TSA Enhanced Pat Downs : The Screeners Point Of View
In the past few weeks since the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) implemented its new “enhanced” pat down procedures there has been considerable backlash from the traveling public. This backlash has been loud and angry … but what is not heard or seen in the media is the quiet resentment of this new policy within the TSA.
A few days ago I contacted 20 TSA Transportation Security Officers (TSO) to ask their opinions of the new “enhanced” pat downs. Of the 20 I reached out to, 17 responded. All 17 who responded are at airports where the new “enhanced” pat down is in place … and the responses were all the same, that front line TSOs do not like the new pat downs and that they do not want to perform them. I expected most to not like the pat downs … but what I didn’t expect was that all 17 mentioned their morale being broken down.
Each of the 17 TSA TSOs that responded to me detailed their personal discomfort in conducting the new pat downs, with more than one stating that it is likely they are more uncomfortable performing the pat down than passengers are receiving them.
Some comments from these TSOs include:
“It is not comfortable to come to work knowing full well that my hands will be feeling another man’s private parts, their butt, their inner thigh. Even worse is having to try and feel inside the flab rolls of obese passengers and we seem to get a lot of obese passengers!”
“Do you think I want to go to work and place my hands between women’s legs and touch their breasts for a few hours? For starters, I am attracted to men, not women and if I was attracted to women, it would not be the large number of passengers I handle daily that have a problem understanding what personal hygiene is.”
“Yesterday a passenger told me to keep my hands off his penis or he’d scream. Is this how a 40 year old man in business attire acts? He’ll scream? My 3 year old can get away with saying he’ll scream, but a 40 something business man? I am a professional doing my job, whether I agree with this current policy or not, I am doing my job. I do not want to be here all day touching penises.”
“Being a TSO means often being verbally abused, you let the comments roll off and check the next person, however when a woman refuses the scanner then comes to me and tells me that she feels like I am molesting her, that is beyond verbal abuse. I asked the woman if she thought I like touching other women all day and she told me that I probably did or I wouldn’t be with the TSA. I just want to tell these people that I feel disgusted feeling other peoples private parts, but I cannot because I am a professional.”
“I was asked by some guy if I got excited touching scrotums at the airport and if it gave me a power thrill. I felt like vomiting when he asked that. This is not a turn on for me to touch me it is in fact a huge turn off. There is a big difference between how I pat passengers down and a molester molesting people.”
Aside from the issue of TSA TSOs being required to physically touch passengers in places they do not want to be touching them during the ‘enhanced’ pat down, morale is decreasing for front line TSOs, due in part to an increase in verbal abuse. Each of the 17 TSOs who responded to me detailed a new level of verbal abuse they are experiencing at work.
The TSA has experienced a high level of turn over since its inception, however its turnover rate has decreased recently. With this decrease in morale, caused directly by a change in TSA policy, it is likely to begin experiencing a higher than average turn over again … which will further decrease the effectiveness of airport security.
Some comments from these 17 TSOs include:
“Molester, pervert, disgusting, an embarrassment, creep. These are all words I have heard today at work describing me, said in my presence as I patted passengers down. These comments are painful and demoralizing, one day is bad enough, but I have to come back tomorrow, the next day and the day after that to keep hearing these comments. If something doesn’t change in the next two weeks I don’t know how much longer I can withstand this taunting. I go home and I cry. I am serving my country, I should not have to go home and cry after a day of honorably serving my country.”
“I come to work to do my job. It is not up to me to decide policy, it is up to me to carry out my duties as dictated by the Transportation Security Administration. When a person stands in front of me and calls me a pervert or accuses me of molesting them it is disheartening. People fail to understand that neither of us are happy about the intrusive pat down I am carrying out. I am polite, I am professional and while someone may not like what I have to carry out, they came to me because they choose not to utilize the alternative and less invasive method of security at my airport.”
“I served a tour in Afghanistan followed by a tour in Iraq. I have been hardened by war and in the past week I am slowly being broken by the constant diatribe of hateful comments being lobbed at me. While many just see a uniform with gloves feeling them for concealed items I am a person, I am a person who has feelings. I am a person who has served this country. I am a person who wants to continue serving his country. The constant run of hateful comments while I perform my job will break me down faster and harder than anything I encountered while in combat in the Army.”
“Do people know what a Nazi is? One can’t describe me as a Nazi because I am following a security procedure of designed to find prohibited items on a passenger’s body. A Nazi is someone with hatred and ignorance in their hearts, a person who carried out actions of execution and extermination of those based on their religion, origins or sexual preferences. I work to make travel safer, even if I do not agree with the current security procedures. Further more, I am Jewish and a TSA Transportation Security Officer, an American Patriot and to call me a Nazi is an offense beyond all other offenses.”
There are multiple sides to every story, and I think the point of view of those on the front lines of the TSA, those required to carry on the policy and procedures created by the TSA, are an import part of this story. I think those organizing efforts to change the TSA’s policy should also consider the impact to the TSA TSOs.
Rather than dehumanize the TSA TSOs, work with them, understand their views and opinions and work together to change the current TSA policies.
Happy Flying!
Work with them? This is their CHOSEN profession … reading those comments about serving their country in the role of a TSO makes me want to puke (the guy who served in Afghanistan excluded). They are a tool and are allowing themselves to be used as one. Don’t like it? Walk out – that will add pressure to the Federal Govt to stop this nonsense. I’m all for that.
And since they seem to be confused – yes they are absolutely molesting the passenger when they put their hands between that passengers legs and on their breasts. The definition of molest is to harass or assault sexually. They are also abusing the passenger as that definition is mistreat: treat badly.
Professionalism doesn’t replace the fact that they are doing something that not even a law enforcement officer is allowed to do, especially without clear suspicion of any unlawful behavior. That they are doing this by rote and because something might be somewhere is just sad, disgusting and goes against every tenet on which this country was built.
Isn’t the real conclusion that the TSA’s process and strategy are misguided and ineffective. Perhaps the TSO’s are just as much victims as are travelers, but that does not mean travelers should not protest when the TSA policies are invasive and misguided – and perhaps TSOs can help to change the system by making their views known.
Thanks for continuing to report all sides of the story. I’m not a big fan of the security theater, but taking it out on the front line officers who have to carry out the policy enacted by someone else who sits in an office all day is like blaming the clerk at the gas station for the price of the gas. Perhaps it’s time to start communicating to the people further up the line of command that we believe that their needs to be security but that we would like it to be reasonable and proactive instead of intrusive and reactive.
TSA agent: “Do people know what a Nazi is?”
German citizen in the early 1940s: “I’m not doing anything terrible. I’m just working at a train station where they’re loading passengers on these trains, bound for who knows where. I don’t hate them. I’m just doing my job. If I don’t do it, I could get in trouble. I have a family to feed. I’m serving my country.”
“I’m just following orders” is not a defense for being complicit in violating the rights of your fellow human beings.
It’s really nice to see this other side of the story. But what really warmed my heart reading this is that 100% of the people you talked to are feeling the heat. That means 100% of their bosses are feeling it, and that the traveling public will eventually get the change they want and deserve. This is too big to stop and the wave is going to crush the TSA.
It is time to stop Security Theater. I have faith in Americans that they will calmly and bravely step up and recover their lost rights.
-jeff
Just because they are “just doing their job” doesn’t mean it is not their fault. I know it is next to impossible to find a new job these days, but I would rather move back in with my parents than have to do a job where I am expected to violate other people.
Jason,
Nazis rounded people up and exterminated them. The TSA, for all its faults, is not killing people nor attempting to commit genocide. The comparison between Nazis and the TSA is a stretch that people make just for shock value.
Happy Flying!
-Fish
Very interesting.
I feel some sympathy for the TSO’s, but ultimately it is their choice to work there. This is not a question of “but someone needs to do it”. This is theatre, pure and simple.
These pat-downs are worse for the women, children, and yes even men who have been victims of sexual abuse.
America, the TSA is violating your civil liberties. Stand up and fight the good fight.
Work with them? Because they’re uncomfortable when they blatantly violate my 4th Amendment rights? Sorry, but no.
“…but I have to come back tomorrow, the next day and the day after that to keep hearing these comments…”
Well, I guess you should have stayed in school.
Oops… I missed this part.
“I am serving my country”
THE PUNCHLINE! HA! Serving your country??? Who do you think you are? A soldier? A police officer? A fire fighter even?
Last time I was in Washington D.C. I stopped by to see the Bill of Rights before it is abolished completely. None of these screening procedures can prevent a terrorist attack. It might catch a few amateurs, but it doesn’t take much for “professionals” to get around these procedures. It does teach law abiding citizens to give up their constitutional rights for a false sense of safety. It’s just one small step towards accepting a police state.
Very intersting post. Thanks Fish.
Fish, thank you for posting this.
To be honest, I’ve never understood the urge to lash out at the low level grunt with vitriol. Maybe it’s because I’ve worked in both fast food and later in IT support so I’ve taken my fair share of nasty, horrid abuse by people who feel they are somehow ‘better’ than me and that I am somehow not a human because of my job or their frustration. I really do sympathize with the front line agents, but ….
I hope the pressure and stress finaly wakes people up much higher, that we do NOT have security, what we have, as so many people involved with security are saying, is security theater. I hope this happens but I suspect it won’t. And I suspect that another lapse in security is what TPTB are waiting for.
My experiance with TSA has been a mild to an unpleasant experience. They tend to be people who are unfamiliar with technology and gadgets, who are allowed little room to employ common sense, or to focus on human behaviors. As such, I don’t respect them. And in return they know this and don’t respect us. It’s a feedback of sorts. The tension and aggravation level s are already high.
I travel from Atlanta a lot. I have not had “shocking” things happen to me but I’ve heard agents call passengers idiots for not knowing which line to use (yes, I filed a complaint.) I’ve seen agents push people, ignore questions, respond rudely, and threaten people that they won’t by flying and will be pulled out of line if they don’t hurry up or because they took a bin from the wrong pile. My outsider experiance tells me this agency is mismanaged, poorly trained, and frankly, lucky.
I’ll be flying in December and I want to find a way to humanely show my feelings of violation and frustration. How do you suggest we do so during the process itself?
He Jack QQ: Do TSA employees work for the federal government? Yes, therefore they are serving our country. The vast majority of policemen and firefighters aren’t technically serving our country, as they are paid by local governments, so you fail.
I don’t see why all of you feel you need to be such jackasses, if you don’t want to be “molested”, go through the body scan like 99% of people. If you are too much of an idiot to go through that you can still kayak across the Pacific or drive across the country. Flying is a privilege, not a right, so it is no surprise you have to give up some rights. The TSA needs to drop the whole “opt out” option and make the body scan required, it’s safer, cheaper, easier, and people don’t whine about being consensually “molested”.
Maria
If you want to show your frustration, you fill out a TSA Comment Card. After that you contact he TSA and CC your e-mail to the TSA to your two Senators and Congressional Rep.
Happy Flying!
-Fish
I will bitch about the TSA until I’m blue in the face. I’ll talk to anyone who will listen about the stupidity of the TSA policies, and the horrible things they do in the name of security theater.
I WON’T yell at or insult an employee. While I don’t agree with their chosen profession, it’d be like yelling at your cab driver because he’s stuck in traffic.
Karma is real. Want to bitch? Call your Senators.
Does part of me think the employees could find another job? Sure. But you know what? Maybe there’s more to their situation I don’t know about – So it’s not my place to complain about THEM.
But the idiots in Washington making completely inept and BS policies? I’ll rant till they shove a magnetometer up my butt. (Which I believe is in the 2011 SOP.)
Peter
I believe that is the 2011 Q3 SOP (kidding…OK maybe not) :0)
Happy Flying!
-Fish
Well said, Mike (comment #9).
As a lawyer, I clearly believe that they are two sides to every issue, every argument; however, I find it difficult to discuss the new TSA measures because I become so violently angry at the clear violation of citizens’ Fourth Amendment rights against search and seizure.
This policy allows TSOs to “pat down” (which is an absurd bastardization of the term in this case) American citizens, assumed under the law to be innocent of any crime, in ways that a police officer is not allowed to touch a suspect in the face of probable cause of evidence of a crime. That is blatantly unconstitutional and every citizen should protest if they believe in the tenets of rights this country was founded upon.
Of course I can understand that the TSOs are frustrated and typically don’t enjoy “patting down” passengers that object to the scan.
That being said, TSOs are TSOs as willful employees and if they so greatly object to the TSAs policies, they should not be working for the TSA. The Nazi analogy is dead on – not every German citizen under the Third Reich was a Nazi, just as I’m sure that not every TSO agrees with the policy, but the fact of the matter is that in both cases these individuals are tacitly agreeing to the objectionable policies under the guise of “serving my country” and “its my job.”
Violating a private citizen’s right against an unreasonable search and seizure is NOT your job.
TSO employees need to put their money where their mouth is – if they feel that performing these pat downs is objectionable and abhorrent, then they need to STOP doing it. Don’t tell me how much you dislike violating my privacy rights, SHOW me.
And I’m not even going to get into the potentiality for TSOs enjoyment of this pat down procedure. Of course I realize that the TSO that would enjoy this is rare, but I have no doubt that some exist.
TSOs – you are violating the rights of your fellow citizens. If you believe in the Constitution, stop. I think losing a job is a far lesser sacrifice than that of our forefathers who died fighting for these rights against the British Empire.
Hey, #16-American, the body scanners haven’t been shown to be safe (just ask the medical associations and pilots unions who are warning against them) and should not be used until they are properly tested.
Pamela,
Are you currently an attorney or are you presently a law student in Washington DC? Clarification would be appreciated.
Additionally, the Nazi analogy is not dead on. As I have stated, I have my significant issues with the TSA, but they are not rounding people up and shipping them off to be exterminated in an attempt to commit genocide.
Happy Flying!
-Fish
Damien,
Numerous independent physicists have shown the backscatter scanners to emit less radiation than passengers are exposed to while flying. With the amount of radiation pilots are exposed to in flight one has to wonder why they do not lobby Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier, Embraer, etc to create better radiation protection for them while in flight.
Happy Flying!
-Fish
Really? Comparing these workers to Nazis? That’s absurd to say the least. As Fish has already stated, they are not rounding up or exterminating anyone!
Also, when you buy your plane ticket you AGREE to comply with the airport’s security measures. If you have that big of a problem with the security measures, don’t buy the ticket. No one is being forced to fly and nowhere in the Constitution does it say that Americans have the right to fly on a commercially owned airplane without having to follow airport policies. True, the TSOs could quit their jobs, but in this economy it would be suicide. On the other hand, you could simply not fly… I’m getting married in Tennessee in January and I’m not flying there; my fiancé and I are driving.
If I needed to travel somewhere that required me to fly, I would not hesitate to buy my ticket and go through the scanner at security. Yes, I’ve seen what the scans look like and yes, I’ve also seen (thanks to a commentor on the Lifehacker article) what the image looks like with the colors inverted. It’s essentially a naked picture. However, I’m not too concerned with that considering how many freely available naked pictures there are online.
My bottom line:
If you don’t like the security methods, don’t fly. Boycott the airlines and state your mind, but don’t harass the TSOs who are doing their job and carrying out the policy that YOU AGREED TO COMPLY WITH when you purchased your ticket.
**This was typed and sent through my phone; please excuse any typos.**
Alysha
Keep in mind that TSA WBI scanners cannot store or transmit images while in service in the field … it simply can’t happen with the current hardware … so the images will never end up colour inverted. As soon as someone passes through the scanner the image must be wiped for the next image to appear.
Happy Flying!
-Fish
Fish,
The reason for little protection from high altitude radiation is *weight*.
The greater the weight of the aircraft, the fewer passengers & cargo it can safely carry. I’m hold a private pilot’s certificate (single engine land, complex) and weight is a serious issue in aircraft.
My brother-in-law flies for Delta, and is exposed to more radiation in a week of work that most people realize.
This is a serious issue, plus do we even know if the radiation of these machines is calibrated properly?
Do not even get me started on the 4th amendment issues. Since “W” was in office, the bill of rights and the Constitution have been constantly picked at and picked at and when you criticize this, you are labeled “Anti-American.”
This BS needs to stop, we’re swiftly becoming a police state!
Dave (Texas)
Dave
Calibration is an issue, which I believe is tested on a set schedule … however the radiation is less than being a passenger on a flight, so the argument is fairly well void.
Happy Flying!
-Fish
Fish,
I am a third year law student and meet the District of Columbia’s requirements to act as an attorney in a court of law.
Furthermore, I have worked for three different law enforcement agencies in my career and am very familiar with the scope of the Fourth Amendment.
While TSOs are not as you say, “rounding people up and shipping them off to be exterminated in an attempt to commit genocide,” they *are* actively enforcing a policy that is illegal under the United States Constitution and that many of them find personally questionable.
The parallels to the Third Reich are clear.
Both situations are instances of citizens violating the rights of other citizens simply because they have been told to by their government. However, unlike the German people living during the 1930s and 40s, American TSOs have the option not to perform these searches. TSOs have the choice to follow the policies, or leave the employ of the TSA until the policies change.
If TSOs admit the scans and pat downs are illegal and feel they should not be performing them, they have a duty to their fellow citizens not to.
I purchased my holiday travel tickets in August. At the time of purchase, the policy did not include enhanced patdowns, and the AIT machines were much more rare.
Yes, in purchasing my ticket I did forfeit my 4th Amendment rights in order to board an airplane.
As a matter of fact, as a government contractor subjected to HSPD-12 and other background investigations, the government has had access to any information they want to know about me: medical records, financial records, psychological records.
Having spent years as a military brat, the government was the one who KEPT my medical and psychological records for a portion of my life. They know who I am, they know all about my veteran father, and all about my veteran sister.
I’ve toured government facilities where the MPs had the authority to shoot me if I acted out of line. The signage told me exactly that.
In theory, the government has the *right* to search me and my belongings every time I go to work.
I have never had to go through a search like the TSA threatens. Given the choice between a) naked pictures, b) groping, or c) $11k fine, I choose (c).
As for the Nazi comment, I see both sides of it. I agree that it is too extreme in that TSA is not rounding up people for death. (Yet.)
OTOH, I also agree that the TSA agents who agree to “Just follow orders” in this… will continue to “just follow orders” for the next step, body cavity searches. And continue to “just follow orders” for the step beyond that.
Anyone remember the electric shock sociology experiment? Most people will continue to “just follow orders” to the point of delivering what they believe to be a lethal shock.
Whether the TSA agent likes it or not, whether they intend to get a thrill out of it or not, they are touching other peoples “junk” against anyone’s will, and that IS molestation. The government has owned every other part of my life, but my body is MINE ALONE.
Alysha,
Under the Fourth Amendment, citizens have the right to be free from unreasonable government searches and seizures.
While you are right in your points that flying is not a right and passengers do need to submit to the private regulations of airlines in order to do so, the TSA is a government agency.
The body scans and “enhanced” pat downs are beyond the scope of even a search that police officers are allowed to perform with probable cause. The fact of the matter is, not all citizens have the option to stop utilizing airports and frankly, they shouldn’t have to in order to avoid violation of their inalienable rights.
To the TSOs who are former military:
Thank you for your service to this country.
However, I believe it is still US military policy that a soldier is expected to refuse an immoral order. Violating 4th amendment rights by groping passengers is an immoral order. As a moral citizen in service to your country, I would expect you to follow the same standard and refuse to follow it.
You can best continue to serve your country by putting your money where your mouth is and joining us in a boycott and protest of this illegal policy.
Let’s be fair, the whole point of these “enhanced pat down techniques” is to make people sufficiently uncomfortable that they’ll use the backscatter machines. As Jeff Greenberg has pointed out, they don’t include a cavity search so they’re incomplete searches anyway. The point of them is to be uncomfortable.
At that point, whether the backscatter machines are “safe” or not is a moot point for me. That’s a despicable and unacceptable way for my government to behave.
If you’re uncomfortable groping a few dozen strangers a day who are yelling at you about it… maybe it’s your conscience telling you something.
>> Do TSA employees work for the federal government? Yes, therefore they are serving our country.
Wrong! Just because someone works for the federal government does not mean they are serving the country.
I also think that these TSA staff members should not have to touch my lady parts on a regular basis. What many Americans do not realize is that in December and January, ALL Passengers flying into the US from another country had to undergo very similar pat downs as are being described. Not some, not those opting out, but all passengers.
Flying home for us was fine; we weren’t subjected to these invasive pat downs. So only some of the flights were “secure” according to the TSA logic. All a terrorist would have to do is to fly into the US with regular underwear and then blow up the plane on a flight on the way out.
Given that my pat down involve a lengthy probing, pushing, pinching of my sanitary pad along with many questions as to “what I had down there”, I feared that I was going to be strip searched. I *was* embarrassing. It was more than just annoying or weird. It was surreal. It was disturbing. It was not just a pat down. It meant that the rest of my pat down was even more through, under my bra, down the back of my underwear, etc.
Not that I would want a private screening, but because all passengers were required to have this search, no private areas were available. These pat downs happened at the gate area.
All I could think of at the time was that this was too much, too far, inappropriate search. It was kind of like obscenity: I didn’t know exactly where the line was, but I knew it had been crossed.
And before someone starts throwing the foreigner card around, I am a US citizen. I should have had protections. These rules were implemented by our security groups, but at the demand of the TSA.
I watched the approximately 13 year old girl in line ahead of me being grouped much the same way I had been, with the same sort of concentration about something “down there”. I would have been mortified at her age. She was crying.
Something is wrong with this whole picture. Yes, I want secure flights. There has to be a better way. The AIT is one way, but there is no guarantee that if you choose that you won’t still be groped if you have medical devices, tampons, sanitary napkins, colostomy bags or a number of other perfectly normal devices.
The TSA is collaborating with the terrorists and doing their bidding.
Hi Fish,
People with serious clues in medical imaging have written to people who
count on this issue:
http://www.npr.org/assets/news/2010/05/17/concern.pdf
and I’m going to take their word over the word of the TSA about damaging
effects on my health.
I’m not surprised that the people who bothered to respond to you are
demoralised by this procedure – they’re probably the ones who have half a
clue about right and wrong. On the flip side, lower morale means TSOs
are going to care less about how they treat the flying public, and we’re all
going to suffer more.
I don’t buy the argument that when I buy an airline ticket I give up my right to
not be searched and my good seized without due cause, or without due
process. That’s the government inserting itself into a contract between the
airline and me. And I am NOT going to submit to the scanners – that’s
ionizing radiation delivered to my skin (only) at high speed, which is NOT
medically sanctioned. As somebody who has a history of cancer in the family,
and who’s had skin cancers cut out of me, wtf would I voluntarily go through
something which has non-zero chance of taking me out of remission.
James
an Australian who is NOT going to spend his money on holidays to the USA
ever again.
And the people that worked the Nazi concentration camps were just doing their jobs too….
With 2.59 million feq miles I let AA know yesterday that I am done with flying. Called the the AA Plat Desk and let them know… then called SWA corporate to let them know also. A friend who is a senior VP at Dell did the same yesterday also.
First let me say, I agree with Kim (#28) sentiments. I was born into the military, served in the military & have worked for government nearly my entire life, be it federal or local. The government has had everything of me & unfortunately may know me better than myself, but my body is my body.
Having said that, I would opt for the scanner, however I expect to be given the inappropriately named “pat down” treatment, because of certain metals left in my body from serving my country. I do NOT look forward to it, but like any physical, I will endure it & voice my opinion, both in restrained verbal and more in depth written.
However, my biggest issue is the children. The TSO’s are NOT a trained group as is evidenced by the multiple variations at which they all perform their duties. I do not want an untrained strange adult touching my daughter in any way that makes her uncomfortable. I’ve taught her to yell, scream, kick & hit if someone ever does. I will not unteach that for any TSO. It may one day save her life better than any TSA policy. As part of the “working with the TSA” is to have PROPER training, and to have specific TSO’s with specialized training on how to touch a child. Additionally, I would demand that the same courtesies afforded children at a doctor’s office be allowed. How much easier would the “inspection” of a child be if the parent was able to hold the child’s hand even?
I’ve travelled with my daughter as an infant & had to endure an unenlightened TSO try to make my daughter walk through a scanner before she could crawl, or attempt to detain me as my then 18 month old daughter tried to wander off by herself out of the TSA area, telling me to “Just call her back.”
Maybe because the TSA has a high turnover rate, they choose not to waste money on training their TSOs but would rather just throw ineffective policies up and hope the traveling public nor the airlines complain about loss of rights or revenues. I would like to be the one to say, “I’ll never fly commercial again.” But the reality is, I have to fly commercial to get home, from an economic & geographic standpoint. I don’t have a viable option at this time. I have not heard back yet on my suggestion to the TSA. I assume it has fallen on deaf ears when I hear them say, “Well, just don’t fly.” But still, I threw an idea out there.
Maybe it’ll take an airline going bankrupt because people have opted not to fly before the TSA is reigned in since the flying masses are being ignored.
**This was typed on my phone. Please excuse any typos, repeats, or grammatical errors. Mahalo.**
The radiation emitted from these machines is most likely safe for most people most of the time, however I don’t think that anyone can say with 100% certainty that they pose no risk whatsoever. Certainly the TSA’s own creditability has been damaged over the issue of image security. They claim there is no network or storage capability in these machines, clearly this is not true. These features may be disabled or only available to administrators who service the equipment, but in any event the TSA is either being intentionally cagey or has serious public relation problems.
As to the veterans out there who work for the TSA, I share your frustration. I have deployed overseas in wartime and often wondered whether my hard work and sacrifice was for any other purpose than to service some politicians agenda.
In the end “doing what you are told” will not stand up well when compared to doing what is right. My advice is to find work that is rewarding and meaningful, even if it means taking a pay cut.
I’m glad to see deeper sort of reflection on the part of TSOs than I expected, due to almost ten years worth of poor experience with members of the organization. I sort of feel for them, they are victims in this as well. But they can’t expect people to thank them when all they engage on day in and day out is assaults on personal dignity of the passengers.
The reason why they are hearing all those nasty things, is because after being humiliated the natural thing for the passenger to do, that seems to restore a modicum personal dignity is taking the anguish out on the “assailant”. And that’s the real tragedy here. Maybe it’s petty, maybe it’s not the TSO’s fault, maybe they are just implementing policy – but day in and day out thousands of people are walking away deeply humiliated. I don’t even care why, it’s the results that matter – disturbed angry men and crying women. The TSOs are bearing the brunt of the backlash, and you know, I’m glad it hurts. At least it shows they’re human.
TSA doesn’t seem like it’s going to be changing its ways any time soon. Maybe it’s time for people who are truly not comfortable with this to abandon the system, for their own karmic wellbeing if nothing else. If they want to serve their country they should take a cue from their fellow citizens – right now they aren’t doing it right.
Me and my girlfriend are simply avoiding air travel altogether until things settle down.
When you purchase a ticket you do not waive your constitutional rights.
One can argue that what the TSA is doing is not a violation of the rights set out in the 4th Amendment. But if the TSA’s procedures *are* a violation of those rights (and this is something to be determined by a court of law), then you are not able to contract out of those rights.
I’ve seen decent, noble behavior some/most of the time on the part of the TSA agents – I’ve also seen some particularly abhorrent behavior on too many occasions as well – a lot. (a couple of times at the Columbus, OH CMH airport in particular for some reason)
I realize that the TSA people don’t like and for the most part don’t deserve to be treated poorly by the flying public – but where is the outrage from fellow TSA workers when on or more of their colleagues behave badly to passengers? Does anything happen, or do they hide behind a veil of “solidarity” for their “fellow” TSA agent? Just like the cop wannabes they think they are . . . who want to unionize!!! (and claim, what, disrespect as some sort of career-ending disability entitling them to a desk job and a tax-payer funded pension for life?)
I realize that the incident in the following link is 2 years old, but attitudes and behaviors haven’t changed much . . .
http://amarillo.com/news/local-news/2010-10-11/lawsuit-airport-search-indecent
The scanners can’t store pictures??? Seems that I’ve seen several press accounts of supposed “non-storable” pictures showing up after the fact and other various accounts of TSA scanner operators behaving in some such deplorable behavior.
I’m sorry, but as hard as I want to try, I have a hard time looking at this agency as a group of professionals, maybe unfairly on my part, but unless I see and hear otherwise myself, it’s gonna take more that felling sorry for the TSA to change my mind.
As to the body scan – at the moment it’s basically a strip search. It should be common sense that some people won’t agree to it, whether out of principle or modesty. And besides, as a software engineer I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that those images can be stored, even if you guys haven’t figured out how to do it yet.
I feel like the new stylized scanners that are coming in the future would resolve that situation adequately with the stick figure display and no agent in a faraway cave, but at the moment that’s how it is.
Oh, and male TSOs – stop leering at my girlfriend, it’s ridiculous and inappropriate.
I don’t feel one bit sorry for the TSA agents. If they find this job so distasteful, then they should find another job. Otherwise, they should just put up and shut up.
Kim,
You say TSOs touch people’s “junk” against their will, which is totally false. They have to request it, which makes it consensual, so epic fail.
Mela,
it is absolutely despicable to compare TSOs to Nazis, it’s fairly depressing that there are lawyers that are that messed up in the brain.
While I don’t think the TSA officers are Nazi’s, they cannot hide behind “I’m just following orders”. People have a personal responsibility in carrying out orders.
Filling out a TSA complaint card is not a valid option. The TSA is well aware of the problems with their new procedures. Filling out a card is a validation of the TSA as an organisation. The TSA is not a valid organisation in it’s current form.
There is no way to make life secure. Eliminating unnecesary risk is good, but wanting to eliminate every risk is impossible. And unwanted, because it means giving up freedom.
If buying a ticket means giving up your rights, there is something seriously wrong. You can’t give up your rights. They are your rights, whatever the circumstances.
The whole radiation issue a sidestep from the core problem. A false sense of security. Even with the bodyscanners, security is not guaranteed and cannot be guaranteed.
Saying scanners can’t store pictures is a half-truth. While the scanners themselves can’t store pictures, the machines connected to the scanners are very much capable of storing pictures, and do so.
America, the brave? America, the free?
Right now, America is becoming the coward of the world. It should be a beacon that shows other countries what it’s like to be really free. Instead, it shows what happens if you give in to bullying.
Fish.
I have to agree with others. The TSO complaining about being called a Nazi is off base. They are “just following orders” and that is no excuse for violating the constitution. No idea if TSOs take the oath similar to those in the military or not but it states you’re to uphold the constitution. To hide behind orders is what easily 90% of the nazis did. I am sure most didn’t approve of the plan, but feared retribution. Isnt this what the TSOs are doing? Following the plan they claim to not support for fear of retribution.
The real problem seems to be that you and the TSO are thinking every nazi was like the leaders who were ordering the procedure instead of all of them that were actually in the party serving their country.
And now we come to the serving our country and being a patriot. Come the bleep on. You’re doing a job you chose to do. Its not like you’re in the army now and can’t leave for 2,3,4 or 6 years of your own free will.
Too many people try to claim they’re heros and patriots by just doing their job. Hate me for my comments but doing your job does not make you a hero in ANY case.
Alysha DeShaé,
You should get married in Hawaii and drive there.
Jack,
Personal attacks will not be tolerated. Future posts made by you are subject to being moderated.
Happy Flying!
-Fish
I hate the TSA agents feel bad about their job requirements. But, this reinforces the fact that deep down they are doing something wrong.
They are, any where else their actions during a pat-down would be considered sexual assault and be subject to arrest and punishment (especially when perpetrated upon a 13 child, you would be a pedophile).
Make no mistake these pat-downs are nothing more punitive/psy-warfare designed to get the traveling public to respond the way the TSA/government wants. You are being trained just like a dog, make something unpleasant to gain a desirable behavior.
The following orders argument has never held up as a defense. You are legally bound to refuse an unlawful order. If you are that uncomfortable find another job where you can be proud of it.
I can personally attest to extremely bad behavior and abuse by TSA agents at both Atlanta and LAX. People are going to continue dishing out verbal abuse to the TSA as long as these draconian methods are in use. It may not be right but it is understandable.
As a suggestion, why doesn’t the TSA use a tried and true method of bomb material detection. Dog use has proven to work and is much more pleasant to traveling public.
As far as not flying, I choose defend my constitutional rights and enjoy the freedoms therein. BTW freedom does NOT guarantee safety. I do not wish to live a nanny state, if you do feel free to stay home.
Peace
“So only some of the flights were “secure” according to the TSA logic.”
This is the case with many TSA policies. They are not enforced in a uniform manner. Some airports are much less secure than others. I guess they don’t realize that you can go through security in a less secure airport and then fly to the bigger one and not have to pass through security again.
I dunno — people urging these TSO’s to quit: Would you rather that the TSA were staffed entirely by officers who *are* perverts? These people took these jobs because they thought they might be making the country safer, and suddenly they’re put into this awkward position, not part of the original job description at all. I’m glad to hear that they don’t like it, hope with others that that means they’ll add to the pressure for reform, but I’m not sure that having them all quit really solves anything, other than making it that much more likely that you *will* get a leer and extra groping from the replacements…