Airport Security - Worse than you think

[GoneOffShore]

Barbara Peterson, a columnist at Conde Nast Traveler went to work for the TSA - Otherwise known as "Thousands Standing Around" if you're a frequent flyer and "Heroes on the front line in war on terror" if you're a TSA'er - and found some gaping holes in the system.

By the end of the article and her tenure at TSA, it would appear that Ms Peterson was afflicted by "Stockholm Syndrome".

http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles/detail?articleId=10624&pageNumber=1

snip
You can't predict who will be picked for a more thorough inspection, and there's no good way to break the news to them.

A woman on crutches hobbles through the portal and hands me her boarding pass, which bears the dreaded code. "Ma'am," I stammer, "you've been selected for, uh …additional screening." Behind her wait her four children toting bulging backpacks, each with a boarding pass that indicates they too will need to be inspected.

"I do not believe it!" the woman shrieks at full volume, threatening me with bodily harm if I go anywhere near her children. I empathize: She and her brood are now facing a frisking, a hand wanding, and a search of their belongings, which may be tested for traces of explosives.

Snip

I wasn't taught why certain passengers are chosen for additional screening, but I know from my years covering aviation security as a reporter that some are picked at random and others are selected because of certain red flags. Chances are that whatever computer reviewed this family's data when they checked in saw only a group of five people traveling together on a one-way, last-minute booking. In other words, the M.O. of a terrorist cell on 9/11. I learn the real story when the woman angrily relates that her mother has just died and they are flying to the funeral. They didn't book a return flight because they weren't sure how long they would be staying.

I am struck by the fact that at this major urban airport, five years after the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, we are still relying on the same rudimentary tools that have been used for decades to detect who is a true threat: physical pat-downs and basic X-ray technology along with the out-of-date passenger pre-screening that continues to bedevil people such as the woman before me.

Mercifully, a supervisor swoops in and excuses the two youngest members of the group from a full pat-down; the others are checked and found to be weapon-free. They make their flight. A businessman who is about to miss his because of this kerfuffle looks at me and mutters, "When are you guys going to start using your brains?"
End Snip

And that is the problem.

We have a security service (TSA) with "mission creep" plus they have no clue about what they are doing and are part of a CYA security program.

And Congress want's to unionize these clowns?

[mnhtnbb]

1. This administration is not known for either its brains or the use of reason.

[napi21]

2. Nobody uses common sense anymore! Some because they aren't

allowed to, and some because they're too busy playing CYA!

I'd love to know if any Congressmen have been singled out for an extensive search, like they had Ted Kennedy on the NO FLY LIST a few years ago? Or maybe some airline officer, or someone like that?

[unblock]

3. tsa, along with most "post-9/11 security" has alwayas been about the ILLUSION of security

at best. it could be worse....

[GoneOffShore]

4. Apparently more than we know.

Read some of Bruce Schneier's stuff at http://www.schneier.com/

[walldude]

7. Yup... go to the Nashville airport and hang out in the smoking

lounge. 9 out of 10 people got through with their lighters in tact. And the 10th person just got a lesson on how to do it. Airport security is a joke. No one on this planet is going to be able to hijack an airplane with a knife or box cutter again, all airport screening should consist of looking for explosives. period. These new x-ray machines they are testing in Phoenix are just another way to curb civil liberties, they aren't going to save one plane.

[GoneOffShore]

8. The terrorists are really good at what they do,

But the real terrorists are those who keep us in fear. And who is that? At this time it's shrubco and Congress and the worst of the corporate media.

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. The TSA guy took my lighter away

I said "But I can have one lighter" He said "Not if I say you can't" and then he put my lighter in HIS pocket.

I wanted so badly to call him a punk.

[Tsiyu]

18. As an aside, i must say I love the Nash Vegas smoking lounge

I believe it's the only one left in America. You don't even need to light up in there - just walk in and inhale deeply and you've got your nicotine fix.

And yes, I did get a lesson - from a soldier - who showed us all how to stuff the tiny bics in our pants. 'Not enough metal to trigger the detector' he said, grinning.

[lapfog_1]

5. When I had something to do with cyber security at NASA...

I would call such people and their methods "everything BUT security" or EBS.

We had "experts" coming in and telling me that passwords had to be changed routinely (which led to people writing them down so as not to forget) and blah blah blah...

When, in fact, everyone should be told to choose a good password and commit it to memory and never let anyone, even the security administrator, know it. Plus, instead of handing out new "root" passwords every month, we make authorized people use their OWN passwords to become superuser (and then we know who is doing what). But that requires some thought, and thinking is not what these idiots do well or often.

The problem is, proper security is WORK for the security people... they have to think and react rather than rely on rote. The absolute stupidest thing I have ever encountered was that horrible question at the airport gate "Did you pack your own bags... have they been with you the whole time..." God how stupid.

[GoneOffShore]

6. Security Theater

Is the term that has been running around on FlyerTalk.com

[Mind_your_head]

12. "Security Theater"......very apropos eom

[MissB]

9. Dh had to fly earlier this week.

His company mistakenly booked him a ticket *from* the destination city *to* his origination city. He didn't figure it out until he got to the gate and didn't see his flight number. Made it well past security.

[greenissexy]

10. I have a different opinion...

Last few times I've been through airport security, it was very thorough. A few weeks ago I had a woman feel me up so thoroughly that if I had paid her for it it would have been a crime. The jealous looks from my wife made it well worth the hassle.

Seriously, if the airlines didn't pick people at random they'd start racial profiling which is wrong. There have been more white terrorists in the history of the country than any other race so picking on people that "look like terrorists" wouldn't be effective anyway.

[GoneOffShore]

11. The point about most airport security

is that it's CYA stuff.

It's strictly theater to make Mr & Mrs Joe Schmoo who fly every 18 months or so comfortable. "Look, we're looking in your bags to make sure you don't have any liquids, because those guys in London thought they could mix volatile chemicals in the lavatory of an airplane and bring it down."

That's not security. We do have to profile people - on a well thought out personality profile - not stopping a family of 5 who bought one way tickets on short notice. The Israelis have it right when it comes to security, but we're not going to adopt their methods for air travel. It's too expensive, it takes too long at the airport and no one here would put up with it. And we shouldn't put up with their methods - unless we want to stop travelling.

An open society has risks. If we're not prepared to take risks, then maybe we don't want an open society.

[Mind_your_head]

14. I remember years ago, when I saw pictures of Israeli soldiers with

BIG GUNS standing in the airport in Israel and I thought 'how lucky' we are here in America to not have to deal with that. And then, guess what? After 9/11 our airports and our lives start looking like we're living in Israel! Soldiers in cammies w/big guns, baby food being examined, old people being frisked, take off your shoes, families going to a funeral being harrassed....is THIS the price we pay because most of our politicians get those big contributions from AIPAC???

I hope I don't get t-stoned cause of this, but that's how I feel.....I'm just so sick and tired of this UNNECESSARY jack-booted thuggery! And may I be so bold to suggest that, 'we're looking like we're in Israel, because we align ourselves so (too) much with her?'

Peace and 'Live Free or Die',
M_Y_H

[Mind_your_head]

15. You'd think it's spring already.....

*crickets*

[LibDemAlways]

16. The policy of random airport feel-ups without cause

sounds like a violation of the 4th amendment to me. The ACLU has a form on its website people can use to document whatever nonsense they were put through by TSA. In Seattle a couple of years ago I witnessed a very elderly frail woman in a wheelchair having her shoes yanked off by the goons and hoisted up out of the chair to be wanded. Her daughter, also a senior citizen, was being felt up nearby. She started to cry and begged the morons to leave her mother alone saying, "She's an alzheimer's patient." It was a disgusting spectacle, hard to watch, and made no one safer.

[GoneOffShore]

17. If you want to hear other stories of TSA Harassment

Head over to the Security forum on FlyerTalk.com.

There are stories of confiscated breast milk, pies and chapsticks. One guy had all his tools trashed. A woman heard a "dumb blonde" joke that was referencing her. Minor stuff it's true, but it all adds up.

[LibDemAlways]

19. Thanks for the info. I went over there and was

gratified to see that some members of the public have caught on to the uselessness of the current TSA "security" procedures, and are sharing horror stories.

[GoneOffShore]

20. It's an interesitng site

Even though there are some obvious Republicans, almost everyone seems to be united in their disdain for the "security" measures presently in place.

I only have two people on ignore there.