en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Air_Marshal_Service
TSA is also proposing to expand the use of Federal Air Marshals within the entire public transit sector. In a pilot program announced in December 2005 the TSA stated they will implement a program to have air marshals cover buses, light rail, passenger rail systems and ferries across the country.
edit Training Federal Air Marshals go through an intense, two-phase training program. The first phase of the program is a seven-week basic law enforcement course.
Their training is tailored to the role that the Federal Air Marshals will be performing while on the job. Some of the specific areas covered in this training include constitutional law, marksmanship, physical fitness, behavioral observation, defensive tactics, emergency medical assistance, and other law enforcement techniques. The second phase trains the candidates for tasks that they will be expected to carry out in the field. This training places an emphasis on perfecting the marksmanship skills of the candidates. A necessity of the job due to the tight confines of an aircraft, as well as the number of bystanders. Candidates that successfully complete this training will be assigned to one of 21 field offices, where they will begin their missions.
As noted above, Air Marshals must be recertified on their firearm quarterly. According to an anonymous Air Marshal, they are trained to "shoot to stop," typically firing at the largest part of the body (the chest) and then the head to "incapacitate the nervous system."
Under the service's original policy which has now been rescinded, Air Marshals were required to conform to a strict dress code, well-shaved and with a conservative haircut. They also boarded before other passengers to scan the aircraft for weapons and explosives. The Federal Air Marshal Association complained that the dress code and priority boardings made Marshals targets for any possible hijackers, making them stand out as possible government agents and thus reducing their effectiveness.
Bush Administration authorized thousands of new Air Marshals to be hired. Many were agents from other federal agencies, such as the US Customs Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, US Postal Inspection Service, and many others.
ICE also had an investigative division with Special Agents specializing in investigating immigration and customs violations. Those immigration and customs agents would be cross trained to serve as supplemental FAMS in the event of a national emergency or in response to intelligence requiring additional marshals on flights.
memorandum determining that Air Marshals would not also be ICE Special Agents. In 2005, Secretary Chertoff conducted a second-stage review of DHS' organization and ordered the FAMS to be moved from ICE and back to the TSA.
Gardner said that after everyone on the plane was seated, Alpizar suddenly ran up the aisle from the back of the plane. Gardner said she did not hear him say anything as he ran by, although she was seated in the third row of the Economy section.
Beshears said Alpizar's wife pursued him only part of the way, then turned back and said her husband was sick and she needed to get his bags. While Alpizar's wife was going back toward her seat, passenger Jorge Borrelli says he very clearly heard "Stop!"
It is not clear what Alpizar was wearing at the time of the shooting, although none of the published witness accounts have described Alpizar as wearing the backpack over his chest when he left the plane. It is also not clear if the Air Marshals had confronted Alpizar at his seat, or if they had followed Alpizar after he began leaving the plane, although the sum of witness reports suggests it being the latter. Lonny Glover, national safety coordinator for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, said: "As the man came forward it was obvious that he was upset ...
Gardner said she overheard the wife say he had recently failed to take his medication. On the inbound flight to Miami, Ellen Sutliff, a passenger who said she sat near the Alpizar couple, described Alpizar as agitated, with his wife saying to him: "We just have to get through customs. We're going to be home soon, and everything will be all right". Prior to boarding in Miami, passenger Alan Tirpak also described Alpizar as agitated, and singing "Go Down Moses" as his wife tried to assure him.
Miami-Dade criminal investigations unit said that Alpizar's wife told him that Alpizar had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder about a decade earlier. Sister-in-law Kelley Buechner said she had only known that Alpizar had a "chemical imbalance" for which he took "vitamins". She said that this was characteristic of Alpizar's wife's not telling her, as "She's the type who doesn't want to burden people with her problems." She said she had never known Alpizar to stop taking his medication.
Peru, losing a passport, wallet, notebook computer, and cell phone: "That really upset Rigo ... Anne was robbed in Peru, and it was very unsettling to them both."
Veronica Ferguson issued a statement saying early indications point to Alpizar running frantically from the airplane "with a backpack strapped to his chest, yelling that he had a bomb." Juan Del Castillo said individuals on the plane (other than the Air Marshals) also heard the bomb threats, although police would not say at what location the bomb threats were made. Police said Alpizar turned around in the jetway and walked in a threatening manner toward the Air Marshals, who stepped back before firing. Del Castillo said Alpizar's threats and the Air Marshal's commands were in English.
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