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What's keeping you safe in the sky?

Posted at 6:21 PM, Feb 05, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-05 18:21:14-05
"Whether people are sitting, standing or moving,” said TSA K9 handler Brandy Smith. 
 
She is trained to smell trouble. 
 
"What ‘Guiness’ is trained to do is detect explosives on people,” said Smith.
 
'Guiness' is named after a 9-11 victim but her job is to stop another tragedy departing from Tampa International Airport.
 
"This is a busy travel season coming up. We are just two to three weeks away from Spring Break. We are expecting record numbers of people coming through the TSA checkpoints here,” said TSA Federal Security Director Greater Tampa Bay Lee Kair.
 
But all layers of TSA security aren't as obvious as this explosives sniffing dog. 
 
"You want to identify high risk behaviors such as stress, fear, deception,” said TSA Behavioral Detection Manager Charles Miller.
 
From curbside to ticket gate, Behavioral Detection Officers or BDO’s like Miller are watching. Some are wearing TSA uniforms and others blend in to the crowd.
 
"A few years ago in 2008, if you remember, there was an individual in Orlando who was identified by plain clothes officers, BDO's. He was engaged, the law enforcement network was engaged, come to find out he had all the components to an incendiary IED in his checked baggage,” said Miller.
 
TSA found 49 undeclared firearms at TIA last year.  Just this January alone, they've seized 10. Some are spotted on these "Pro Vision" machines that key in on suspicious items with a yellow square.
 
TIA is one of three top airports for seized undeclared firearms. Something Charles Miller is proud of because they never made it onto planes. 
 
"There are people out there who want to get on the aircraft, who want to do bad things,” he said.