The TSA - "A lot of what we do is make-believe."
The above mentioned Richard Reed flew out of de Gaulle. He was denied boarding on his first attempt, but was allowed to board the next day.
Not saying that the TSA is particularly good at what they do. However, anyone who doesn't think terrorists are targeting air travel is living in a dream world.
Not saying that the TSA is particularly good at what they do. However, anyone who doesn't think terrorists are targeting air travel is living in a dream world.
I'm beyond confused at this point.
Over ten years since 9/11, and this is allowed to happen:
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/05/25/tsa-passenger-tries-to-sneak-8-inch-knife-onto-flight-at-jfk-airport/
Transportation Security Administration agents discovered an eight-inch knife with a four-and-a-half-inch blade, artfully concealed in a traveler’s shoe, CBS 2′s Jennifer McLogan reported.
The weapon was confiscated and the man from Far Rockaway was ticketed, but he then boarded his flight for Buffalo.
After everything you have to go through to board a plane, would you want this guy sitting next to you (or your kids)?
So again, why do they still exist?
Over ten years since 9/11, and this is allowed to happen:
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/05/25/tsa-passenger-tries-to-sneak-8-inch-knife-onto-flight-at-jfk-airport/
Transportation Security Administration agents discovered an eight-inch knife with a four-and-a-half-inch blade, artfully concealed in a traveler’s shoe, CBS 2′s Jennifer McLogan reported.
The weapon was confiscated and the man from Far Rockaway was ticketed, but he then boarded his flight for Buffalo.
After everything you have to go through to board a plane, would you want this guy sitting next to you (or your kids)?
So again, why do they still exist?
Government agencies never die. And, unlike old soldiers, they don't always fade away.
project37 said:
After everything you have to go through to board a plane, would you want this guy sitting next to you (or your kids)?
So again, why do they still exist?
How about this guy? The only reason he was caught is because the flight attendant did a head count. Had he hid out in the bathroom, they might have missed him. Then once airborne, the *real* TSA kicks into action: passengers called into service to take on the miscreant; wrestle him to the floor while the plane prepares to make an emergency landing.
Fresh Out of Prison, Man Boards Plane Without Ticket | NBC San Diego: The recently released inmate slipped passed security and boarded a flight at Lindbergh Field.
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Man-Boards-SD-Plane-Without-Ticket-155528895.html
This is interesting, as it's the TSA staff doing the complaining:
NYT: Racial Profiling Rife at Airport, U.S. Officers Say
Excerpt:
More than 30 federal officers in an airport program intended to spot telltale mannerisms of potential terrorists say the operation has become a magnet for racial profiling, targeting not only Middle Easterners but also blacks, Hispanics and other minorities.
In interviews and internal complaints, officers from the Transportation Security Administration’s “behavior detection” program at Logan International Airport in Boston asserted that passengers who fit certain profiles — Hispanics traveling to Miami, for instance, or blacks wearing baseball caps backward — are much more likely to be stopped, searched and questioned for “suspicious” behavior.
“They just pull aside anyone who they don’t like the way they look — if they are black and have expensive clothes or jewelry, or if they are Hispanic,” said one white officer, who along with four others spoke with The New York Times on the condition of anonymity.
[ ... ]
The practice has become so prevalent, some officers said, that Massachusetts State Police officials have asked why minority members appear to make up an overwhelming number of the cases that the airport refers to them.
More at link.
NYT: Racial Profiling Rife at Airport, U.S. Officers Say
Excerpt:
More than 30 federal officers in an airport program intended to spot telltale mannerisms of potential terrorists say the operation has become a magnet for racial profiling, targeting not only Middle Easterners but also blacks, Hispanics and other minorities.
In interviews and internal complaints, officers from the Transportation Security Administration’s “behavior detection” program at Logan International Airport in Boston asserted that passengers who fit certain profiles — Hispanics traveling to Miami, for instance, or blacks wearing baseball caps backward — are much more likely to be stopped, searched and questioned for “suspicious” behavior.
“They just pull aside anyone who they don’t like the way they look — if they are black and have expensive clothes or jewelry, or if they are Hispanic,” said one white officer, who along with four others spoke with The New York Times on the condition of anonymity.
[ ... ]
The practice has become so prevalent, some officers said, that Massachusetts State Police officials have asked why minority members appear to make up an overwhelming number of the cases that the airport refers to them.
More at link.
This is just...well, see for yourself:
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/abc-news-tracks-missing-ipad-florida-home-tsa/story?id=17331937#.UGRI8pjA9uI
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/abc-news-tracks-missing-ipad-florida-home-tsa/story?id=17331937#.UGRI8pjA9uI
Going through security in the UK is a joke. We fly through Manchester airport and the security procedures are exactly the same as if going through Heathrow. Some of the wacky incidents have happened to us:
1. My husband was wearing a baseball cap due to bad hair day. He was subject to further inspection due to wearing cap while the guy with a 6" turban walked through with no additional checks. That turban could have housed all sorts in it, much more than what my husband could have in his unlined baseball cap. Needless to say, the security team could have instructed my husband to take his hat off and put it through the scanner in the first place.
2. They tried to make us open and taste all of our daughters food. This was an issue when she was on formula which we had in 2oz containers. The label said to discard within an hour of opening.... Luckily there was a doctor behind us who told the man he was being unreasonable and that we were right to not open the food, especially considering we were on an 8 hour flight.
3. They made me open our daughters diaper once.... no joke. I was horrified and wrote to the MP serving the area. It was done in public and the employee was rude about it.
4. Again with our daughter, she was 3 months old and sleeping in her baby carrier. I opened it up so they could see into it. She had a hat on. The lady went ahead and touched my daughter as if to say how cute she was but then pulled her hat off. If she had asked I could have taken off the hat without waking her up. I then had a screaming baby to contend with and the woman had the nerve to tell me that I shouldn't have a hat on her (it was October and about 40F at best in the terminal). She shouldn't have touched my daughter without my permission.
After our experiences in Europe the TSA, at Newark anyway, are professional about it.
1. My husband was wearing a baseball cap due to bad hair day. He was subject to further inspection due to wearing cap while the guy with a 6" turban walked through with no additional checks. That turban could have housed all sorts in it, much more than what my husband could have in his unlined baseball cap. Needless to say, the security team could have instructed my husband to take his hat off and put it through the scanner in the first place.
2. They tried to make us open and taste all of our daughters food. This was an issue when she was on formula which we had in 2oz containers. The label said to discard within an hour of opening.... Luckily there was a doctor behind us who told the man he was being unreasonable and that we were right to not open the food, especially considering we were on an 8 hour flight.
3. They made me open our daughters diaper once.... no joke. I was horrified and wrote to the MP serving the area. It was done in public and the employee was rude about it.
4. Again with our daughter, she was 3 months old and sleeping in her baby carrier. I opened it up so they could see into it. She had a hat on. The lady went ahead and touched my daughter as if to say how cute she was but then pulled her hat off. If she had asked I could have taken off the hat without waking her up. I then had a screaming baby to contend with and the woman had the nerve to tell me that I shouldn't have a hat on her (it was October and about 40F at best in the terminal). She shouldn't have touched my daughter without my permission.
After our experiences in Europe the TSA, at Newark anyway, are professional about it.
You guys are going to love the TSA's newest security initiative . It's called Operation Bravo Sierra or BS .Even after you have cleared inspection , a TSA officer is going to yell out "Freeze" in a "Authoritive voice" you are then expected to stay motionless for anyware from 2minutes on.
mwr said:
You guys are going to love the TSA's newest security initiative . It's called Operation Bravo Sierra or BS .Even after you have cleared inspection , a TSA officer is going to yell out "Freeze" in a "Authoritive voice" you are then expected to stay motionless for anyware from 2minutes on.
Are you serious?
I'm no fan of the TSA, but I don't believe a flipping thing on Alex Jones' site. Do you have a better reference?
Sep 28, 2012 at 6:29am Edited
“These drills are generally conducted during off-peak hours to minimize disruption, and generally last a minute,” said Kristin Lee, a spokeswoman for the agency. The agency conducts a range of security exercises, not all of them in public, to train checkpoint officers, she said.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/29/business/29road.html?_r=0
Understood, I said. But still, am I, a citizen, required to stop motionless when the T.S.A. officers yell “freeze”?
Actually, no. The agency has “wide-ranging legal authority to carry out security-related responsibilities,” Ms Lee said. But in these specific drills, she added, “passengers are not required to ‘freeze’ in place like statues.” But if they are within the checkpoint security area, they may be required to remain there until the drill has ended, she said.
rastro said:
“These drills are generally conducted during off-peak hours to minimize disruption, and generally last a minute,” said Kristin Lee, a spokeswoman for the agency. The agency conducts a range of security exercises, not all of them in public, to train checkpoint officers, she said.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/29/business/29road.html?_r=0
Understood, I said. But still, am I, a citizen, required to stop motionless when the T.S.A. officers yell “freeze”?
Actually, no. The agency has “wide-ranging legal authority to carry out security-related responsibilities,” Ms Lee said. But in these specific drills, she added, “passengers are not required to ‘freeze’ in place like statues.” But if they are within the checkpoint security area, they may be required to remain there until the drill has ended, she said.
Cheers.
A convicted TSA officer from Newark talks about the culture of theft:
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/convicted-tsa-officer-reveals-secrets-thefts-airports/story?id=17339513
"Oops!" TSA lets a woman take a loaded (!) gun on an airplane:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/oops_gun_on_flight_yNiTHOZsJmsu2voSdzBQqN
Why are we as a country tolerating all of this?
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/convicted-tsa-officer-reveals-secrets-thefts-airports/story?id=17339513
"Oops!" TSA lets a woman take a loaded (!) gun on an airplane:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/oops_gun_on_flight_yNiTHOZsJmsu2voSdzBQqN
Why are we as a country tolerating all of this?
I have been in a checkpoint during a "freeze" drill. It is annoying and frustrating to have your movement restricted for no reason other than some dumb exercise. Doesn't feel appropriate for a free society.
Also had a Nikon D40 stolen out if a bag by what later turned out to be a crooked TSA screener. Let's just say- not a fan.
Sep 28, 2012 at 10:19pm Edited
It's designed to condition you to fascist control. It's a farce. Airport employees are only subject to random screening, and private aviation- the choice of the 0.1%- is exempt from all screening.
Might be fun to run up to the little Hitler yelling freeze and say "eh, what are you saying? I can't quite hear you...."
or "no entiendo.."
or "no entiendo.."
Surprised that NJ didn't prosecute the Florida woman with the Ruger. That is good for a minimum of five years here in the Great Garden State.
Alfa75 said:
Might be fun to run up to the little Hitler yelling freeze and say "eh, what are you saying? I can't quite hear you...."
or "no entiendo.."
Exactly. What if you're deaf? Who is coming up with this nonsense?
There's an argument to be made that security measures should be unpredictable. The genius of TSA is their ability to do this through cost savings in management and training. I'd bet on their survival.
It might NOT be fun if they decide to detain you.Alfa75 said:
Might be fun to run up to the little Hitler yelling freeze and say "eh, what are you saying? I can't quite hear you...."
or "no entiendo.."
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About the TSA in general... I used to work at Pathmark. I still remember the month when they lost half their front end (cashiers) because TSA was hiring. Instead of using highly trained employees who look for suspicious behavior, they go for cheap employees and depend on expensive technology to do the job instead.