By LORRAINE U. MARTINELLE
It was reported Friday, Jan. 25, that the Federal Aviation Administration halted flights to LaGuardia Airport in New York City because of a shortage of air-traffic control staff. Heard on The Hill spoke about the situation with Dr. Stephen Morreale, D.P.A., a border security expert who teaches in the Nichols College Counterterrorism Studies program and at Worcester State University. Here’s what he told us:
Nichols College Professor Dr. Stephen Morreale
“Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, being inconvenienced by airport security has been accepted more and more by the general public. Now, however, the inconvenience of not being able to fly to where we need to go has surpassed our initial feelings of inconvenience. This shutdown will impact commerce, travelers, costs associated with traveling—like people needing to pay for hotel stays and car rentals due to lack of flights or needing to get to their location—and the cost of their time. I’ve not seen a situation like this last this long.”
Professor Morreale has extensive experience in the criminal justice field and teaches border security and cybersecurity at Nichols. He served as Military Police in the U.S. Army, and worked for the New Hampshire City Police Department. He also has experience as special agent and group supervisor for the U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration, assistant special agent in charge for the Office of Investigations, and as inspector general for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Lorraine U. Martinelle is director of public relations and social media at Nichols College in Dudley, Mass.