It's a darn shame that tsa screeners were assaulted 34 times last year, according to their own reports, assuming we believe them, but I'll bet you tsa screeners committed far more assaults than that on the job, many against the elderly and children. It's a dirty job, but some individuals employed by tsa make it dirtier than it needs to be.
2
all of these incremental changes and go largely unnoticed... until it's too late. congress is already largely sidelined; the judiciary is for the moment the only branch able to at least slow down the march towards one man rule.
5
The most important protection against a repeat of 9/11 is 150 or more people on every flight who have vivid memories of that horrific attack. TSA, compared to them, is just security theater. There is no evidence that TSA policies are based on statistics. Random pat-downs does nothing. Swiping fingers to test for explosives and finding instead soap and hand lotion perfumes accomplishes nothing. Random searches of passenger checked luggage does nothing. And, why would a would-be terrorist even bother with an airliner hijack again? Wouldn't a completely different means of attack be more likely to catch people off guard?
4
I often wonder if TSA employees are screened at all before being hired - specifically: screened for things like mental illness, anger issues, prior arrests/convictions, whether anyone has a restraining order in force against them, abusive behavior, "God complex" and also for alcoholism.
6
Looks like all those wacky liberals who think they are better than the rest of us have a special place in TSA's files.....
This is the same tyranny that you will find at the RMV, or public transportation, the police, or other agencies intended to serve the public. It is the bureaucratic mind that we the people are subservient, the problem, to be lorded over, not the customer or people they serve.
I am not sure if petty power is wielded by those who otherwise feel powerless where people who like to bully others are attracted to the opportunity to do so (predators always go to where the prey are) or if the jobs transform them into petty tyrants.
It is hard to look back on all the changes, the loss of freedom, the need for "papers" like a seen in Nazi and Soviet era movies, and not conclude that terrorists took a lot more from us than 3000 people and iconic buildings on 9/11/2001. The repercussions where oppressors use security as a ploy to take freedoms continues almost two decades later.
2
Institutionalized xenophobia. Arbitrary judgement of others.
Simply two aspects of T.S.A. policy which highlight the precipitous decline of democracy and civility in Trump's America.
Let us hope that T.S.A. screeners will suffer fewer acts of hostility when civic-minded travellers from abroad give the United States a wide detour during these years of disgrace.
American school children should start a nationwide boycott of the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag in the morning. This would send a potent message to the enemies of democracy who have taken root at all levels of American government.....
4
“T.S.A. has an important job to do, and I want T.S.A. officers to be safe and secure,” Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman, Democrat of New Jersey, said during a House homeland security subcommittee hearing.
Well, Representative Watson Coleman, I disagree. I don't think the TSA has an important job to do - they have a made-up job with no reliably definable boundaries.
And I don't want TSA officers to be any more "safe and secure" than the passengers they routinely disrespect, yell at, talk down to, and grope.
If there is to be a TSA, it should be staffed by intelligent and well-trained people who can keep a lid on their egos and emotions. The TSA, as currently constituted, consists of a huge number of rent-a-mall-cops who really "get off" on being able to order people around. (And a bunch who steal passengers' possessions.)
It's been repeatedly proven that TSA employees are not protecting the average traveler from anything at all; they're just abusing passengers because they can.
In the age of Donald Trump, Abuser in Chief, it should not surprise anyone that the TSA itself now wants to behave like Trump and have a secret "hate list" of people who just somehow ticked off a random TSA agent & will now be punished for doing so, with no recourse. Trump's insanity is becoming just part of the TSA's daily routine - his craziness is now becoming normalized!
This entire idea of a secret watch list is close enough to the secret police in many countries to make my blood boil.
11
With the collapse of the shopping mall retail segment over the past 15 years, the TSA has provided a handy job opportunity for the out-of-work former mall cops. The money and educational requirements are about the same but you're not at an Omaha Cinnabon a la the former Saul Goodman. It's not 'Nam, Smokey. There are rules!!!
6
TSA is an authoritarian menace that does not make us safer: it is security theater designed to humiliate and cow the populace. George Bush dropped the ball on 9/11 and common sense and freedom have been in retreat ever since.
Why isn't there better oversight of TSA's abuses? I don't know anyone who hasn't had a poor interaction with these minimum-wage workers who have virtually limitless power.
47
I am in pre-check. I generally don't get too angry at the TSA. The private company Wackenhut destroyed some statuary on a return flight from Thailand Pre-9/11. The only part that irritates me is the sergeant at arms yelling the obvious information as you are putting your things into the bins. It feels like I am in a prison movie and about to be dealt some jail-yard justice. It's like they are going to find some prisoner who has shaved his or her toothbrush into a shiv. That is when my eyes begin to involuntarily roll and I have to bite my tongue. Meanwhile, the people who handle our baggage are not screened. The theatre is fine if they want to make us feel safe, but does it always have to feel like Stallone in Lock-Up?
6
I'm having a hard time understanding how this list makes traveling safer. Will people who are on the list get extra attention during the inspection process? But does that then mean that a "normal" inspection is not really effective?
Isn't this nothing more than another over reaction to a perceived threat that doesn't really exist? Or is this an example of another part of the government's security apparatus run amok and mandating actions simply to prove that it can?
20
The whole TSA was a bad idea. There was nothing wrong with the old private system that a $25 minimum wage would not have solved.
Having government run the security is constitutionally suspect, but there's nothing that says an airline cannot keep their passengers safe.
Abolish the TSA and go back to private services, just without the rock-bottom wages.
12
The headline "Watch List Shields T.S.A. Screeners From Threatening, and Unruly, Travelers" does not seem to capture the essence of the article. How about "Making it Easier to get on a T.S.A. Watchlist"?
The meaning of the Preamble to the Constitution, which is institutionalized in the Bill of Rights, is that the legitimacy of the government is granted by the people. The rules around this watch list express the opposite attitude: that the government determines what people can do in public.
To form a more perfect union, we must treat security as a public service, i.e. something that officers do in order to serve the public. Like the law, regulations that constrain the behavior of people should sanction only those who endanger their fellows or who endanger the personnel who enforce the law and regulations. Regulations should not be written to sanction those who appear as though they might offend, or who offend in a manner that isn't worthy of a response.
5
First the TSA empowered itself to redefine the constitutional right to travel as a privilege, to which they hold exclusive authority to grant or deny. Then it empowered itself to nullify the constitutional right to due process through secret watch lists, to which anyone can be arbitrarily added at the whim of officials, with no way to challenge that determination or even know for certain that one is on the list.
Now they've empowered themselves to demolish the right to free speech with yet another secret watch list, apparently for anyone deemed insufficiently obedient, submissive or supportive of the TSA. (And if "the watch list cannot be used to prevent passengers from boarding flights, nor can it impel extra screening at security checkpoints," what purpose does this list serve? Whoever made that claim is probably lying, the TSA's usual way of dealing with embarrassing revelations.)
There's no evidence to support the TSA's claims that their inept security theatre provides any real protection against terrorist threats. But the TSA has clearly been effective at realizing the longstanding dream of law enforcement and "security" officials, of eliminating "inconvenient" constitutional rights and constraints. They have been even more successful at conditioning Americans, who once took fierce pride in their civil liberties, to unhesitatingly surrender their liberty and privacy at the arbitrary command of uniformed "officers." That might be the TSA's true mission.
49
TSA Screeners are only doing what their SOP states. The rudeness by the flying public is not warranted.
It is a shame that the US since 9/11 has become Security State USA. This new TSA list is just another way to get more compliance/obedience from people who oppose most security measures.
With each passing day, the security state gobbles up a little more of our freedom. I encountered the latest bite, when I visited Arlington Cemetery about a month ago. Visitors are now required to walk through magnetometers and to empty their pockets.
5
The United States is resembling more and more the former Soviet Union in its hostility towards democracy and freedom in general. There are more pleasant countries to visit today.
6
Do micro-aggressors or micro-aggressions count or make this list? Would not want to look at someone wrong or cross eyed.
Or before the TSA has had their coffee. This all smells rotten.
6
I had a problem with TSA only one time, possibly a result of early on having reached the conclusion that TSA agents have a congressionally authorized job to do that puts them at some presumptive risk. Accordingly I have tried to be polite and cooperative even when a request seems abrupt, unreasonable, or intrusive. It seemed more sensible to withhold objections and if, on reflection, they still seemed excessive, to complain through channels established for the purpose; I have not found a need to do so.
The one problem: I inadvertently carried a locking pocket knife to the screening point in my pocket rather than including it in checked baggage as I normally did. I was not happy about that or the fact that my choices were confiscation or packing it for shipment to my home - at my expense. But it clearly was contraband, and my error, and the TSA agent, while firm, was polite about it, so complaint was not in order.
I have less concern about a watch list with names of people who actually have caused problems at the inspection point than the far larger lists that may be based partly or wholly on rumors, stereotypes, or reports from angry or suspicious neighbors.
At least you got the option to have the item mailed to your home; the one time I inadvertently packed something "forbidden" (small scissors with rounded safety edges), the item was confiscated and thrown into a large bin, never to be seen by me again.
I was told the items confiscated would be "destroyed" (ha!) - but my strong suspicion was that some TSA personnel were likely later re-selling these items on eBay.
3
They're making a list
Checking it twice
Finding out
Who's been naughty or nice.
TSA is coming to town.
They know if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake.
Oh! You better watch out, you better not cry
Better not pout, I'm telling you why
TSA is comin' to town
4
Let's admit that the whole TSA process is simply 'airport theater'-done to make the flying public feel safer. They are poorly trained and rarely show any intelligence-it's just not that kind of job.
This additional 'list' is just another example of the idiocy of our current government agencies.
8
It's like that Seinfeld episode where doctors marked Elaine's medical record for bad behavior.
T.S.A. Agents have a tough, boring and important job. Everyone should follow the rules and their instructions - keep the line moving!
But a black list of sorts is ridiculous.
1
Anyone else feeling safer now? Me neither.
5
I would be totally fine with this if there were also a watchlist for abusive TSA employees.
9
The TSA is an abomination that should be shut down. The abuse, the thievery done by this people through the year are monstrous. The longer they continue to stay the more power they will gain. They will become a large snake with a gorge head not easily chopped up. The American people have to wake up, get out of their apathy and work to make sure organizations like this are not build more and more relying on the peoples prejudices and fears of "What if?" a child's game. Please lets grow up and truly understand that this is life. That life happens and death is part of life. More people die of car accidents, murder, heart failure, cancer and so on and no too many people hear about it. More people die in such ways by the tons that terrorist attacks of any kind in our soil. We are such an extremist people. We love the drama that is shown on TV and actually believe the world is built that way. I find it sad that some many generations will be conditioned to be poked, pushed around to the mighty God of Terrorism. A god made of mental mud and fear. It might just get worse, this list is nothing. Bit by bit power is gain and abused ensue. It is psychology 101. If people actually believe it doesn't happen that way, they are blinding themselves not to see what is in front of them. In my experience most people do until it affects them personally. Instead of people caring for each other..people think of themselves as units separated from each other. At the end we all loose.
4
Stories like this are why I fly as seldom as possible.
7
How 'bout we, the Passengers need a protection from TSA incompetence ignorance and complete disregard to the duties of serving public..?
Travelling extensively to ATL, RDU, EWR, PHL etc etc for many years showed only the above mentioned distinct features of that organization even with TSA Pre-Check...
Lines at ATL are enormous... Some days it stretches over an hour... while a lot of expensive machinery installed there is idle and mass of TSA personnel either floating around or massing at some desks and rooms...
When asking a supervisory figure about all that you're getting a cold stare and a cold shoulder advising you get back in line if you want to make it to your plane...
So, it's us the common folk that looks like herd of sheep to the TSA arrogant managers who need protections from another great Gov't program...
Imagine it would be a Gov't funded healthcare and you or your family will need an answer to life or death...
Seems people who are in Gov't employ all learn arrogance first, professionalism & courtesy... optional.
6
I used to fly a lot, less so now. One of the reasons for that is the TSA, and their hamfisted autocratic approach to security and travelers. You put a uniform on someone of (at best) average IQ who barely graduated high school, and suddenly the Barney Fifes are strutting and flouting their position. We've all seen it.
Perhaps it's time the traveling public started a watchlist of overbearing, authoritative, rude, handsy TSA employees, complete with pictures, to be published monthly on web sites and in travel magazines.
I wonder what the agency would do about that.
7
To DD
You would probably catch the interest of Homeland Security and end up on a terrorist watchlist for an indefinite period. The federales now consider the average citizen to be an enemy of the state until ever proven otherwise.
3
Most TSA personnel are polite and efficient , however some are rude and abusive in their behavior towards passengers . Give a petty bureaucrat a little bit of power and these are the ones that will unjustly put someone who may have a problem with instructions such as ( a language problem , misunderstanding instructions , simply asking a question , etc) on this watch list . No this list should not be allowed for this reason . Realize the traveling public can be difficult but like everyone else , TSA agents are not akin to law enforcement , in most cases more like rent-a-cop.
1
My impression of many TSA officers is that amongst this group there are many so called losers and that wearing a badge and a uniform makes up for so much of what isn't right in their own lives. They get to boss everyone around and feel better about themselves, and feel important and powerful, when at work.
I'm especially curious about those uniformed minions who walk up and down the lines of passengers shouting directions about what do do with coats, and carry on luggage. As if anyone can understand them, much less listen to them.
5
This is not about the safety of the flying public, if it ever was. It is about giving tsa agents a weapon so you will do what they say.
4
This clearly is not primarily about safety of the flying public, although not entirely unrelated. On its face it appears to be about safety of TSA personnel and possibly smooth operation of the pre-flight inspection and so the convenience of other passengers. As such, it is not clearly unreasonable.
As a simple matter of fact, the TSA agents have legal authority to require compliance with their lawful instructions.
@Thomas Dial: And how many thousands of times every day does the TSA abuse their "legal authority"?
There is no excuse for their behavior; I consider them to be a form of federally-employed domestic terrorists who routinely threaten the well-being of ordinary citizens who are trying to fly from Point A to Point B.
In the old days the TSA types would have worked the dungeons. It's good to give the sadistic employment. We can filter out the most cruel to be pushed into the new CIA where the torture will not be started again because the torture never stopped.
2
Um, perhaps the quickest way to get through the line is to be polite and follow instructions? That way you will spend a minimum amount of time in a stressful situation...
1
"contact that the agency described as 'offensive and without legal justification' "
How about contact by the agents that is offensive and without legal justification?
4
So what happens to someone who is willing to politely but firmly stand up for their rights when they know what the TSA rules require and permit (and not permit)?
What happens if someone tells a TSA agent to be more careful handling some very expensive or fragile item as it is being placed on the xray bins? (Think expensive and sensitive audio/video/photography gear, some fine china or other fragile item, etc.) Does that result in getting put on this 95 list?
4
"Mr. Wheaton said the new list aims to protect airport security screeners . . . He said screeners were assaulted 34 times last year, up from 26 in 2016."
According to the FAA, 2.6 MILLION people pass through US airports every day. 34 assaults in a year is statistically non-existent. It is impossible to believe this "watch list" is really necessary.
3
@D. Green: Those "assaults" indicate 34 TSA employees who either need to be re-trained or fired.
4
Just out of curiosity, is there a citizens' watchlist of TSA agents who've similarly harassed, berated or endangered airline passengers?
3
Can we also then compile a list of rude, obnoxious TSA screeners who make the process as miserable as possible and set the stage for confrontations?
I believe the screeners are a huge part of the problem, particularly at smaller airports (Hey, Sioux Falls!) where they have little to do. I can cruise through SFO, BOS, LAX with a smile, but the regional airports are hellish.
4
Just great. So a tsa agent having a bad day can cause endless issues for any traveler they want. If they don’t like the language you speak, what you are wearing or the color of your skin, they can say you are uncooperative. If you have a disability that gets you through the line slower they can decide you are problematic.
I have a shoulder impingement that prevents me from reaching my left arm over my head and have to get a pat down rather than go through the scanner. I often get an attitude from the tsa life I am “faking it” and have to wait sometimes long times to get checked. I can get a doctors note but past attempts to show it got me some glares as they did not want to stop and read it. I leave extra time to accommodate it.
I could end up on this list
3
An out of sorts TSA agent can cause an issue for a traveler with or without a list. The overwhelming majority of them do not and will not, especially in the case of passengers who don't make waves.
Two observations and a summary:
a) The security check points--crowded with dozens of confused people removing shoes and belts and trying to keep an eye on their belongings--makes a perfect target for those who would created mayhem with a bomb. The crowd makes a perfect target for those looking for a target. Who needs to take down a plane when a confused crowd is available?
b) The TSA functionaries have my sympathy. I can think of few jobs that appear less appealing than working at such a disgusting place and with a humiliated population day-after-day, week-after-week. The wonder is that more TSA workers haven't gone postal. Could we really expect these underpaid and mistreated workers to be prepared to treat the public with patience and kindness when they are under paid and ill treated themselves?
Summary: Our politicians have created a farcical situation that was bound to be horrid and does not really make us safe, and we are complicit because we have continued to vote for the political class that created the situation. We are not a free society, and we allow this.
3
The TSA has a lot to learn from Japan, Singapore and Canada.
In Japan, if you forgot about a small item you packed in hand luggage, they take it away, put it in an envelope, write your name on the envelope, place the envelope in a basket, and return the envelope to you when you disembark.
In Singapore, the bottleneck between check in and the airside is completely avoided. You check in with your documents. You show your documents at the airside gate where there hardly ever seems to be a line, you are free to go shopping or swimming ( there’s a pool) or watch a movie or go to a garden...or... and when you finally decide to go to your gate, you hand your documents over for the 3rd check, you place your things on the conveyor belt for screening,
you hand your documents over to the next desk for a 4th screening,
you take a seat, you’re called to board, you hand your documents over for a 5th screening.... and no one gets grumpty the entire time.
At no time are the passengers treated like cattle. The experience is uncrowded, unhurried and respectful at each point of contact.
In Canada, if you pack something accidently that is prohibited in the cabin, you are directed to a small station with mailing envelopes, and you can mail it to someone in Canada.
The system’s design completely influences the experience you get.
6
The TSA needs to be on our watch list.
4
Have you no decency TSA? Free speech is, again, taking a serious hit in this country. Maybe we should abolish it all together. The criteria for being considered ‘watch worthy’ is intentionally vague and arbitrary. Much like the latitude whites get when mouthing off to police during traffic stops in deference to nonwhites getting arrested or killed. Interestingly, a large percentage of TSA screeners are African American which suggests a possibility of a reverse racial arbitrary response? What is not stated here are the criteria by which TSA screener behavior should be judged. Conflict is often a bilateral accomplishment. When screeners are brusque or unreasonable are travelers similarly advised to report them? Are travelers even told they have been blacklisted? Having no recourse is quite frankly, Un-American. Or, is it?
27
As a TSA Screener myself, I treat every passenger as I would want to be treated. But saying that, I recently have been cursed out and threatened by passengers who were late coming thru Security, and didn't like that fact their oversized liquid was being taken from them even though I gave them the option to go back to their airline and recheck their bag. Good passengers outnumber the hostile ones 10 to 1, in my recent experience, the good passengers were telling me to ignore the hostile one, "don't let'em get to you" is what I heard. That and that alone is what keeps me doing this job for the past 15 years.
4
I'm not a constitutional lawyer, but this is a federal agency, and the Constitution does require due process be afforded.
7
I was behind a very elderly woman from Tonga or Fiji in a wheelchair traveling alone, pushed through the TSA line in Honolulu, by an airport passenger services person. TSA staff stopped her and spent a full 30 minutes focusing on her small carry on bag, without offering to keep the line moving.
They found a tiny tiny ceremonial pen knife in a gift box from the weekend’s pacific islander cultural festival and they took it away from
her. Had the screening occured in Japan, she would have been able to collect her little gift when her flight landed. The rest of us could have missed our flights.
10
Now one's deportment at airline check-in through security scanners will be subjectively determined by non-college, educated individuals making around $ 13.00 per hour.
Wonder how long it will take for this one to get into the Federal Court system?
9
What does a college education have to do with anything?
I don't agree with the policy but people who look down on these agents as you do are more likely to get on this silly list.
2
You choose to fly... then you agree to the anal probes, spying and whatever else the TSA wants to do to you. I feel NO sympathy!
If you want this to stop... then DON'T FLY! If enough people did this, the airlines would bankrupt practically overnight. Only then you could tell the airlines to dump the TSA.
3
Funny enough, as TSA is a government agency - they will sit around picking their noses all day if there are no fliers, but they will not be put out of business even if airlines are bankrupt.
Besides, unfortunately, not flying is NOT an option for those of us with aging parents or other loved ones that live on the opposite coast, overseas or otherwise too far to drive.
2
People don’t just ‘choose’ to fly. Many fly because their jobs require it and for others, flying is the only option - can’t necessarily take a bus from NY to CA to see dying mom, for example. Plus, we PAY dearly to fly - it should be an decent experience.
This all or nothing approach to ‘solutions’ (well it’s your fault, you fly, don’t fly, etc,) is simplistic and doesn’t solve a thing.
4
I’m a woman and have slapped away TSAs hand when they do a pat down and go to feel up my crotch area. It’s a natural response on my part as I don’t allow anyone’s hands down there unless they have my explicit permission.
I guess I’ll be put on the list next time.
8
Nope, you're already on the list. Sorry.
In my experience, 90% of the TSA screeners are curteous and helpful making the security theater more tolerable. 7% on average are grumpy and 3% are outright nasty. Those 3% are probably on the job so they can stroke their own ego and I would wager that those are disproportionally the ones that put people on watch lists to satisfy their own weak character.
This is a dangerous trend towards totalitarianism. If such lists exist then there MUST be a way to challenge them through a legal hearing in front of a public jury. That should not be too hard, because there are surveillance cameras at all TSA screening posts. If someone was included without reasonable cause they must be compensated for any costs incurred. That will very quickly establish which screeners are abusing their power and which ones make good judgments.
Either way, there is no way this can be held up without providing the citizens with due process.
Then again, with us becoming more of a banana republic with each passing day, it may not change as long as our chief banana is sitting in the White House.
10
Unfortunately, this list of 50 will be primarily of passengers with mental health issues who simply get anxious in unfamiliar surroundings and sensory overload. Airport announcements are so loud and frequent, there are tons of TVs and many TSA employees yell all the time at the queue of waiting passengers. These poor people will then get treated like criminals, and an already tense situation will escalate into guns drawn.
7
I wish the NYT would write about the new, private plane terminal at LAX and contrast the experience of flying out of there with what we the regular schlubs must endure.
I for one hate being barked at loudly by TSA agents. Is this necessary? The rude American is in full display here. We are so uncivilized. McTSA jobs are for those who have no options in their lives. Flying is miserable today.
9
That's also why I avoid US airlines like the plague. The horrendous service and surliness of personnel are part and parcel of the Ugly American Experience travellers have to endure from terminal to terminal. Just another sign of the Sovietization of American life.
2
"1984" comes to 2018
4
The TSA - one more reason not to fly.
8
The function of the TSA is to keep us afraid and submissive.
12
Does anyone remember the movie line: "Your actions are noticed, Zhivago." That's the kind of list that TSA is compiling. Those responsible for making such a list and maintaining it need to be fired immediately. This isn't about preserving national security, it's about a nascent police state rising to assert its right to probe your body at will.
11
If our country put 10% of the money and effort into preventing drunk and gadget-diverted drivers as we do into (often alleged) airport security, we'd actually save more lives every year than were killed on 9/11. That doesn't mean we should abandon airport security, merely that we need to keep some perspective and sense of proportion.
In addition, we need to truly support long-distance trains, which serve and connect flyover America. My fantasy is that a law is passed requiring every member of Congress to take the train at least once each year to and from his or her district. Things would then be taken care of real fast. In the real world, however, Amtrak needs a train person as its head, not Richard Anderson, whose "qualifications" for the job consisted of being an airline C.E.O.
6
How about a list of TSA personnel who are rude, authoritarian, and/or just incompetent. You'll need a few gigabytes of storage.
14
So now the TSA is going to protect us from RUDE and UNRULY people as well as terrorists?
Hmm. Got a list for kids whose parents don't bother to domesticate them? Otherwise...
1
I am afraid to read the article for fear that my internet provider forwarding my name to the TSA as someone showing an interest in airline security articles.
I am living dangerously posting this here but I keep the backyard gate locked and have a dog.
11
Might as well unlock your door to avoid the damages of them knocking it down when they come for you....
1
T.S.A. could learn a great deal from the security screening done in Europe.
(1) Focus on hiring more qualified people to assess potential security threats. If we hire smarter, better educated staff they will be better suited to the security task at hand. The security at Barcelona airport is better because they hire staff that are better trained (and more pleasant as well).
(2) Don't expect technology alone to detect security risks. Well trained staff can add another layer of security beyond the current use of technology.
(3) Barcelona and Amsterdam had shorter and quicker security lines (than in our country) and the staff was talking (and assessing) to me and my children (rather than talking amongst themselves as they so often do at SFO and JFK). When you can get through security in under 15 minutes (and be better screened), passengers feel better about the whole experience.
(4) Americans need to accept the new security reality as Europeans have for several decades. Complaining without constructive suggestions is unhelpful (yes, I'm looking at your Alex of Tampa).
13
London has some of the rudest security people around...not every country does it right. That TSA is a national disgrace.
2
Government (including TSA) is fast becoming an organization where if you do not salute the father land and show appropriate obsequious behavior, they will put you on a list longer than Nixon's enemies list merely on a whim with no probable cause.
21
I'm more concerned that TSA may be ineffectual. Terror attack on air travel would be a fast way to destabilize our economy and kill innocent people. I'm relieved there hasn't been another one and hope real security will evolve to the point where it is faster and better..
7
Please relax....
1
I have a hearing disability that certainly isn't obvious to anyone unless they speak to me. A disability that has caused several misunderstandings with TSA agents, and more than one of them was extremely rude as he chastised me for not following instructions. The worst incident was at the Newark airport last year when a zealous TSA agent pulled me out of a departure line and demanded to swab my hands for traces of explosives. He ended up shoving me around because I didn't understand what he wanted from me.
I'll probably end up on that list.
102
That’s outrageous. Shoving you? Did you show any proof if your disability? I hope you complained vociferously. They had no right to touch you.
17
Add me to the list of deafies who the TSA agents treat terribly--yelling at me as if it will help me hear. They seem to get no training in how to communicate--and usually can't find a piece of paper and pen to write with--. Once when the TSA agent was yelling at me to turn around my wife said to the agent "he's deaf he can't hear you" and the agent yelled at her to keep out of it. Brilliant.
Next worse group at the Passport Control officers, who are equally clueless.
32
That is why deafness is called the invisible handicap. There is no way to prove you are deaf or hearing impaired. What could you do? Show an audio gram test result?? Just hand them a note saying you are deaf and need everything in writing or if applicable a sign language interpreter. Or
Smart phones have speech recognition and can create text of what is said by the TSA.
8
Security theater indeed. My carry-ons have been randomly tested for gunshot residue in Cody, Wyoming, me a small, 60 something female traveler in an environment where many a cowboy and rancher would innocently have had gunshot residue on their hands, but no, they weren't tested.
I've been patted down head to toe when the hands-in-the-air screening machine revealed a Kleenex in one pocket.
After being shouted incoherent instructions by many a TSA bouncer as the snaking lines progressed towards the conveyor belts, having shuffled my stuff into and out of the those plastic trays, having done the wrong thing out of confusion too many times, I signed up for Global Entry to get automatic TSA Pre-Check and to be able to breeze through the shorter, kinder lines.
But in my hometown, appointments were six months out and there were no e-mail reminders to prompt one of the long distance, easily forgotten appointment. When we showed up at our time, scheduled to the second, a lone guy was sitting idly in a booth waiting to photo us and take the biometric stuff. He'd been idle for hours because so many folks had forgotten their appointments. Ours took five minutes, in the meantime, he would have turned away anyone who showed up unscheduled.
He was nice enough, but good grief, what inefficiency. A self-important system in dire need of a kind-hearted philosopher of human nature to de-kink it. If you didn't hate the government before dealing with the TSA, you sure do now!
29
Sorry to say, but Global Entry and TSA Pre-check will not stop you from being screened, including enhanced screening. US airlines "randomly" (computer generated?) assign flyers the enhanced screening designation on their ticket. This means even with Global Entry and TSA Pre-check, you can be pulled aside. Your bag opened and searched, and you will be frisked. This even after the background check (that is what takes a few months), finger printing and face recognition done in order to obtain Global Entry. Global Entry is a great program and we use it, but it does preclude enhanced screening. Odd, given that the airline knows you have Global Entry when they "randomly" assign enhanced screening. NOT sure how that makes anyone safer...
1
I got the GE card yet the airports often shut down their pre-check line. I was handed a card to show the conveyer agents so they would let me keep my shoes on but they neglected to tell us that all our computers needed to to be unpacked.The line got backed up as we all had to go around again. It was easily fixible if they had just trained the cheerful ninny who handed out the cards that we had to unpack everything. You can query when the precheck lines close and open here: https://www.tsa.gov/precheck/schedule
Pre-check is not reliably worth the paper it's printed on.
We are every day more like Russia and China.
Trump 2020: Make America Pathetic Again
14
The TSA as pathetic and inefficient long before Trump came into office.
2
I have long followed a travel tip that recommended not releasing your personal items to go through the screening machine until the person ahead of you has cleared the metal detector. It is aimed at preventing your personal items from getting stolen on the other side if you get stuck waiting for your turn for the metal detector, now body scanner today.
One recent trip started with the TSA agent barking at the crowd of people like they were cattle and said, "I like my lines to move fast." My prevention ploy put a bit of a kink in that. There were two people ahead of me for the body scanner so I waited before I slid my bin into the screener. He started barking at me to get in line and I told him I would when the people ahead of me got cleared.
Well, that set him off telling the people behind me to go around me. As he said that the scanning line dropped to just one person so I calculated that I would likely get through the scanner before my bin and released it to the screening machine.
Need I even mention the irony on another trip when my few ounces of water in a bottle wouldn't be allowed even as whole cases of bottled water were being screened at the adjoining check point? Yes, I did point that out to the TSA agent. So, I guess that two marks against me?
16
TSA is the 'black hole' of travel. With airports comes the absurdities of massive number people snaking their way to get zapped - indignities of getting undressed - perhaps an Agent randomnly decides more clothes need to come off - all this during shrieking commands among the sad din of the 'security area'.
And it's the least predictable phase of timing your trip - since lines are long & most airports like to use their own personal spin to the process.
My personal favorite is when pulled from line to check if my hands were touching 'explosives' before coming to airport.
Really ... there's no way to ID [profile] citizens as travelers not terrorists?
8
I have resisted believing in "Big Brother" but now I am reconsidering.
anybody on that list should be given due process rights to challenge the classification.
You can legally swear at a police officer but do not date to look crosswords at a TSA agent.
9
Just another reason to avoid air travel whenever possible. What a horror it has become...
13
I recently proposed to my fiancee. We traveled to the Caribbean where I surprised her on Valentine's Day.
I was concerned about how I would transport her engagement ring on our trip and even discussed it with my co-workers before hand. The final decision was to bring a backpack as carry on. Inside the backpack I had a bag from the jeweler and inside the bag was the box which contained her engagement ring.
I placed the backpack on the X-ray ramp and when walking through the X-Ray machine the machine sounded. I was asked to walk through again and everything was fine. When I arrived on the other side of the X-Ray machine I found the TSA agent elbow deep in my previously zippered backpack. When she saw me, she snatched her hand from my bag and let it go. Luckily, the ring was right where I had left it. In order to not spoil the surprise with my fiancee, I did not raise the issue to the other agents. I did however report the incident on the TSA website. I received no correspondence back from the TSA.
TSA agents are not highly skilled, highly trained or paid well. There is no requirement or qualification to become a TSA agent other than to have a high school diploma and be eighteen years of age.
Would you find it acceptable that the agent who was elbow deep in my backpack searching for my fiancee's engagement ring has placed you on a "watch list"?
23
I used to fly a ton. Not so much anymore, but when I do I am always baffled by TSA.
It is already Kafka-esque, any more secret judgements and we might as well give up.
Some of the agents simply could not be more cheerful, pleasant, and clearly looking to brighten people days, others...not so much shall we say. And safe to say all of these folks are mirroring their personal life behavior.
Then there are the ones who are simply flat out obnoxious and rude.
LAX has a hefty police force, but also a uniformed parking and monitoring staff to keep the double deck 'Horseshoe' flowing. Talk about rude and on a power trip.
It does seem that those with higher levels of training do better, but I have seen cops be quite rude too.
Welcome to the genetic and cultural lottery of humanity, and its spectrum of human behavior.
When I do fly, I steel myself and put on a smile no matter what and make sure I am pleasant and do everything I can to improve the dynamic.
4
As an American citizen you should never have to grovel to ANY government worker.
2
Profiling is inevitable: racial, ethnic, 'nationality', religious clothing, all of it. No crimes will be prevented, but more people will hate the United States government.
1
I am an American citizen, with an American passport. My American mother happened to be living in another country when I was born, and my birthplace is noted on my passport. Entering a security check point on my way to the departure gate a TSA agent examining my passport and made an unnecessary comment about my place of birth. I interpreted it as slightly hostile and meant to intimidate. I responded "Is that a problem?" Am I on the list????
5
You are now.
2
When I prepare to board a flight, I consciously revert to a more submissive mode of thought and behavior. It's obvious (look around, people) that those questioning us and inspecting us and our belongings are almost always unfit, not well educated, physically tired and challenged to deal with the public. None of that is an excuse for us treating these personnel with disdain or worse. (I challenge any of us to work in that capacity for 3 months and not end up cranky and on a junk food binge.)
Shootout to the TSA agent who (last year), when removing my razor from my carry-on bag, calmly asked me how I expected to board with a dual-edged razor blade in my bag. My egregious mistake for rushing my packing and not factoring in my new shaving regimen. This agent calmly explained my options: (a) Toss the razor in the trash, then and there, a No Go, since this is a $200 razor, or (b) Repacking my bag and accepting an escort out of the immediate area. I chose option b (and always check that bag, now.)
I advocate for instituting mandatory government service for American citizens upon completing high school or reaching the age of 18 and including TSA Service as one of the service options available.
2
"asked how I expected" -- problem right there. TSA employees should be required to follow a script-- "I'm sorry, you can't carry that on." Repeat after me, "I'm sorry, you can't carry that on." (No matter what the passenger looks like.)
Coming back to the U.S. from Scotland last fall, my husband forgot a large tube of toothpaste in a bag he was carrying. He left it behind, but the exchange was the most polite you can imagine. Unfortunately, security in the U.S. is confused with bullying and hostility.
3
The TSA is the problem. A small army of people who would otherwise be flipping burgers are given uniforms and broad authority. A woman I know was propositioned by a TSA agent after she went through the body scan. She did not complain because of the likelihood she would be singled out in the future or put on some list.
16
TSA keeping us safe, they deserve respect and safety themselves
1
A secret list is scary; it is probably much easier to get on the list than to get off. Most of us need to travel by air to live our lives. Restrictions on air travel would be a very big deal.
But the TSA is between a rock and a hard place. They must keep air travel safe. The Pew research Center is widely respected. They have done surveys across the world, which reveal that over 10% of the world’s Muslims believe that suicide bombing is often or sometimes justified. Though 10% is a minority, it’s still significant. To find the surveys, Google “Pew Muslim Survey”. I’m referencing this statistic not to seem bigoted, but it’s part of what TSA has to deal with.
As the article notes, TSA may not, should not and hopefully does not profile. So, they have to cast a wide net. Realistically, what are they to do to carry out their mission? A “secret” list, that’s easy to get on and hard to get off, is probably the wrong approach. But TSA’s job is not an easy one.
2
When the TSA is tested by the government, almost all of the weapons get through. So what is it they are doing exactly? Screening for water and mouth wash or toothpaste only? BTW, there should be a liquid disposal basin or sink nearby the lines for passengers, as they have in many other countries.
10
Every time I’ve flown there are large trash barrels both at the beginning of the TSA line and at just before you get to the screening area. So it’s easy to toss forbidden items before you actually go through security.
The fact that we continue to have a TSA is proof positive that a lot of folks in this country are sheep. If anyone thinks their nonsense keeps anyone "safer", let's just say I have that Bridge in Brooklyn going cheap. Also, the bit with the "liquids" is a bad joke. The only reason you can't have your own water,etc is because the airports want people to keep having people spend outrageous amounts of money. I would love nothing better than to never fly again, but have limited vacation time to reach my family who live 1300 miles away. Sad that we don't have a decent train system.
6
T.S.A. had a budget of $7.2 Billion last year and employs over 42.000 Security Officers or screeners.
Now they have additional resources and a top secret watch lists, hoping to recognize these 50 individuals who just 'might' not be not-100%-cooperative with the groping and overzealous security.
If you as a security organization can't handle these 50 individuals because they hurt you feelings then maybe you shouldn't have chosen the security business.
4
How about a watchlist to protect passengers from unruly TSA agents?
11
Even better, TSA "agents" cannot accept your Global Pass/SENTRI ID for screening without first the airline employee at ticketing verifying that ID and putting the Pre-Check authorization on your boarding pass. In other words, people with no training in ID fraud are the ones who verify your Global Pass/SENTRI ID is legit, not the TSA "agent." The agent only checks that the name on your ID and boarding pass match and you look vaguely like the picture. All you have to do is use a fraudulent Global Pass/SENTRI at ticketing to get in the Pre-Check line, and then a state drivers license that's easier to get fraudulently when in the TSA "security" line. And voila, an unknown person who really is a security risk gets through, while grandma with the hip replacement in a wheelchair is treated like a criminal in the regular line. When I notified my congressman who is on one of the committees with oversight of TSA of this pathway to allow someone with bad intentions to go through lighter security screening, I merely got a form letter response. The day has come where I am not afraid of potential terrorism, instead I am afraid of my own government. Since I contacted my congressman with my real name, I bet I'm on this new KGB-esque list myself.
5
We could do away with all the security and the bloated staffing the Thousands Standing Around agency.
The TSA has never been about real security which could be done more effectively and for fewer dollars. It's theater designed for feeling safe- not real safety.
11
So what this means is that TSA can place you on the list indiscriminately if they don’t like something about you, regardless that you’ve done nothing wrong but just may not be in a good mood. That is Waayyyyy too much power. How does this square with those of us with enhanced drivers licenses and TSA pre-check clearance? And how does having a bad day equate to being a physical threat to TSA agents?
51
"And how does having a bad day equate to being a physical threat to TSA agents?"
Because low-education, low-self esteem people are easily "hurt" by the mere presence of contributing citizens,
7
Of course. TSA has been consolidating their power base since day 1. Once you take a good look at the hostile and abusive demographic they hire, it makes the situation even worse.
6
Not sure if your comment is an agreement or disagreement with mine - from the context, I have to assume that you disagree. If so, do
you consider all passengers ‘low-informed, low self-esteem’ individuals? My point is that the practice of putting people on watch lists who haven’t broken any law ir presented a danger is arbitrary, and therefore, dangerous and abusive. If a passenger is truly unruly, then there are rules for handling that person. But placing law-abiding ordinary citizens on watchlists arbitrarily that are shared with law enforcement, simply because someone is not feeling well or is disgruntled, which is not a crime, is an abuse of our civil rights as US citizens. And again, responsible citizens, myself included, do take precautions with the pre-check and enhanced drivers license options so how is that reconciled? The article makes it sound like someone could end up on a list for what could be considered an ‘infraction’, for lack of a better term.
3
This will accomplish nothing useful. I'm not surprised that an organization more concerned with the appearance of security than actual security would waste time and money on vindictive lists rather than teaching its employees how to speak to the public.
4
My son and family are moving within comfortable driving distance next month. I am really tired of the TSA and their useless security theater. My flying days may well be pretty much over.
3
Theatre, theatre, theatre. It's probably one of the most boring jobs in the world, and in the name of "safety for the traveling public" TSA ramps up the theatrics on a regular basis. I passed through the detector without incident that other day and then was pulled aside for the "strip search" machine (which I declined). If theatre is what they want, make them work for it. The guy who patted me down was literally shaking during the process. It yielded no more information than was available when I passed through the metal detector. But, it did help keep one more TSA guy employed in a boost to the economy. To date I have never submitted to the "strip search machine," nor will I.
4
Has no one who is commenting here yet learned that it's never a good idea to be rude to anyone, and especially not to those who hold power over one. Choose ones battles! And a battle with a TSA agent is at high risk of one becoming the loser.
I don't fly that often but when I do, I am always challenged about my jewelry and asked to take it off and put it in a tub. I always tell them it will not cause the machines to go off as it's gold - real gold. I've learned to just take it off before I get to security and put it in my handbag or carryon for safe keeping and to avoid an argument. Not really very hard, is it.
14
...and I've had a very nice sterling bracelet, purchase at Neiman's and no longer carried, and a favorite of mine, stolen from one of those tubs at SFO.
15
It is not about being rude to anyone - it is about whether TSA agents should have THAT much power over travelers to begin with. How does putting someone on a watch list because they didn't hear or understand the TSA agent or because they're rushed for reasons beyond their control make flying safer for everyone else?
15
Not hard, but certainly unnecessary. If you start caving in to little bits and pieces of your liberty being taken away without cause you are paving the road to the democratic republic becoming a dictatorship. Freedom isn't free, as the saying goes. Sometimes you have to make a stand, however inconvenient it may be in the moment. There are larger moments to consider
15
A few months ago I insisted upon facing backwards in the full body scanner because I wanted to see the exit to the X-ray with my bags (TSA screeners have higher crime rates than the general US population).
I asked politely, was told no, asked again, was told no, then conceded.
Will I be on this list?
22
we can avoid this joke of a security by doing a check of person before flight and then screening the 1% that are flagged. there I said it "profiling".
4
OR, the TSA staff can do their jobs courteously, with respect as most do.
But at pretty much EVERY TSA airport security checkpoint I've endured, there's always been one joker with a real authority complex that never should have been hired.
39
There are approximately 800 million passengers in the United States annually, and 34 passengers were involved in incidents in which the TSA alleges its employees were assaulted. So the TSA has implemented a list with highly subjective criteria and an unspecified use. Funny how when a law enforcement group like the NYPD has dozens of officers out of 36,000 who demonstrably violate people's civil rights, it's brushed off as just a few bad apples, that requires no further measures for ensuring accountability among law enforcement persons.
22
Perhaps if TSA staff behaved with more civility there would be less push-back?
Just a thought.
58
Talk about over reach and giving fools with little or no education a chance to seek revenge on others. It is time for TSA to go. They were never of any use in the first place. A great source of employment for many. A waste of tax dollars for certain.
27
Secret lists of American citizens is never ok.
68
Let's dismantle TSA and start over. They've been incompetent and unnecessary from the start.
27
So the TSA has a list of unruly passengers. When do the passengers get a list of TSA agents who misbehave? I hardly ever fly, but on two of my recent flights I felt I was mistreated by TSA personnel. In one case, I was forced to throw a perfectly good water bottle away because it contained 2 oz. of water (no, I can't just drink it, he said!). In the other case, it appeared something was stolen from my bag during screening. It was not valuable, but it was annoying. Where is the accountability? How do I report this sort of behavior? Many services in modern life are now followed up with an invitation to complete a survey. Where is my survey? TSA personnel have tremendous power. Too often they seem to abuse it. Who is holding them accountable?
62
I had a case of silver jewelry stolen from my (TSA approved) locked bag in Philadelphia when my luggage was "misdirected". When I got the bag back, two days later, not only was the jewelry missing, along with other items, but the bag appeared to have had a couple of quarts of water poured into it. I had books and magazines in the bag and the dye and ink ruined about half of my clothes. Of course when I complained I was treated like I was making it all up and nothing was done. Now when l forced to fly, it's either carry ons only or I ship my luggage to my destination. I don't trust any of them as far as I can throw them. That whole agency should be scrapped and airport and airplane security re-evaluated by somebody with a brain.
19
I'm an American lady of Boomer age. Had my own servcie business for many years, where kindeness and ethics ruled. I travel often with a pleasant smile on my face, even if I am having a bad day. 90% of the time I get pulled aside and patted down. It gets old...
26
Start by taking away TSA police/military style uniforms and badges. Dress them in civilian clothes as in many European countries. Blazers, etc.
73
They deliberately added the badges and more police like uniforms years ago precisely in order to intimidate the public into greater compliance.
13
Excellent suggestion. I flew home to IAD from Rome Fiumicino. Italy has a lot more reason to be actively suspicious of every traveler, IMO, than has the United States. The system seemed convoluted, but only because this was the first time I experienced it.
When I got thru passport control and was ready for the body scan, I automatically removed my MedicAlert charm (on a chain, because even though it’s sterling silver, it set off the US machines), my watch, my hair clip and put my passport and the “sneak reader proof” case I keep it in (the case set off US TSA on the way out. I started to take off my shoes when one of the screeners, dressed in a blazer, not a LEO-like uniform, came up to me and said it wasn’t necessary.
“OUR machines can tell the difference.”
Preserve me.
1
Good job TSA. I hope your list is comprehensive.
5
Will refusing to go through the x-ray machine (which, if you ask for a pat down instead, they grief you for and, usually, lie about it not being x-rays even though the machines are labeled with a warning about x-rays) land you on this list?
When we get x-rays in a medical setting doctors put a lead pad over our reproductive areas. Not so with the TSA! Consider this in reference to another Times article up right now about fertility rates falling at the highest single year rate since 2010. Perhaps there is a connection.
23
Until I got TSA Pre, I would always refuse going thru the scanner & opted for the patdown instead. After radiation treatment for cancer, I don't need any more. Some patdowns are a bit weird: 1 TSO felt thru my medium length blonde hair ( it isn't always AfricanAmerican women's hair) & also insisted on feeling my heart necklace front & back. Many TSO are embarassed at having to do the patdown; I am not.
4
Big Brother is on his way.
13
We need a public list of unruly TSA workers.
30
Lets see. 34 screeners were assaulted or insulted in the last year. Sounds terrible until one learns that over 250,000 travelers pass through US airports every single day. That is close to 100 million a year. Why is the TSA wasting time and taxpayer money on this stupidity. Instead of this stupidity, the TSA should be singing the praised of the 100 million who politely put up with the hassle of the screening process.
23
TSA officers need to be better screen and vetted. Many I've encountered could not hold a job at McDonalds due to their rude, unprofessional behavior. These are not prison guards, they are paid help.
25
Mall Cops on steroids
13
we have a tool with which to fight this tsa nonsense: money. choose not to fly. if we stay away from airports in droves, the money people will reign-in tsa. if we do not, it will only get worse. your call.
5
So we give up visiting our families, doing business, etc.? How is that actually a realistic solution to the problem?
2
And the alternative to flying long distances - America's great system of high speed trains?
1
Wow. Thirty six, count 'em, 36 negative episodes with TSA screeners in a year. Lesseeeee...........divide that by the number of travelers interacted with..................and we have what? .0000000001%
And how many of those travelers missed flights due to overzealous screening (I have), were told to go through the complete drill after being given the quick check pass (I have) or just generally being treated like dirt knowing you have to keep your mouth shut and just suffer?
I do not envy the TSA workers. I know that their job is unappreciated and boring. Nevertheless, another secret list?
15
You didn’t miss your flight due to overzealous screening. You missed your flight because you failed to allow yourself a reasonable amount of time to get through screening and to your gate. Next time try showing up within the time frame stipulated by your carrier.
Oh please! Even if you give yourself the correct window of time, there is no guarantee about the security lines or screenings. It's just another democrat job program (yeah let's unionize them too) and an incompetent and corrupt force at that. My cute 20 something daughter is pulled out for extra screening every time we fly together. She says it happens every time she flies. They can do that, but can't seem to spot bombs or guns on security tests. Kabuki theater. Close it down.
Thirty six reported. I have a 30ish female acquaintance who dared to flinch the other day when her crotch was grabbed during a routine pat down, so the guy grabbed her crotch again.
Big Brother is expanding its reach again
Next it’ll be Stasi or Securitate on our shores
11
My most recent TSA experience probably wouldn't have gotten me on the list, but it does show their underlying issue with "power corrupting" and certainly how easy it is to exasperate the flying public with the idiocy of it all.
(in TSA Pre-Check line).
TSA to me: You don't have to remove your shoes.
Me (as I kick off my Dansko clogs): I know but they have metal shafts in the sole and will ping on your machine. I don't want additional screening on a known item.
TSA: You don't have to remove your shoes.
Me: I know (as I put them on the conveyor belt).
TSA (grabbing my shoes from the bin): put them back on.
Me: The machine will ping and you'llrequire additional screening if I do.
TSA: Put them on.
Me: fine. (I do and walk through scanner machine).
Scanner Machine: PING!!!!
TSA: please remove your shoes for additional screening and step over here to be checked.
ARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!
101
It's all Security Theater -- in your case, farce.
18
Same thing for me except it is my vest that I use sort of like a purse when I travel. It has 4 pockets where I stash phone, wallet, keys, tissues, sani-wipes, boarding pass. I make a point of making eye-contact and say I have to remove it because it's my purse.
7
In my case, it was a sterling silver MedicAlert bracelet. For background I’m a 68 year old retired federal civil servant, nearly 5’10”, white and female. Those qualifications bear noting: at that time, insists my USMC son, they would pull someone like me for a going over, just to prove they “weren’t profiling.”
The fact that they WERE profiling me likely was too deep for anyone in management to grasp.
Last year at IAD (Dulles International Airport, the Medic Alert bracelet I’m an insulin dependent diabetic,set them off.
I had removed my necklace, my wrist watch, my FitBit, and even my hair clip before I walked thru. I kept “pinging” the machine. I suggested to the screener that maybe it was my clearly visible on my arm (and extraordinarily difficult remove, much less put back on) medical bracelet.
The screener didn’t believe me. Finally, they pulled me aside and physically “hand searched” and wanded me. I wasn’t offered the dignity of privacy for the search, and hand and heart, didn’t bother to even ask, because I figured even then that it would land me on some list.
When they “handed” me hey presto, it was the Medic Alert bracelet.
4
Since 9/11 there have been the creation of at least a dozen "lists". For example, Denied Party Screening. Mere bureaucrats can place you on that list without your knowledge. These lists proliferate and then cross populate. If you find out you're on one of these lists there is no one to appeal to ,practically speaking, you're stuck. And you may never know...…………...
11
Actually you can fly with guns (the detection rate in a recent TSA test was < 5%).
But they're really great at catching you with a bottle of water.
28
You actually don’t know what you’re talking about.
1
Don’t worry, folks! No matter what TSA list you’re on, you can still buy an AR-15! We’re too afraid of you to let you fly but you can have a high powered military rifle.
106
Ha! Good one.
2
Ditto for the Border Patrol.
1
Wait, I thought progressives always trust everyone in government (other than Trump) to always be fair and honest. Isn’t that why only law enforcement should have guns? And prosecutors should never be held responsible for false convictions?
3
One of the problems with hyperpartisanship is that neither side sees where they have common interests and perspectives. One of those is that nobody fully trusts the government. It's no better than the people running it and is largely dependent on if those people are in a good mood and have good intentions.
I think it would be better to say that progressives expect the government to do its job, do it well, and get help accountable when that isn't happening. This is when you start seeing lefties using phrases like "trust but verify". My buddies who are more right leaning have very similar expectations, hence we can all get mad when we see corruption or selective enforcement of laws that are actually fair. We can disagree about specific policies but still be upset when we see TSA staff abusing their power, cops beating people for dodgy reasons, and inappropriate relationships between real estate developers and local politicians.
I think when those of us who aren't blinded by the various "isms" get past our preconceptions of each other we may be able to get some work done.
This demonstrates that you do not know anything about progressives. They're not fond of police states.
1
Good for the TSA. I'm tired of idiots at airports who make spectacles of themselves.
5
This is the same incompetent TSA that does the following: I have metal in my legs, as a TSA pre-approved flier I tell the agent that I need to go through the enhanced x-ray machine. Yet afterwards they invariably still wand me, pat me down, etc. Of what use is that worthless, very expensive machine? The entire TSA process is fraught with too many poorly-trained and aggressive staff, procedures that are hopelessly mis-directed, and expensive equipment that seems to serve little purpose; I will acknowledge there are many agents who do their demanding job well in dealing with a sometimes ignorant public, but the arrogant and aggressive ones will always over-shadow the competent staff.
57
Why aren't perpetrators of assaults against screeners simply arrested?
9
I'm sure they are.
I could easily have seen myself going on that list after a TSA agent at JFK singled out my 8 year-old daughter (white, English-speaking but with a British accent) for detailed, hostile and suspicious questioning on her passport details at 6am in the morning, which made her burst into tears when it was all over.
Well done for thwarting another sleeper, TSA!
71
Be thankful that we are still allowed to wear clothing. VERY thankful.
20
Depends on who else is flying...
1
Always ask for a private screening performed by 2 agents at all times. Generally the agents roll their eyes because its extra work for them, its available for every passenger but you must ask and then persist for a private screening.
21
They'll also make sure that it takes hours to get two agents into the room, and you will absolutely miss your plane.
7
Travel much?
5
Also need to make sure they put on fresh gloves before they touch you. No telling where the gloves they have on have been.
8
Yeah, and they'll be checking these comments too, and adding more names.....
I think the TSA should never have existed at all and should be dismantled.
That ought to get me on the list.
95
The TSA is rationalizing posturing. There is no legitimacy to associate aggressive response to TSA with terrorism or other criminal behavior. Their power relationship to average people is the likely cause of this sort of behavior. We are mammals that like to establish a social hierarchy and if our social groups have strict rules that govern an unequal power relationship, bad things happen as the codes are used to rationalize dominance posturing. The Stanford Prison Test pretty much lays out why organizations like the police, TSA, and even the DMV are likely to create justifications to maintain dominant posture rather than provide the service they’re supposed to perform.
42
Maybe the TSA could stop acting like underworld thugs. Just a thought!
But this is why I have not gotten on a plane in years, and why I will NEVER fly again. I refuse to be treated as a presumed terrorist in my own country.
PS: any commenters who want to reply to me about the importance of safety, and do I want to get blown up, blah, blah - please save your breath. We have security theater, not actual security, IMO.
129
Only two types of people who don't fly: those who don't have/need to, and those who can't afford it.
NO ONE avoids it to "make a point." They do however, SAY THE WILL in order to make a very weak argument.
7
I agree, L, about security theater. Anyone who has gone through security flying out of Israel knows what real security is. And although far more intrusive, I have had no problem with their level of screening.
20
I travel quite a bit, and completely agree with you. Some TSA employees are rude, as well as arrogant. Others yell so loudly one has no idea what they are saying. Often they are chatting among themselves while herding us through the lines. And, of course in the background is the incessant recording advising travelers not to accept packages from strangers. It's often a chaotic experience which is not replicated in other countries where the security teams seem more professional and calm.
103
Does offering a comment that in any manner questions the premise, nature, or operation of this new watch list constitute a "challenge to the safe and effective completion of screening?" Just curious.
34
Me too. Who gets to say how they will decide how to define unruly?
9
I went through security for two flights in early April. One went smoothly, mutually kind/respectful interactions.
On the return trip, one of the agents was rude/sarcastic, "It's not that hard, people" etc.
I replied, "We are doing our best, and there is no need for sarcasm." My general teacher MO.
That's about as unruly as I ever hope to get, but I wonder if I will be stopped next time?
57
And now the tin-pot-Napoleon fascists at the TSA want more power? Put them in rowboats on the Rio Grande and send them into the Gulf of Mexico.
Honestly. Another list?
24
The list itself is not useful. The threat of getting on the list, however, should give travelers increased concern about annoying screeners, including objections to racist behavior, legitimate requests for privacy and other "petty" insistence on our rights.
Ths is yet another power shift toward government officials, another step towards persuading the American people to be docile for the sake of "security."
73
Just wait until they come up with a double super secret watch list.
23
Given the total incompetence of these "screeners" as detailed in numerous Inspector General Reports, this becomes an excuse to place blame elsewhere. I couldn't find those knives and guns because a passenger gave me a dirty look.
34 assaults in a total of 631 MILLION passengers in a year.
It is the actions of TSA and their brain dead bureaucrats that is "offensive without legal justification."
Sorry, I fly about once every other year for vacation, and have never had any interaction with these clowns.
46
34 assaults out of the millions upon millions of people who traveled - and thus were screened by TSA security guards - is a very, very small number and not sufficient justification to create yet another set of secret lists. Were not those people arrested and/or punished? If the list won't keep people from traveling then what is the purpose?
This again demonstrates a bizarre - and dangerous - notion that some seem to have, that we, the people are the ones who must be subservient and kowtow to public employees. No one should be assaulting anyone, screener or passenger, at an airport, but then we have zero obligation to "be nice" to them either; our obligation is to obey the legislated procedures for security screening, however dubious they may be. Given the lack of professionalism often seen from some TSA personnel (and many frequent travelers can relate many tales of rude, condescending and arrogant screeners) it is not unlikely that they will use the list as another means of intimidating the public.
This is also rife for abuse, with wrongful data being shared as if it were factual, with real law enforcement agencies, remembering, that despite the utterly inaccurate "officer" stamped on their badges, TSA screeners are not law enforcement personnel, not trained to or held to that higher standard.
99
Yet there is no option for us, the flying public, to report obnoxious screeners ?
The whole security theater of the TSA needs to be held accountable for their failings (inability to find weapons, making air travel more annoying) or dismantled.
109
Have you ever called a manager? They are there and available.
1
I witnessed the manager mocking a complaining traveller to another agent after the traveller had left. I was considering echoing the same complaint but just quietly went on my way after that.
This security theater charade has gone on long enough. It's time to get rid of the TSA and replace it with real, reasonable, security.
If I go to a federal facility, military base, or other higher-security area, they're not grabbing my crotch and trying to dose my body with x-rays. They're not barking/yelling at me and they're not taking my water. If anything, security officers (often real LEOs) at these locations are dressed professionally in suits or other uniform, are usually soft-spoken, and are highly-trained.
Since it's inception, the TSA has caught exactly 0 terrorists and stopped 0 terrorist plots. Even by their own admission, their screeners are only successful <10% of the time. I don't know what school you're from, but anywhere I've been, below 60% is an F. Below 10% isn't even a consideration.
TSA's agents (they're not law enforcement despite their egos, blue shirts, and tin stars) are often rude and unprofessional. Over 500 TSA agents have been arrested for stealing from passengers.
Now, we find out they have a watch list to be vindictive towards people who find the TSA's behavior unacceptable?
Since the TSA's inception, we've spent $105 BILLION on them. That could have bought a lot of healthcare or other social services, and still could have provided some form of airport security.
9/11 was 17 years ago. Today's high schoolers and college students have no memory of it. It's time to move on.
197
"Since its inception, the TSA has caught exactly 0 terrorists and stopped 0 terrorist plots." I suppose that means all the screening has been pointless and we don't need it.
They're making a list
Checking it twice
Finding out who's been naughty or nice.
TSA is coming to town.
They see you when you are sleeping
They know when you're awake
They know if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake.
Oh! You better watch out,
You better not cry
Better not pout, I'm telling you why
TSA is comin' to town
If our country put 10% of the money and effort into preventing drunk and gadget-diverted drivers as we do into (often alleged) airport security, we'd actually save more lives every year than were killed on 9/11. That doesn't mean we should abandon airport security, merely that we need to keep some perspective and sense of proportion.
In addition, we need to truly support long-distance trains, which serve and connect flyover America. My fantasy is that a law is passed requiring every member of Congress to take the train at least once each year to and from his or her home district. If such occurred, in no time at all our trains would be top notch and reliably connect all parts of our country. In the real world, however, Amtrak needs a train person as its head, not Richard Anderson, whose "qualifications" for the job consist solely of being Delta Airlines C.E.O.
5
There is lots of room for improvement of TSA procedures and personnel.
However, I believe that existence and functioning of TSA is a deterrent to hijackers, so until something better comes along I think we need to keep (and improve) TSA.
As for infringing on Americans' freedoms, I think TSA is within its mission to identify those who lurk, those who act out, those who threaten TSA or other passengers.
Behaving badly with or around TSA personnel is rather like resisting arrest; most people understand that doing so is a dumb idea.
2
Is it possible that rude behavior increases with the wait time? Perhaps the solution would be to better staff the TSA.
43
... and provide better training on customer service standards. TSA agents' behavior is totally hit or miss with no accountibility. They can be helpful and polite, bordering on imperious, to just plain rude. The fact that people push back is entirely understandable. I don't feel any safer and think their screenings are incredibly intrusive and annoying.
72
It's $16.36 to start and no union allowed.
9
You sir, clearly don't know what you’re talking about because TSA does have a union.
This may be another way of profiling with little to no accountability.
26
So I would be put on the list because, after i went through the 'heightened" security check due to my necklace made out of blue glass, seed pearls and wood (none of which exceeded 1/8 inch by 1 inch),
I pulled my arm out of the hand of the TSA guy who grabbed me to pull me out because I was slow leaving the area.
Full disclosure,
I am a 75 year old woman who was recovering from back surgery.
Sounds like I belong on the list!
138
I'm unclear on the purpose of this policy; but of course, it's often not clear why we all do what we do, and certainly government policies often involve mixed or confused motives.
Having said that, if the goal is to deter or reduce this "unruly" situation, couldn't we consider using some sort of positive reinforcement for good behavior, rather than just this sort of withdrawn, distanced, and covert response?
I mean, if you want people to do what you want, sometimes it works to be friendly with them.
37
It's job is to silence critics of government employees who run TSA.
9