Five thousand more armed law enforcement agents will be made available to act as federal air marshals on commercial airliners under a plan announced by US Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge yesterday.
Ridge announced a reorganisation of resources within his sprawling department that will result in cross-training of other federal agents who can be deployed to serve as air marshals.
The reorganisation includes a transfer of the federal air marshal's service and explosives unit to the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement from the Transportation Security Administration.
After the transfer, ICE agents will also be trained in air marshal's duties so they can be called on during times of heightened terror alert or if there is intelligence that shows increased vulnerability to US airlines or specific routes.
Thousands of air marshals, who are armed and authorised to use deadly force, have been deployed on US airlines since the September 11, 2001, hijacked airliner attacks.
"This realignment offers a sweeping gain of additional armed law enforcement officials who will be able to provide a 'surge capacity' during increased threat periods or in the event of a terrorist attack," Ridge said in speech at the American Enterprise Institute.
"Importantly, with this single move we will be able to deploy more than 5,000 additional armed federal law enforcement agents to the skies when needed."
Ridge said the shuffle of air marshals will also facilitate better coordination and information sharing of law enforcement information between ICE and the air marshals in addition to allowing for backup capacity to respond to specific threats.
The announcement comes about a month after reports that the government was cutting back on the number of air marshals deployed on US flights to save money.
The department denied there were any planned cutbacks. But the reports surfaced as the department warned airlines that al Qaeda - blamed for the September 11 attacks - could be planning new suicide hijackings and bombings in the United States and abroad during the summer.
They sparked an angry reaction on Capitol Hill, particularly by Democrats who have accused the Republican administration of underspending for homeland security.
In his speech discussing progress in homeland security - made one week before the second anniversary of the September 11 attacks - Ridge said the United States was more secure than in 2001. But he admitted there was still work to be done.
Ridge said all US states and territories now have secure video and telephone communications to better share classified information about terrorist threats.
Ridge said the color-coded terror alert warning system has not yet been used as it was designed - to provide regional or sector-specific warnings of potential attacks. But he said the system does work and that the nation is more secure at the current mid-level alert rating of "yellow," or "elevated" threat of attack, than it was a year ago.