HomeGovernmentArrington Leaves TSA, Spearheaded First Observer Revamp

Arrington Leaves TSA, Spearheaded First Observer Revamp

After more than 14 years with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, William “Bill” Arrington said he is leaving the agency. His retirement is effective the end of the day on Friday.

His most recent role with the TSA has been as branch manager of the office of security protocol and industry engagement. Last year, Arrington said he transitioned to the new position supervising all surface modes, as opposed to just highway and motor carriers, for which he had served as GM since 2006.

During this time, Arrington led the transition of the American Trucking Associations’ Highway Watch program for commercial drivers to TSA, which relaunched the on-the-road incident reporting and training campaign as First Observer.

Just last month, TSA announced that First Observer, which has fully transitioned online, launched new video training modules.

Before joining the TSA, Arrington served 28 years with the Maryland State Police, the seventh largest state police organization in the U.S. He retired in 2002 as a deputy superintendent and lieutenant colonel overseeing all field operations involving 1,751 state troopers. He then took a full three days off before joining the TSA in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. For the first four years at the agency, he worked in the aviation sector.

Arrington said he will continue to bleed school bus yellow, and in retirement looks to provide security consulting services to the industry.

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