The TRUTH about the TSA!
My last post was, to say the least, a little alarmist. And, with all the scare tactics being proliferated on the internet, it's no wonder. I had a remarkably fortunate chance tonight, however, to speak at great length with an actual TSA agent. He was off duty of course. And I felt it important to pass on what he told me.
The first thing, and perhaps the most important, is that the regulations and procedures happening in airports are not actually the doing of the TSA. These procedures are set in place by the federal government and the TSA agents are simply told to enforce them. He also said that there are, admittedly, some agents who let it get to their heads. There are others who are brusque simply because they spend all day being yelled at, listening to people make excuses, and in general being mistreated. I have no doubt of this, I have seen it with my own eyes every time that I fly. After hour upon hour of such treatment, it is to be expected that the agents would be somewhat testy. If you want to make a real impression on them, get information, and make your entire experience better then thank them for their efforts and ask questions calmly. (The word CALMLY is very important here. Anger, aggression, agitation, and generally being disagreeable are seen as warning signs and will set you up for MORE screening, not less)
I asked him about the scanners. He said some airports have x-ray scanners and some have scanners that do more of an ultrasound procedure. The images that come from them are virtually identical. If you want to know what they look like, he says that examples are posted in every airport ... or you could simply look at the last ultrasound picture that you had taken during a pregnancy. Apparently that is very close to what they see. It is not, as some people would have you believe, a graphic image of your body. It is simply a basic image showing your body contours and any unusual items (coins, chapstick, medical appliances, explosives ...). He also said that, at this moment, knives, fingernail clippers, scissors, and other small blades are not actually being confiscated. Nor are things such as razor blades which is why Adam Savage got through with his. They are, at this moment, mostly concerned with explosives, though there will be the occasional agent who cares about the other things simply because they ARE still on the federal list of prohibited items despite the change in TSA procedure. He also said that some people in the TSA ARE concerned about the x-ray scanners and that he, personally prefers the ultrasound scanners. It is easy to tell which you are going into though. The panels on the ultrasound-type scanners are about 1 foot thick. The backscatter x-ray scanners are much larger. It looks as though you are standing in between to great big boxes.
My next concern was about the patdown, particularly because of the graphic descriptions I linked to in my last post. A few facts here that should allay the fears of the public:
1. They are not worrying so much about doing full patdowns on children. They have come to the conclusion that children, for the most part, are small enough that no significant amount of explosive could be concealed on their person ... at least not enough to blow a hole in a plane or anything.
2. Patdowns do NOT, contrary to media scare tactics, involve detailed groin checks. He demonstrated the patdown for me, first on himself and then on his wife. The check that is done on the buttocks, the front groin area, and the breasts are done with the backs of the hand ONLY. Only in very rare cases, AFTER you fail this patdown, should you ever be given more than a simple swipe (actually ends up being 3 or 4 to get the entire area) down the front of your groin area with the back of the hand. Under no circumstances are they supposed to reach between your legs and touch private areas, though a small amount of incidental contact may happen with the leg check. The leg check involves encircling the leg at the uppermost point of the thigh and swiping down the length of the leg. To be honest, on watching it, the pat-down procedure was IDENTICAL to that used by law-enforcement agencies. I asked him about the woman who claims to have been groped. He said either she was exaggerating a bit or, also entirely possible, the agent that she was searched by took some liberties she shouldn't have. I tend to think that the incidental contact involved in encircling the leg was misinterpreted as swiping her vaginal folds when it was intended to be no such thing.
3. They are required to search wheelchairs, leg braces, etc., because it is entirely possible for explosives to be concealed in the workings of a leg brace. They should, however, make a few concessions for people who are unable to walk through the scanner on their own. Again, speak to them calmly about the facts of the situation, but don't try and hamper the search. They take that as aggression. And they really are required to be thorough in this area. According to him, the federal government sends undercover agents in daily in various guises (including that of an old woman in a wheelchair with a fake bomb concealed in a leg brace) and if the situation is not handled according to procedure then the agent is fired on the spot. It also stands to reason, then, that letting a random person through without the required search and being seen by a supervisor will also result in immediate termination.
Most importantly, if you have any questions or concerns about the procedure, CALMLY ask to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor can help you understand and resolve your concerns while the agent is able to go back to work.
If you have questions about what current procedures are, or simply want to keep up-to-date on what is going on, his advice was to check the TSA's website regularly. Anything that they are able to tell us will be listed there. Things that are not listed there are top secret and most likely won't be known by anyone outside the agency. I suspect there are even things the screeners aren't told. Including when explosives are found, which happens more often than we think and is simply not released to the public.
All in all, I left the conversation feeling much relieved. Enough so that I may, in fact, be willing to fly sometime in the future. Though not, perhaps, the NEAR future.
The first thing, and perhaps the most important, is that the regulations and procedures happening in airports are not actually the doing of the TSA. These procedures are set in place by the federal government and the TSA agents are simply told to enforce them. He also said that there are, admittedly, some agents who let it get to their heads. There are others who are brusque simply because they spend all day being yelled at, listening to people make excuses, and in general being mistreated. I have no doubt of this, I have seen it with my own eyes every time that I fly. After hour upon hour of such treatment, it is to be expected that the agents would be somewhat testy. If you want to make a real impression on them, get information, and make your entire experience better then thank them for their efforts and ask questions calmly. (The word CALMLY is very important here. Anger, aggression, agitation, and generally being disagreeable are seen as warning signs and will set you up for MORE screening, not less)
I asked him about the scanners. He said some airports have x-ray scanners and some have scanners that do more of an ultrasound procedure. The images that come from them are virtually identical. If you want to know what they look like, he says that examples are posted in every airport ... or you could simply look at the last ultrasound picture that you had taken during a pregnancy. Apparently that is very close to what they see. It is not, as some people would have you believe, a graphic image of your body. It is simply a basic image showing your body contours and any unusual items (coins, chapstick, medical appliances, explosives ...). He also said that, at this moment, knives, fingernail clippers, scissors, and other small blades are not actually being confiscated. Nor are things such as razor blades which is why Adam Savage got through with his. They are, at this moment, mostly concerned with explosives, though there will be the occasional agent who cares about the other things simply because they ARE still on the federal list of prohibited items despite the change in TSA procedure. He also said that some people in the TSA ARE concerned about the x-ray scanners and that he, personally prefers the ultrasound scanners. It is easy to tell which you are going into though. The panels on the ultrasound-type scanners are about 1 foot thick. The backscatter x-ray scanners are much larger. It looks as though you are standing in between to great big boxes.
My next concern was about the patdown, particularly because of the graphic descriptions I linked to in my last post. A few facts here that should allay the fears of the public:
1. They are not worrying so much about doing full patdowns on children. They have come to the conclusion that children, for the most part, are small enough that no significant amount of explosive could be concealed on their person ... at least not enough to blow a hole in a plane or anything.
2. Patdowns do NOT, contrary to media scare tactics, involve detailed groin checks. He demonstrated the patdown for me, first on himself and then on his wife. The check that is done on the buttocks, the front groin area, and the breasts are done with the backs of the hand ONLY. Only in very rare cases, AFTER you fail this patdown, should you ever be given more than a simple swipe (actually ends up being 3 or 4 to get the entire area) down the front of your groin area with the back of the hand. Under no circumstances are they supposed to reach between your legs and touch private areas, though a small amount of incidental contact may happen with the leg check. The leg check involves encircling the leg at the uppermost point of the thigh and swiping down the length of the leg. To be honest, on watching it, the pat-down procedure was IDENTICAL to that used by law-enforcement agencies. I asked him about the woman who claims to have been groped. He said either she was exaggerating a bit or, also entirely possible, the agent that she was searched by took some liberties she shouldn't have. I tend to think that the incidental contact involved in encircling the leg was misinterpreted as swiping her vaginal folds when it was intended to be no such thing.
3. They are required to search wheelchairs, leg braces, etc., because it is entirely possible for explosives to be concealed in the workings of a leg brace. They should, however, make a few concessions for people who are unable to walk through the scanner on their own. Again, speak to them calmly about the facts of the situation, but don't try and hamper the search. They take that as aggression. And they really are required to be thorough in this area. According to him, the federal government sends undercover agents in daily in various guises (including that of an old woman in a wheelchair with a fake bomb concealed in a leg brace) and if the situation is not handled according to procedure then the agent is fired on the spot. It also stands to reason, then, that letting a random person through without the required search and being seen by a supervisor will also result in immediate termination.
Most importantly, if you have any questions or concerns about the procedure, CALMLY ask to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor can help you understand and resolve your concerns while the agent is able to go back to work.
If you have questions about what current procedures are, or simply want to keep up-to-date on what is going on, his advice was to check the TSA's website regularly. Anything that they are able to tell us will be listed there. Things that are not listed there are top secret and most likely won't be known by anyone outside the agency. I suspect there are even things the screeners aren't told. Including when explosives are found, which happens more often than we think and is simply not released to the public.
All in all, I left the conversation feeling much relieved. Enough so that I may, in fact, be willing to fly sometime in the future. Though not, perhaps, the NEAR future.