It happens to everyone running late to catch an airplane — random selection for secondary security screening — and it's going to be happening a lot more.
The Transportation Security Administration announced Tuesday the implementation of new localized security enhancements for Salt Lake City International Airport. The upgrades are already in effect and officials say they are to be "not too noticeable" by travelers coming through the airport.
"Most changes will be seamless to passengers," said Barbara Gann, Airport Authority spokeswoman.
Upgrades starting this week include:
Random vehicle inspections at any time of day and anywhere on the airport grounds.
A "no waiting" rule prohibiting cars from parking or idling at the terminal curb for any amount of time.
More secondary security screenings of passengers after the initial checkpoints.
An increase in the law enforcement officers and bomb-sniffing canines at check-in and baggage claim areas.
Deployment of canine explosive detection teams in more areas.
"These measures are being put in place simply because we want to step it up a little bit more than where we've been in the past," said Earl Morris, federal security director for the TSA at the Salt Lake airport.
"It's a continuous process because the more sophisticated we become, the more sophisticated some of our enemies become," he said.
The airport's security upgrades are not related to Sunday's announcement of increased anti-terrorism precautions for financial centers on the East Coast.
"However, they serve the same purpose — to assure the safety and security of Utahns who will be traveling this summer," said Michael Fierberg, the TSA's public affairs representative.
Morris said they are meant to prepare the nation for the upcoming events surrounding an election year and the presidential inauguration in January 2005. The measures will have been in place for several months before airports are required to deal with the increase in traffic at those times.
"We are at a heightened level of alert," he said. "We are doing more things to ensure that people who come through this airport or travel on airlines throughout the country can do so safely and feel secure."
The new procedures are common stages of the long-term security project in airports across the country. Since the events of 9/11, various transportation outlets, specifically airports, have been targeted for security upgrades. So far, Morris said airports nationwide are 100 percent compliant with national standards of baggage screening.
"The greatest testimony of success from our standpoint is that we have had no major incidents since then," Morris said.
For the 15,000 to 25,000 travelers who pass through Salt Lake City on a daily basis, getting to and from a destination safely is the No. 1 priority. Of the 450 airports in the United States, five of them are in Utah.
"The success we've had across the country in keeping this country from any major attack in the past three years has largely been based on intelligence and assistance from people who are willing to get involved and are willing to give us information," Morris said.
Locally, Morris said the public has been compliant with new security procedures. However, he said, there has been a significant increase in the number of attempts to bring prohibited items — knives, scissors, other pointed items — on board.
E-mail: wleonard@desnews.com