U.S. Marshal Service to execute 'Con Air' upgrades

The U.S. Marshals Service has agreed to implement a series of security improvements recommended by the Justice Department's inspector general for the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS).

JPATS, the basis for the Hollywood movie "Con Air", is the primary mode of transport for prisoners and aliens in federal custody; in fiscal 2005, JPATS completed 305,649 prisoner movements domestically and internationally.

According to the Justice IG report, Con Air, until recently, lacked an automated system to verify whether they had met their goal of providing full security. JPATS management has convened an internal group to plan a system to track absenteeism among the contract guards.

In response to the report, the Marshals Service upgraded systems for tracking pilot licenses and training records, provided electronic access to waiver forms concerning crew rest requirements to all employees, and created a module in the Automated Prisoner Scheduling System to record information about passenger security incidents.

The IG report is titled The U.S Marshals Service's Management of the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System.

Wilson P. Dizard III is a staff writer for Washington Technology's sister publication, Government Computer News.