security
TSA Checked Baggage Theft Prevention & Reality
A seemingly consistent stream of headlines catches travelers’ attention regarding Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Transportation Security Officers (TSO) being arrested for theft from checked baggage.  While statistically very few thefts occur, the ones that do and get those who get caught make headlines. Since the TSA moved to 100% screening of checked baggage the…
Can The TSA Use Air Marshals In VIPR Teams? Not Really
As the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) continues to expand the deployment of its Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) Teams, it is also increasingly mentioning Federal Air Marshals (FAM) as part of the agency’s ground based, non-airport focused, and security operation. Looking past the legally questionable aspects of the TSA’s deployment of VIPR Teams,…
10 Years Ago Today Airline Travelers Lost Their Shoes
Over the past ten years the changes in commercial air travel have been extensive, airlines have disappeared, mainline flights have been down gauged to regional jets, airline meals are hard to come by … and of course airport security has become an irritating process, with one of the top complaints being the forced removal of…
Congress Focuses On TSA Uniforms Rather Than Real Issues
Recently Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced House Resolution 3608, the Stop TSA’s Reach In Policy Act … also known as the STRIP Act, which would “strip” Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Transportation Security Officers (TSO) of their “police like” badges and “law enforcement” uniforms. Before we can go forward in discussing Rep. Blackburn’s STRIP Act,…
The TSA Turns 10 Today – A Look Back At Day One
On the 19th of November 2001 Public Law 107-71 (PL 107-71), the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA), was enacted any the 107th Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush. With the flick of George W. Bush’s pen, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created and airport security through the United States…
DHS Lawyer : Travelers Need Not Submit To TSA VIPR Teams
A few days ago I wrote about the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) teams, addressing the effectiveness and legal questionability of the TSA VIPR Program, in this post TSA VIPR Teams – Increase A Legally Questionable Failing Program. This morning I received an email from a Department of Homeland…
The TSA Needs To Focus On Security Not Popularity … it has none
Yesterday Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced that children, 12 and younger, would no longer be required to remove their shoes at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security checkpoints and be able to have their hands swabbed for explosives rather than be subject to a pat down. The TSA’s move to allow children to…
Reader Mail : Is There A Better Way To Get My Stuff Through Security?
Getting from the ‘land side’ to the ‘air side’ of an airport security checkpoint can be frustrating, especially for infrequent flyers. Airport security checkpoints in the US and around the world may have different designs, but the process of getting through a checkpoint with your belonging is always the same. This reader mail comes…
Airport Security Is No Laughing Matter…Except When It Is
Anyone who flies with any frequency knows the drill at the airport, shoes off, jacket off, 3-1-1 bag out, laptop out, leave your knives in your checked bag and make sure your H&K MP5 is packed in a secured case and is declared with the airline. All the fun of the airport screening process…
