More TSA Stupidity

[emshighway]

Everyone loves to shake their fists on government bureaucracy. EMS highway…. It is easy to go after the TSA as there are so many people do not want their doctors to touch them. People do not want rads and do not want to be touched. Uninformed people take this and it will multiply the stress they are already going thru just to get on the plane itself. I for the life of me can not figure why you admit working for the TSA as no matter what happens, you are always on the loosing side of the argument….Even thou you are always correct in my eyes. You have Changed my view of your agency, sure there are lots of pimple faced little bastards that can not make a good decision to save their life that you have working for you that can bring the TSA in a bad light….but being a “Government Bureaucracy” that nobody really wants, you will always loose these battles….. UNTIL THE NEXT AVIATION ATTACK.


Sorry for posting what you have known all along, Thank you for your posts as it made a difference to me, but why do you bang you head at every post when it does not do much more than boil your blood? Just curious….and I owe you a round in respect SIR!

I relay the information here for people like you, Phil, Matt and many others here who have an interest in aviation or are in the business. I think you need to know why things are going on and what are both sides of the story so you can make your own decisions.

Are there TSOs who don't have the customer service skills? Sure, that's everywhere. There is training but all the training in the world isn't going to change everyone. There are also some very great front line people who work very hard and when people call them names then yes my blood boils. They are just doing their jobs. They are not the ones making the policies but are the targets.
I don't mind answering serious questions but I've been doing this for a while so I know a baited question.

[JetBlueAirwaysFan]

Body Scanners are not inappropriate as long as no one else can see the images. They are deleted immediately after screening and nothing is detected. The pat downs or "feel ups" as it seems are inappropriate. We have NEVER been this invested in aviation security EVER. If we want to be searched like that in private, TSA should be required to honor it. Take this article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40291856/ns/travel-news
He asked to be searched in private and the TSA rolled their eyes then proceeded to try to talk him out of it. There shouldn't be any eye rolling or trying to change someone's mind. We do have that right still, don't we? He was not objecting to the search but just simply to be searched out of the public eye.

[emshighway]

Body Scanners are not inappropriate as long as no one else can see the images. They are deleted immediately after screening and nothing is detected. The pat downs or "feel ups" as it seems are inappropriate. We have NEVER been this invested in aviation security EVER. If we want to be searched like that in private, TSA should be required to honor it. Take this article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40291856/ns/travel-news
He asked to be searched in private and the TSA rolled their eyes then proceeded to try to talk him out of it. There shouldn't be any eye rolling or trying to change someone's mind. We do have that right still, don't we? He was not objecting to the search but just simply to be searched out of the public eye.

TSO must offer the passenger the option of private screening. I have spent a lot of time building those glass private screening booths so they better use them at LGA.

[JetBlueAirwaysFan]

Glass?! What's so private about glass? Can't you see right through it?

[emshighway]

Glass?! What's so private about glass? Can't you see right through it?

Of course not. It is smoked glass.

[JetBlueAirwaysFan]

I'm stealing this from Steve from Flyingwithfish.com but it explains the point:

For those unfamiliar with the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution it reads “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

While the new TSA enhanced pat downs may violate the Fourth Amendment on the surface, what most people are not aware of is that the 9th Circuit Court of the United States ruled on the search of passengers in airports back in 1973, which effectively suspends limited aspects of the Fourth Amendment while undergoing airport security screening.

In 1973 the 9th Circuit Court rules on U.S. vs Davis, 482 F.2d 893, 908, there are key pieces of wording that give the TSA its power to search essentially any way they choose to. The key wording in this ruling includes “noting that airport screenings are considered to be administrative searches because they are conducted as part of a general regulatory scheme, where the essential administrative purpose is to prevent the carrying of weapons or explosives aboard aircraft.”

U.S. vs Davis goes onto to state “[an administrative search is allowed if] no more intrusive or intensive than necessary, in light of current technology, to detect weapons or explosives, confined in good faith to that purpose, and passengers may avoid the search by electing not to fly.”

U.S. vs Davis was upheld by the 9th Circuit Court in 1986 in U.S. vs Pulido-Baquerizo, 800 F.2d 899, 901 with this ruling “To judge reasonableness, it is necessary to balance the right to be free of intrusion with society’s interest in safe air travel.”

These 9th Circuit Court ruling laid the path for the creation of Public Law 107-71, the Aviation Transportation and Security Act, which was virtually unopposed by legislators when it was it was signed into law on the 19th of November 2001 by President George W. Bush. This law laid the groundwork for the Transportation Security Administration and the evolution of its current security procedures.

While this is a valid arguement, I am not sure this is the sole justification. Everyone knows that the President of the United States has the power of executive order. An executive order is basically the President passing a law without involving Congress. Of the many executive orders put into place, one allows for the Federal Government to assume control of our nations airports during a crisis. We have been in one since September 11, 2001 and the TSA is the Federal Government's way of taking over the airports.

Like I said before I'm opposed to the pat downs, not necessarily the body scanners since they are pretty anonymous from what I have seen. The TSO who sees the images does not see the person inside if everything checks out. Basically what I am saying is the body scanners are perfectly legal by executive order.