new federally hired security screeners at Los Angeles International Airport discovered 4,957 knives, 1,383 tools, 53 box cutters, 25 clubs (hammers and crow bars) and 408 flammable materials (pepper spray and lighter fluid).

All those items were discovered on passengers or their carry-on luggage -- mostly the result of harmless but forgetful people who don't fly often. "What we're looking for is explosives," said Brian Turmail, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration. "Much to our great relief, most people traveling are not carrying explosives."

More than two months after LAX replaced contracted screeners with those trained by the TSA, and a month after the airport installed 58 explosive detection systems for check-in baggage, the confiscated items would suggest tight enforcement at the nation's fourth-largest airport.

But is it any tighter than before the federal checkers moved in?

According to those knowledgeable in aviation security, confiscating a nail file from a retirees' purse doesn't necessarily mean everything is all right at LAX or the nation's other airports.

The system, some security experts believe, still needs to be changed to place the emphasis on security personnel identifying potential terrorists instead of relying so much on technology.

Terrorist, not bomb

"There is a frustration regarding security," said Offer Einav, president of Ganden Security Services Inc. in Tel Aviv and the former director of security for El Al, Israel's airline that is considered to have the best security of any in the world.

"The issue now is the terrorist, not a bomb. Technology should be serving the operator, not the other way around. People are just sitting in front of a machine and responding to what it is saying. This is not serving the airline industry' he said.

Einav believes there is a pressing need to train LAX's 2,800 screeners on how to conduct "positive profiling," which relies on gathering intelligence to eliminate most travelers from contention as possible terrorists. In that way, screeners will be allowed to focus on the right people.

The elderly, small children and a school football team traveling to a game should not be seen as a potential threat, said Einav. Instead, a thin-faced person with a rotund torso should immediately cause screeners to wonder what might be hidden underneath that person's clothing.

A devout Muslim, he said, would draw attention if he had a pale face signifying he recently shaved. This is what suicide bombers traditionally do as preparation for their ascendance into heaven after an attack.

"Are screeners really trained and ready to fight terrorism?" asked Einav.. "Do they know the tactics these terrorists are using? Do they know what the body signs are? Any system that is not proactive is a system that will fail in the end."

David Stone, the TSA's security director for LAX, acknowledges that things could be better. "We need continuous improvement of training of the screeners and implementation of the new technologies if they are out there," he said. "We always need to be looking at what's a better process, what's a better way to enhance security?"

He also noted that more passenger information is necessary.

"We need a better understanding of the passenger that come through our airports so we can make better decisions as to who is selected for additional screening and who is not," said Stone.

The current technology serves as a deterrent for anyone attempting to smuggle an explosive device on board an airplane.

The airport's EDS devices, which cost $800,000 each, are pickup truck-sized machines used like a CAT-scan to detect explosives and drugs in luggage. Its 272 explosion trace detection machines, typically found at security check points and gates, detects explosive and chemical residue by rubbing a handheld wand against the lining of baggage.

Passengers in possession of illegal items are turned over for questioning by airport police, often missing their flights. Those found with prohibited items are given the option of leaving them with TSA officials, putting them in their vehicles or placing them in their checked bags before boarding a plane.

But besides passengers and baggage, there are concerns regarding food service personnel, mechanics, cleaning crews and other personnel who have access to a plane without going through security systems.

Additionally, security experts question how closely the bags can be watched when they are transported between the EDS and the conveyor belts behind the ticket counters - especially during the congested summer months.

"The lines will be so long that the systems will start coming apart," said Brian Jenkins, a senior adviser dealing with terrorism and security issues at Rand Corp. "The jobs won't be done as thoroughly."

TSA officials said future improvements at LAX will include an updated computer-assisted passenger pre-screening system (CAPPS 2) that will help determine who should be screened after passing through the terminal checkpoint.

The system, which will be in place later this year, will be maintained by TSA and accessed by the nation's 429 commercial airports. (TSA officials would not reveal the criteria used.)

The airports and maritime ports in L.A. and Philadelphia are also taking part in the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIG) program that uses biometric technologies such as facial recognition, iris scanning and fingerprinting to create identification cards for airport and port users.

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David Greenberg

While screeners at baggage checkpoints are relying on technology to provide the bulk of the security for passengers, old-fashioned police patrols are protecting the ticket counter and other terminal areas at Los Angeles International Airport.

The Transportation Security Administration and the Los Angeles Police Department have assembled a heavy presence of officers working in uniform and undercover ever since an Egyptian-born gunman killed two people at the Israeli airline El-Al ticket counter before being shot dead himself last July 4.

Additional K-9 units, capable of smelling explosives and drugs, are on patrol in ticket counter lobbies and curbside baggage check areas, security officials said.

"The airport and police have partnered to reduce and mitigate the risk associated with that type of threat," said David Stone the TSA's security director at LAX. "Is every threat eliminated? No. But every day we improve."

He would not reveal the number of personnel assigned to the airport, but Stone said both police agencies are varying the number of personnel on duty, as well as shift change times so potential terrorists surveying the area won't be able to detect patterns.

Traditional law enforcement methods are being used such as being on the lookout for people who look or behave suspiciously. For instance, people could draw attention to themselves by wearing heavy clothing on a hot day, or acting as though they are nervous.

Stone said security enhancements were made shortly after Irvine resident Hesham Mohamed Hadayet shot and killed two people before being shot to death by an armed El-Al security guard.

Last month, the family of Yaakov "Jacob" Aminov, the 46-year-old diamond Importer who was one of those killed by Hadayet, filed a claim seeking $30 million from the city saying it didn't provide adequate security at the airport. Claims totaling $8.5 million from four others, including a 6-year-old witness and a man credited with helping disarm the gunman, were also filed n January.

Nico Melendez, TSA regional spokesman, said the agency doesn't comment on pending litigation.

The shootings underscored a reality of airport use: with no metal detection machines or other security devices at the entrances to airports, anyone carrying a weapon can walk inside.

"The key thing about airplanes is that they can become the destructive weapons," said Susanne Trimbath, a research economist who has done terrorism and security work for the Milken Institute, a Santa Monica think tank. "Airport lobbies are public spaces that are no more at risk than any other public space."

Trimbath and others said that security at the ticket counter areas could be improved by placing metal detectors outside and checking cars coming onto airport grounds. They also said airline employees should be given the same training as law enforcement in recognizing behavioral paterns.

But implementing these programs in the United States would be more difficult than in other countries due to what one security expert said is the lack of tolerance Americans have for waiting in lines and political pressure not to profile based on race.