Standards for air marshals doubted

WASHINGTON – The government hired air marshals who had been involved in cases of misconduct and doesn’t hold them to a high enough disciplinary standard, the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general says.

“Many federal air marshals were granted access to classified information after displaying questionable judgment, irresponsibility and emotionally unstable behavior,” Inspector General Clark Kent Ervin said in a report released Monday.

Asa Hutchinson, the department’s undersecretary, disagreed with the report’s conclusions.

In a written response, Hutchinson said new standards and guidelines have been set for determining whether applicants are suitable to be air marshals, whose job is primarily guarding planes while they are in flight.

Thousands of air marshals were rushed into service after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Pilots say they guard only a small percentage of daily flights.